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Laura Weiss

Laura Weiss (she/her) is a freelance writer and editor from Berkeley, California, focusing on social justice issues. She previously worked on the digital team at The New Republic and as managing editor at the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) in New York City. Her writing on health equity, disability, labor, and immigration has appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, LA Review of Books, World Politics Review, In These Times, and other publications. She also has a television-focused newsletter.

All Articles
November 13, 2024
Laura Weiss
Ignoring Public Health May Have Cost Democrats the Election
The Biden administration cut pandemic-era health benefits, and the Harris campaign failed to present any comprehensive health care reform policies. This was not an inspiring message for voters.
January 9, 2024
Laura Weiss
Democrats Can’t Keep Ignoring Covid in 2024
A sudden surge of the virus is a stark reminder of two things: The pandemic isn’t over, and it could be part of the referendum on the Biden presidency.
December 15, 2023
Laura Weiss
Did the Actors’ Union Really Win?
The end of “hot labor summer” looked like a victory for SAG-AFTRA. But some of its members aren’t so sure.
March 9, 2023
Laura Weiss
Biden’s Proposal to Limit Online Prescribing Is a Raw Deal for the Most Vulnerable Patients
Once the Covid-19 emergency order is lifted, new restrictions proposed by the White House will make it harder for many to access the medications on which they depend.
September 28, 2022
Laura Weiss
The New Omicron Booster and Flu Season Have Pushed Pharmacy Workers to Their Limit
“The boosters being released on top of flu season has decimated my pharmacy. We can’t help anyone anymore.”
July 27, 2022
Laura Weiss
Pharmacists and Patients Are Freaking Out Over New Medication Restrictions Post-Roe
As chains such as CVS and Walgreens try to protect themselves from criminal penalties over abortion bans, their staff are left confused, and patients with chronic illnesses struggle to access treatment.
July 20, 2022
Laura Weiss
After Roe’s Repeal, CVS Told Pharmacists to Withhold Certain Prescriptions
The retail health care giant instructed pharmacies to check why customers need medications such as methotrexate—and to refuse to provide them if they can’t prove they’re not for an abortion.
December 17, 2021
Laura Weiss
There’s a Revolution Happening in Harm Reduction for Drug Users. Can Our Broken Health Care System Handle It?
In the face of unprecedented opioid overdose deaths, the people most at risk can’t reliably access care—including life-saving treatments like methadone and buprenorphine.
July 1, 2021
Laura Weiss
Who Gets Left Behind as We “Return to Normal”?
For people with compromised immune systems, “long Covid,” and other disabilities, the pandemic doesn’t end with vaccination.
April 20, 2021
Laura Weiss
Biden’s Disturbing Acceptance of State Violence Against Central American Migrants
The eerily similar deaths of George Floyd and Victoria Salazar demonstrate how our own abusive police practices have been shipped abroad in the name of “deterring” migration.
January 28, 2021
Katie McDonough, Laura Weiss, Luis Feliz Leon
Unemployment Nation
Stories from the pandemic unemployed, underemployed, or otherwise put out.
January 11, 2021
Laura Weiss
Stop Comparing the Capitol Riot to Banana Republics. It’s Lazy—and Wrong.
Commentators have relied on fallacious allusions to the developing world to explain a problem unique to the United States.
November 25, 2020
Laura Weiss
The Government’s Human Cruelty Will Outlive Trump
Immigration agencies won’t suddenly clean up their act when the president leaves office. What’s Biden going to do about their systemic abuses?
October 21, 2020
Laura Weiss
Confronting the Deep Roots of Violence in El Salvador
Roberto Lovato’s “Unforgetting” explores the traumatic history of a country torn apart by wars and gangs—and the dangers of not facing the past.
June 25, 2020
Laura Weiss
How America Exports Police Violence Around the World
Confronting the militarized response to protests in the United States requires a reckoning with our foreign policy.
June 10, 2020
Laura Weiss
Will My Covid Symptoms Ever End?
Among the long-haul survivors of the pandemic
May 14, 2020
Laura Weiss
Trump’s Deportation Flights Are Inflaming the Pandemic
After baselessly accusing migrants of bringing coronavirus to the U.S., the administration is endangering the lives of infected detainees.
May 12, 2020
Laura Weiss
Is Biden Going to Repeat Obama’s Immigration Mistakes?
The presumptive nominee has promised to reverse Trump’s xenophobic policies, but he’s failed to reckon with his own party’s failings.
April 16, 2020
Laura Weiss
The Democrats’ Terrible Health Care Solution for the Newly Unemployed
Subsidizing stopgap insurance may enrich providers, but it's not a solution for this crisis. I know because I’m on it.

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