Who’s in Charge When it Comes to Making COVID 19 Regulations?

Health and Gender Policy Brief #151 | By: Alexandra Ellis | May 19, 2022

Header photo taken from: United States Department of Labor

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Photo taken from: Evan Vucci / Associated Press

Policy Summary

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On April 19, 2022, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa, overturned the mask mandate for interstate travel. The CDC’s interstate mask mandate for plane, trains, and buses, was first issued in May 2021, and was extended to May 2022. Before the mask mandate was set to expire this May, a U.S. District Court declared it unconstitutional. The Biden administration has been relatively quiet on COVID concerns since March of 2022, when the Center for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) released the community guidance standards. 

The question becomes, why then is the Justice Department appealing. In other words, why is the Justice Department trying to defend the interstate travel mask mandate when the rest of the Executive branch seems currently indifferent to COVID and recent surge in cases across the country. The answer to this is rooted in preserving CDC’s rulemaking authority and therefore executive and congressional power.

Policy Analysis

By a U.S. District Court declaring that the CDC exceeded its authority in creating the federal mask-mandate for interstate travel, it challenges the CDC’s authority to promulgate rules for future surges and pandemics. While the rest of the executive branch seems to have moved on from COVID, asking communities and individuals to step up and protect themselves, the Justice Department is defending the CDC’s authority to create rules relating to the health and safety of the nation.

The CDC is a federal agency, granted power through Congress, to monitor and carry out the federal regulations relating to public health of the nation. See Title 42 of the CFR. 

Through Congress, the CDC has the power to make and promulgate rules. All federal agencies usually have this power; it is called judicatory rule-making authority. In this authority, the federal agency has delegated authority from Congress to make rules relating to their respective agencies. In turn this frees up time for Congress to work on legislating new laws and dealing with other important matters than day to day implantation of federal regulations

Federal agencies, like the CDC, have rule making authority granted to them through Congress to implement Congress’s original legislation. They can make law that must be followed. In this instance, the CDC promulgated a rule that masks have to be worn during interstate travel: where travel occurs across state boundaries. 

It is without a doubt that Congress has the ability to enact laws that relate to regulation of interstate travel, because it affects the whole of the nation. The idea is rooted in federalism, that even though the United States is fifty separate states, with its own unique sets of laws and culture, as a nation we are united, and free movement between states should be protected at all costs.

Photo taken from: Greg Nash / Getty Images

The mask mandate on planes, buses, and trains helped stop the spread of COVID-19 and related directly to the authority of the CDC. The CDC with the interstate mask mandate hoped to protect public health. With a District Court in Florida striking this down, people have started to unmask during interstate travel. As soon it occurred, a popular video showed an airlines stewardess directing individuals on a flight that they no longer had to wear the masks. You can hear on the video people cheering and clapping.

See video, https://youtu.be/dbd0PQyfTMc.

So, if the idea of unmasking for interstate travel is so popular what is the problem with the District Court’s ruling? The issue becomes CDC’s authority to protect and promulgate rules for future COVID surges and other potential pandemics in the future. Under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 468 U.S. 837 (1984), judicial deference should be given to administrative actions that are reasonably related to their purpose.

A mask mandate to promote the health and safety of the country from a repository illness is reasonably related to the purpose of the CDC. The District Court’s decision ignores judicial deference and states that the CDC’s mandate is over- reaching. Effectively the court found that the mask mandate was unconstitutional because the CDC did not have the power to promulgate such a rule.

However, without a doubt Congress can make legislation relating to interstate travel. Because Congress delegates it powers to agencies, like CDC, to promulgate and carry out legislative goals, the CDC should be able to make rules relating to interstate travel such as a mask mandate on planes, trains, and buses. So, even though the Biden administrative says now that COVID should be a community and individual approach instead of a federal, it is in their interest to protect the travel ban in court. This is because the ruling challenges agency power. The Justice Department will challenge the ban to protect the CDC’s power from future assaults.

