End of Life Care

– “Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore used a national survey containing exit interviews with the next of kin of nearly 2,000 cancer patients who died between 2000 and 2012. Patients who had end-of-life discussions with doctors and those who created living wills, which describe the kind of care a person should receive, were most able to avoid having treatments that they did not want imposed on them. Patients who relied solely on designated health care proxies to make decisions if they were incapacitated were often subjected to aggressive last-minute care.” Helping Patients and Doctors Talk About Death (h/t @elementalnw)

Gun Violence

– “The Mass Shooting Tracker, a crowd-sourced project of the anti-gun folks at the Guns Are Cool subreddit, lists 203 mass shooting events so far in 2015. Add in the shooting at a Louisiana movie theater last night and you get 204. Incidentally, yesterday was the 204th day of the year.” There have been 204 mass shootings — and 204 days — in 2015 so far (h/t @cjwerleman)

Police Abuse

– “A close look at the police car dashcam video that recorded the exchange shows her questions had merit: Encinia at every occasion escalates the tension. He tells Bland, a Black Lives Matter activist, she’s under arrest before she has even left her car, shouts at her for moving after ordering her to move, refuses to answer questions about why she’s being arrested and, out of the camera’s view, apparently slams her to the ground.” The Transcript Of Sandra Bland’s Arrest Is As Revealing As The Video (h/t @TheLindyWest)

– “Witnesses said that when Circle Bear was transferred to the holding cell, she told guards that she was in excruciating pain. Jail personnel reportedly told her to “quit faking” and “knock it off” before lifting her partway off the floor and dragging her to the cell where she was later found unconscious.” ‘Quit faking’: Police ignored Native American woman’s pleas for help before she died in jail (via @RawStory)

– “But her death follows at least four other deaths of black women in police custody since July 13, shining an even brighter spotlight on the plight of black women in the criminal justice system and fueling the Black Lives Matter movement.” At Least 5 Black Women Found Dead In Jail Since Mid-July (via @ThinkProgress)

Racism

– “If most of us want progress—at the very least, a shift in the way women are portrayed—why isn’t anyone talking about this film’s inherent racism? Every time I go into a movie theater, I am reminded that movies—even when they’re lighthearted and intended to be escapist—are usually serving a straight, white audience.” The Problems With Trainwreck’s Casual Racism (h/t @CamilleDeMere)

Reproductive Health

– “The Court’s decision in the case – in which an Olympia-based pharmacy and two pharmacists asserted that filling prescriptions for emergency contraception violated their religious freedom – upheld the constitutionality of Pharmacy Board rules requiring all pharmacies to fill all lawful prescriptions without discrimination or delay. No one is above the law.” Vindication and Victory (via @Legal_Voice)

Sex Workers

– “Sex workers and their allies have been quick to respond to this nonsense, maintaining that criminalizing any aspect of the industry only makes it harder for them to protect themselves against violence, disease, and extreme exploitation, and that Lena Dunham and friends should probably keep their mouths shut about issues they know nothing about. Here are some of their tweets. Unlike the people who wrote this letter, I know they’re fully capable of speaking for themselves:” Sex workers tell Lena Dunham, other celebs to STFU about shit they don’t understand (h/t @riotheatherrr)

Sexual Assault

– “The group of women Cosby allegedly assaulted functions almost as a longitudinal study — both for how an individual woman, on her own, deals with such trauma over the decades and for how the culture at large has grappled with rape over the same time period.” ‘I’m No Longer Afraid’: 35 Women Tell Their Stories About Being Assaulted by Bill Cosby, and the Culture That Wouldn’t Listen (via @NYMag)

Terrorism

– “This comes less than a month after the FBI director said he does not consider Charleston Church murderer Dylann Roof a “terrorist.” The activists’ alleged crimes: “They released thousands of minks from farms around the country and vandalized various properties.” That’s it. Now they’re being prosecuted and explicitly vilified as “terrorists,” facing 10-year prison terms.” Dylann Roof Is Not a “Terrorist” — But Animal Rights Activists Who Free Minks From Slaughter Are (via @theintercept)

Transgender Rights

– “Bathroom bully bills — legislation that bars transgender individuals from using restrooms that match their gender identities — will form the next front line in the push for equal rights, according to transgender advocates who are readying themselves for the fight ahead.” Transgender rights advocates ‘going to battle over bathrooms’ (via @ajam)

Women in Technology

– “This is a moment of transition and uncertainty and I wanted to gather the greatest minds to think through where society is heading. It just so happens that the greatest minds — the nineteen speakers invited to these events — were women.” How I Organized a Series of Six Panels on Technology with Only Women Speaking. (via @jomc)