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Call to Action: Investigate Whistleblower Complaint on Unwanted Hysterectomies Performed in ICE Detention Centers
A former nurse at an ICE detention center has filed a whistleblower complaint about both insufficient prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and the number of women in custody receiving hysterectomies. The complaint identifies concerns with the frequency, lack of sufficient consent, and questionable necessity of the gynecological procedure performed by one doctor in particular. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed an investigation will proceed. To do: Contact your members of Congress to let them know you are both aware of and concerned about the troubling allegations noted in the whistleblower complaint and that an independent investigation must proceed. In less than five minutes, you can submit a letter via our…
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MWEG Voter Preparation Parties
Are you ready to vote on November 3? A big part of our mission at MWEG is to encourage greater civic engagement, and right now we are in the midst of an all-out push to Protect the Vote. This initiative involves helping citizens register to vote, sharing election information, and ensuring each voice is heard at the ballot box this November. And you can help! Now is the time to make sure you are not only properly registered to vote but prepared to fill out your ballot! Start now to learn more about the candidates and issues that will be on your ballot in November. You can make that process…
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Media Literacy: Conspiracy Theories — What’s Driving Them?
At a time of heated political division, a global pandemic, social upheaval, and worldwide unrest, conspiracy theories are quickly spreading throughout social media, radio, and other traditional media platforms. Unfortunately, conspiracy theories are not innocuous. Anyone can be susceptible to them; no demographic is immune. And they cause people to act in ways that result in direct harm to individuals and institutions. As we wrote in a previous educational piece about addressing misinformation: “False information perpetuates injustice and division, and allowing such information to spread can cause people to become distrustful of any information and sink into cynicism and apathy. People act based on the information they receive, and actions…
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Pledge Not to Leverage or Weaponize Faith for Political Gain
During this election season, we invite all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as groups or initiatives that gather individuals by means of a shared faith in Jesus Christ or their membership in the Church, to pledge not to leverage or weaponize faith and membership for the purpose of political gain. We hereby pledge to never: use official Church membership lists, email lists, or unofficial social media sites (ward/stake/Relief Society/elders quorum groups) to support political candidates or promote political opinions; use Church icons, sacred symbols, buildings, or Church-approved artwork or branding to promote individual political candidates or policy positions; advocate for, or speak negatively…
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Call to Action: Support the Mission of the United States Postal Service
Americans rate the United States Postal Service as their favorite federal agency. Its workforce of more than half a million is scattered across the U.S., making it the biggest employer of any government entity except the military. And it will play an outsized role in Americans’ ability to vote safely during the worst global health crisis in 100 years. Yet the USPS is undergoing transformations, and not necessarily for the better. Its newly appointed postmaster general is implementing changes that have slowed mail delivery, which is problematic on at least three levels: First, the changes will damage the vote in terms of delivery time, votes held back, and a possible…
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Call to Action: Speak Out Against Federal and Executive Overreach
Regularly and repeatedly, and especially in the last few weeks, President Trump has threatened or exercised executive overreach to the detriment of the American people’s national representation, Constitutional protections, and First Amendment freedoms. Conservative legislators, often critical of executive and federal overreach, have been largely silent. Yet as Tea Party conservative and Republican Senator Mike Lee has said, “Executive overreach — and abdication of Congress’s constitutional powers — is neither a Republican nor Democratic issue; neither a liberal nor a conservative one. It’s an American one.” We agree that overreach is an American issue, and we expect our members of Congress to understand this as well. To do: Contact your…
