Good news for people who want to do good: Day 307

ACTION ALERT: Defend net neutrality!

The Trump administration is going after net neutrality regulations, which serve as the “internet’s guiding principle” regarding free speech and open access. Dismantling these regulations would “give Internet providers broad powers to determine what websites and online services their customers can see and use,” the Washington Post notes.

This amount to a big win for corporations like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast — and a major loss for internet users everywhere.

And you can speak out against this latest abuse of power by this White House.

Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chair, Ajit Pai, is a former lawyer for Verizon — and Verizon stores are about to see just what the nation thinks of this dangerous move. On Dec. 7, Americans who support free speech will join together in protests outside Verizon stores across the nation. Find one near you, or organize your own, and raise your voice for free and open internet for all.

And if you’re not able to attend a protest, you can call your members of Congress to demand that they oppose Pai’s decision and defend a healthy online democracy.

Massachusetts becomes first state to ensure free contraception for all

In October, Trump took aim at yet another important achievement of President Barack Obama by issuing a decree allowing companies to exclude contraception coverage from their employees’ health care plans simply by asserting a religious or “moral” objection.

The administration was immediately hit with lawsuits over the move, and one state has quickly moved to ensure that its citizens have the reliable access to birth control that they need and deserve.

Massachusetts Republican — yes, Republican! — Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bipartisan bill his state legislature sent to him that requires state health insurers to provide no-cost contraception, as well as allowing them to cover a full year’s worth of birth control pills at once and to provide emergency contraception without a prescription.

“We are proud to join our legislative colleagues to protect women’s health care & access to family planning services,” Baker tweeted after signing the bill.

“MA leads the nation with near universal health care coverage, & signing this bipartisan bill into law ensures critical access to important contraceptive coverage.”

ACTION ALERT: Monday, Nov. 27, is a Day of Action against the #TrumpTaxScam

The gory details of the GOP’s tax scam are well-known, but the Republicans are still trying to pretty it up in order to ram it through Congress and onto Trump’s desk.

So after the holiday weekend is over, it’ll be time to get back to work fighting this dangerous bill.

Monday, Nov. 27, is a nationwide Day of Action hosted by Indivisible groups from coast to coast, where Americans will gather for sit-ins at their senators’ regional offices.

Find your senator’s local office, and find events or register your own to make sure your lawmakers remember that they were elected to represent you — not billionaires and corporations.

Federal court blocks Trump’s bigoted ban on transgender troops

Trump cruel decision to reverse President Obama’s policy on allowing transgender Americans to serve openly in the military was reckless and hateful, and was quickly and forcefully called out from all sides.

And now, for the second time in a matter of weeks, a federal court has put the brakes on this bigoted move:

A federal court today granted the American Civil Liberties Union’s request for a complete halt to implementation of the president’s directive banning transgender service members from serving in the military while the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging it moves forward.

The preliminary injunction stops the president from kicking out transgender people currently serving in the military, from barring the enlistment of transgender individuals, and from prohibiting transition-related surgery for service members.

U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis noted that the ban was likely unconstitutional, that transgender troops were “already suffering harmful consequences” from the ban, and also made sure to call out Trump for thinking his Twitter account is where laws get made.

“A capricious, arbitrary, and unqualified tweet of new policy does not trump the methodical and systematic review by military stakeholders qualified to understand the ramifications of policy changes,” Garbis wrote.

Indeed, no has likely ever deemed Trump as being “qualified to understand the ramifications” of … well, anything.

And federal judges are calling him out for his ignorant cruelty.

ACTION ALERT: Attend a town hall — or call out your missing congressperson

One of the best ways to make sure your elected official hears what you have to say is to show up in person and say it to their face.

So visit townhallproject.com to find out if your Congressperson has an event coming up, and make sure to get a front row seat.

But you might look at the list and wonder where exactly your Senator or Representative is. Good question! 165 members of Congress have not held a single in-person event this year. If yours is on that ignominious list, call their office and demand to know why.