First things first. In light of the horrific recent mass shootings, we want to highlight the important resources that DOJ’s Office for Victims of Crime is providing to those affected by the tragedies.  We’re grateful for OVC’s vital work, especially at times like these.

In other news, the letter that DOJ GEN sent to the Biden Administration last week—in which we asked that it grant federal employees administrative leave for travel if they need to cross state lines to receive reproductive health services due to restrictive state laws—has gotten quite a bit of attention from our members, and from the press.

The New York Times was the first to publish an article, in which legal experts agree that our idea should work.  UT Law Professor Stephen Vladeck observed that administrative leave under these circumstances is an accommodation the federal government should be able to provide, and NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray noted it wouldn’t run afoul of the Hyde Amendment because no federal funds would be used to provide abortion care.

The letter was also covered by CBS, Axios, HuffPost, The Hill, Government Executive, and FedSmith, among other media outlets.

The White House Gender Policy Council replied to let us know that it is “looking into this very important issue.”  We’ll let you know about anything else we hear.

We’ve already started discussing other ideas for how DOJ GEN might be able to help protect DOJ employees’ access to reproductive health services in the face of looming threats. 

If you’d like to join a working group to help us think creatively about what else DOJ GEN can do to protect federal employees’ access to services, please write to us at dojgenderequalitynetwork@gmail.com.