Engagement Resources​

Click or tap on resource URL to visit links where available 

Listen to NPR’s take on why the Justice Department is appealing the Tampa District Court ruling: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/04/22/1094170593/why-the-governments-slow-move-to-appeal-the-mask-decision-may-be-a-legal-strategty.

To read more about why you should still wear a mask during interstate travel: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/04/22/1094183597/travel-mask-mandate-risk#:~:text=The%20Biden%20administration%20is%20appealing,risky%20travel%20is%20for%20themselves.

To keep informed about COVID – 19 guidance check CDC guidelines regularly. COVID- 19 Community guidance and tool can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/guidance.html. The map tool on this website will lead you to your local government page to check emergency COVID mandates, and other suggestions from local governments.

Therapeutic Effect of Classical Music After a Pandemic

Health & Gender Policy Brief #150 | By: Yelena Korshunov | May 17, 2022

Header photo taken from: PRS for Music

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Policy Summary

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Two years of the pandemic drastically affected our life. Although the COVID-19 curve recently increased, we are eager to make steps toward revival. Theaters opened doors for the public in the 2021/22 season, museums welcomed visitors, and indoor performances became more frequent. We want to have our pre-pandemic routine back. Some of us feel comfortable taking a seat at the stuffed theater, others still prefer to avoid crowded places, but we all acutely need to move away from the long-term stress and get back to our comfort zone.

It was a cold but nice sunny day. People were walking along Broadway in Manhattan when at the corner of 62nd Street they were stopped by sounds of beautiful music flowing over the busy streets. Piano and violin harmony from the Musical Storefront made people stop and enjoy it in front of the large window where the musicians played. They performed inside the venue with speakers outside, and everyone could see and listen to the concert. People applauded loudly, and no one left before the performance was over. 

It was a free classical music concert of Julia Jones and Alex Ruvinstein, organized by Kaufman Music Center, and whoever wanted could listen to it outside of a crowded indoor place. People smiled enjoying the music, feeling that this is the life they used to have, and this life is coming back now. I asked Alex Ruvinstein, a New York piano performer, about his feeling of the renaissance of music performance today and how it affects the audience.

-Alex, what did you do during the long COVID quarantine when music venues were closed and concerts were canceled? How did you feel about it?

-Although I played a couple of online concerts during this time and had a number of recordings, it’s not the same as when you play for a live audience. You react to the energy coming from the listeners and perform differently.

-How has the audience reacted to resumed live concerts?

-Very enthusiastically. You could see how people missed live music and how happy they were to return to this harmony between them and a musician. Every single performance became a celebration. People come to you after the concert to talk, like old friends after being away for a long time.

– What is the therapeutic impact of live classical music on the audience?

– When people are so stressed out, music makes them feel safer and relaxed. They recall the sentimental moments of their lives and look forward with optimism and hope.

– You are used to playing in concert halls. What inspired you and your colleague Julia when you performed for passersby at the Musical Storefront today?

– It is a completely different feeling compared to performing at the music hall. Today’s experience was something dynamic, momentary, when people would come after the program had already started and could leave before it ended. It was especially rewarding when people stayed to listen to the entire concert. We had three performances in a row, and some people stayed to listen to the same program over and over.

Policy Analysis

According to the North Shore University of Health System, “music can improve mood, decrease pain and anxiety, and facilitate opportunities for emotional expression. “ Research has shown that blood flows more easily when music is played. It can also reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure, decrease cortisol (stress hormone) levels and increase serotonin and endorphin levels in the blood.” This research also found out that besides relieving symptoms of depression, music stimulates memories, and even eases pain. 

It helps people eat less. “Playing soft music in the background (and dimming the lights) during a meal can help people slow down while eating and ultimately consume less food in one sitting.”  Research also found that listening to workout tracks increases endurance during an exercise session. We need to choose music that brings us into harmony with ourselves. It may be different for relaxation and for exercising, but it will make us feel happier.

