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Call to Action: Request Members of Congress Expedite a Bipartisan Economic Stimulus Bill Before Christmas
Americans do not agree on everything. But “[o]verwhelming majorities of more than 90% [of Americans] say the federal government should play a major or minor role in . . . responding to natural disasters (98%) . . . and strengthening the economy (95%).” During this time of natural disaster (in the form of a pandemic) and the pandemic-induced economic recession, then, it makes sense that there is bipartisan support for a coronavirus stimulus bill before Congress closes for the season. Mormon Women for Ethical Government encourages members of Congress to recognize the need for government involvement in combating the coronavirus and to find common ground for a relief package. The…
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Nonsensical: Withdrawing from WHO in the Middle of COVID-19
The World Health Organization (WHO), the leading global health agency, declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020, and within weeks the world had seen more than half a million people infected and nearly 30,000 dead. Infections in the U.S. continue to rise. Yet President Trump has formally notified the United Nations that the U.S. will withdraw from the WHO, bringing its U.S. funding to a halt. The U.S. is, by far, the largest contributor to the WHO’s budget. Trump had initially demanded some changes after accusing the WHO of being both China-centric and slow in its coronavirus response — somewhat validly. However, he didn’t get the response he wanted, so…
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Who’s WHO — and Why You Should Care
As we near 3.5 million cases of the coronavirus and surpass 135,000 deaths, President Donald J. Trump has formally withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO). The withdrawal comes on the heels of the president freezing funding to the WHO in April 2020. The U.S. contributes upwards of $400 million annually to the WHO and is the group’s largest contributor (though even before the freeze the U.S. was close to $200 million in arrears to the organization). The claims Trump has made to justify the withdrawal — including that the WHO failed to share information in a timely and transparent manner, gave faulty information, and is too…
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Executive Order on Immigration Does Not Make Our Country Safer
President Trump announced his intentions of “prohibiting immigration into our Country” and just last week signed an executive order halting the issuance of green cards, a legal avenue to citizenship. This order covers a very narrow area of immigration law, implies migrants are worsening the effects of the pandemic, and does nothing to make our country more secure. The executive order largely targets individuals who have been seeking entry to the U.S. legally for years or, for some, decades. The Associated Press observed, “the proclamation Trump signed Wednesday will most affect the parents, adult children and siblings of citizens and permanent residents hoping to one day join them in the country.” According to the wording…
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Release Detainees Now
COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work, and learn in the United States, in the all-important effort to slow the spread of this virus. Difficult as these changes have been, most of us are fortunate to be able to socially distance and practice proper hygiene. Inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers, however, conditions remain dangerously unsanitary. As COVID-19 continues to present new and pressing needs, consider the ethical obligations in these common scenarios: A young man with asthma fled gang violence in Honduras. He is in ICE custody after presenting himself at the border to declare his desire to obtain asylum. An elderly woman is detained in…
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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government on the Coronavirus Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp relief the degree to which we are all interconnected. We prayerfully plead that we meet this knowledge not with selfishness or indifference, but instead with a renewed determination to work together to mitigate exposure and suffering. This effort must be made both by governments and individuals. We can all act in ways that preserve both human life [1] and the cohesion of local and global communities. We must responsibly follow the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, which direct governments and institutional leaders to provide clear information, actively monitor events to mitigate spread, and implement measures to protect health systems and provide care. Failure…
