Mika Covington
Mika Jane Covington is an Iowa activist.
2024 election response
Iowa City DSA
In 2023 Mika Covington was acting chair of Iowa City Democratic Socialists of America.
Bernie Sanders 2020 Campaign
Mika Covington is a Field Organizer for Bernie Sanders.
Genderqueer
Mika Covington is a "genderqueer who prefers the pronouns sie and hir."[1]
Lawsuit
In May 2019, Mika Covington was involved in a lawsuit "to block implementation of a recently-passes [sic] law that bans Iowa #Medicaid from covering sex reassignment surgery for #transgender Iowans."[2]
The lawsuit was dismissed, but an "emergency appeal" was filed.[3]
From the article:
- "A Polk County judge has dismissed a legal challenge to an Iowa law that denies mandatory Medicaid coverage for transgender Iowans seeking transition-related care.
- "District Judge David Porter on Thursday ruled that the lawsuit filed on behalf of two transgender Iowans — Mika Covington of central Iowa and Aiden Vasquez of southeast Iowa — and the LGBTQ advocacy group One Iowa could not continue because it is too early for courts to assess the validity of the law.
- "The plaintiffs had sought to temporarily block and eventually strike down legislation passed in April that allows government entities to opt out of using public insurance money, including Medicaid, to pay for transition-related surgeries.
- "Porter wrote that Covington and Vazquez need to exhaust their options for assistance through the Iowa Department of Human Services and show how the law actually will harm them before the judicial system can step in.
- "American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa legal director Rita Bettis Austen, who represents the plaintiffs, said Thursday that an emergency appeal will be filed.
- "Porter wrote that, while the petitioners did detail "the stress their gender dysphoria has caused them historically," their "distress is not tantamount to irreparable harm."
- ""At this point, the contentions between the parties are purely abstract," the ruling said.
- "Porter also questioned whether One Iowa had legal standing to help bring the lawsuit.
- ""No one, including transgender Iowans, should be denied the medical care they need," Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, executive director of One Iowa, said in a statement Thursday. "Being denied this medically necessary care puts the health and lives of transgender Iowans who rely on Medicaid at risk, including increased risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts for transgender individuals who can't access the care their doctors prescribe."
Central Iowa DSA Reading Group
Members of Central Iowa Democratic Socialists of America Reading Group Public Facebook Group, accessed July 2, 2019 included Mika Covington.[4]
DSA of Iowa public Facebook group
November 26 2017 Mika Covington was a member of the Democratic Socialists of Iowa public Facebook group.