It is widely known that music brings us a more positive state of mind, helping to reduce anxiety and depression, and to elevate mood.  It can help prevent or decrease stress, and keep creativity and  makeoptimism levels higher. In the research “Mozart, Music and Medicine”, Ernest K.J. Pauwels and  his colleagues found out that “music may modulate the immune response, among other things, evidenced by increasing the activity of natural killer cells, lymphocytes and interferon-γ, which is an interesting feature as many diseases are related to a misbalanced immune system.” 

It is clear that the positive effect of classical music should be counted when funds are spent on people’s health needs. We will benefit from using today’s renaissance of music performances for therapeutic treatment of our pandemic stress and its side effects. Free outdoor concerts, and performances such as at the Musical Storefront, when indoor concerts are accessible for public audiences, should be added to the local and federal health improvement planning, especially during the long-lasting pandemic.

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You may wonder whether classical music is especially beneficial for our health, more so than other genres? Research shows that classical music does our body good, and specifically, our heart.  In a study published in the journal Deutsches Aerzteblatt International in 2016, researchers compared the effect of the music of Mozart and Strauss with that of ABBA on issues related to heart health. They found that “those who listened to Mozart and Strauss had markedly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, as well as lower heart rates. ABBA’s tunes, on the other hand, didn’t produce the same effects.” Michael Schneck, MD, a neurologist with Loyola Medicine in Chicago explains that “it is the emphasis of listening to the harmonies and rhythms of classical music that may provide a calming effect for people, thus helping to lower their blood pressure. This could occur with classical music or jazz music.”  

Classical music knowingly reveals our hidden emotions, helps us sleep, improves memory, and even makes us smarter. Catherine Jackson, a clinical psychologist and neurotherapist, has noticed a similar effect during neurotherapy sessions when she plays light or classical music while patients engage in deep breathing. “Music impacts how we feel, which in turn impacts how we perform on cognitive tasks” she says. “A happy brain is a healthy brain and music, especially music that evokes positive memories, can help to increase dopamine and neuroconnectivity, keeping the aging brain healthier.”

It is clear that the positive effect of classical music should be counted when funds are spent on people’s health needs. Open concerts, such as at the Musical Storefront, may expose new listeners to classical music, whose physical and mental health may become in some degree better when they have a chance to acquire a habit to enjoy this harmony. 

We benefit from using today’s renaissance of music performances for therapeutic treatment of our pandemic stress and its side effects. Free outdoor concerts, and performances such as at the Musical Storefront, when indoor concerts are accessible for public audiences, should be added to the local and federal health improvement planning, especially during the long-lasting pandemic.

Engagement Resources​

Click or tap on resource URL to visit links where available 

USA Outdoor Classic Festival Guide

https://www.visittheusa.com/experience/festival-guide-where-classical-music-meets-epic-scenery

Top Outdoor 25 Music Venues in the US

https://beats.binauralrecords.com/music-lists/top-outdoor-music-concert-venues-amphitheaters-in-us/

Music Festival Search Wizard

https://www.musicfestivalwizard.com/festival-guide/us-festivals/

Writer’s References

Click or tap on resource URL to visit links where available 

9 Health Benefits of Music

                                              https://www.northshore.org/healthy-you/9-health-benefits-of-music/

Mozart, Music and Medicine

                                                               https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5586918/

Wombsday

Health & Gender Policy Brief #149 | By: Anora Morton, J.D. | May 18, 2022

Header photo taken from: The Washington Post

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On December 1, 2021, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the bombshell abortion case originating in Mississippi, was argued in front of the highest court of the land. On May 2, 2022, a legitimate draft of the Supreme Court opinion indicating the Court’s intent to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press. Today we await Wombsday – the day the Court officially repeals all abortion right precedent.

Policy Analysis

Remember pictures of that malnourished tree in elementary school? With only three little branches? The Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of government with The United States Supreme Court championing over the Judicial branch. Basically, when a case gets no resolve over and over again, it can, on a rare occurrence, end up in the Supreme Court to be judged by all nine of the Supreme Court justices. Whatever these justices decide is law for all of us. In short, this Mississippi case you keep hearing about only matters because the outcome of it could soon determine what can you do, or perhaps more accurately, what you cannot do with your uterus. 

Now, if we’re on the same page, you too are scratching your head pondering how in the world women’s autonomy over their own uteruses is still a hot button issue in 2022. This issue was handled back in the seventies when bell bottom pants and platform shoes were popular the first time with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision! Roe permitted women to abort in their first trimester (first 13 weeks or 3 months) of pregnancy yet prohibited abortions in the third and final trimester of pregnancy (last 27 to 40 weeks) because the Court in 1973 held that during that third trimester, a fetus was viable – capable of surviving outside the womb. 410 US 113 (1973).

Essentially, Roe prohibited states from interfering with a woman’s right to abort pre-viability. In 1992, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, eliminated the trimester scheme in Roe while adding that states were prohibited from imposing undue burdens on women legally seeking abortions – such as requiring women to notify their husbands before aborting. 505 US 833.

While questioning the viability of a fetus, it is essential to note that no birthing person’s pregnancy journey is as cut and dry as six men in black robes on the Supreme Court would have you to believe. Each woman starts their period at different ages, each woman ovulates for different amounts of time – point being the variability of pregnancy from one woman to another is too distinct to ever be dictated by law. 

Photo taken from: Findlaw

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 “The start of your pregnancy’s dated from the first day of your last actual period, although you probably conceived about 2 weeks after that. That means by the time you miss a period you could technically be 4 weeks pregnant if you have a 28-day cycle.

In fact, most women do not realize they are pregnant until they are about 5-8 weeks pregnant. At no fault of their own, of course, it’s just that nature trumps logic and law. In sum, this Mississippi Dobbs case is a big deal. If the Supreme Court sides with Mississippi law that viability begins after the 15-week mark of pregnancy, then women’s autonomy over their bodies will be confined drastically as they will have less time to make that crucial decision. Equally as discriminatory, birthing persons’ fundamental right to privacy would be completely obliterated as if it was never constitutionally guaranteed.

While we wait in angst for an official unleaked decision on this Mississippi case, the reality is that the topic of abortion has been litigated in state courts, in federal courts, and in the U.S. Supreme Court more times than we can count. This is not new. Dobbs v. Jackson essentially forces the Supreme Court to decide whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional. 

For the Supreme Court to make this decision, it must first reconsider Roe and Casey and decide whether they should be overruled to hand the issue of abortion back to the states. Like abortion litigation, leaking of Supreme Court rulings is not new. The Roe ruling was leaked to the press before it was officially publicized. However, never before has a legitimate draft of a Supreme Court opinion been leaked to the public.

The opinion draft outwardly states: “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled… It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” Meaning that the Court is planning to eliminate the abortion precedent and let the laws of abortion be dictated on a state-by-state basis instead of a federal blanket rule! What that means for you is that you need to expect your state’s laws to have final say on the issue of abortion. 

No longer will there be a federal precedent to challenge your state law’s authority over your uterus. The culprit has yet to be identified.  Whether it was a conservative hoping to put state lawmakers on notice to draft new challenging abortion laws or if it was an outraged liberal law clerk compelled to put the nation on notice, the result is the same. Wombsday is coming. Vote for your state legislators wisely.

Engagement Resources​

Click or tap on resource URL to visit links where available 

Planned Parenthood has always been my choice of health provider for my gynecological needs. They’ve stayed after hours for me, they’ve held my hand during biopsies, they’ve always cared for me. Planned Parenthood will always advocate for women’s rights:

https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/rightfully-ours/bans-off-our-bodies?utm_source=GS&utm_medium=GS&utm_campaign=CK.PPFA.AAAPHASE3.ALLTARGETS.GS.EN.M14KW.BO.18p.PM14SA&utm_content=PM14SA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1ZeUBhDyARIsAOzAqQIkzXkomc9UqH9lTX6Q-qPcwZdFoQxGCzR7mW7IIGddVXQxdczHKEYaAgIfEALw_wcB

NARAL Pro Choice America can educate you on leaders in your community running for office that will support reproductive rights once elected.

https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/