Texas Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Ruling Allowing Dallas Woman to Get an Abortion

After a Travis County district judge cleared the way for Kate Cox, 31, to terminate her pregnancy, Ken Paxton petitioned the state’s highest court to halt the ruling. On Friday evening, the state Supreme Court temporarily halted the lower court’s order but did not rule on the merits of the case. The court said it would rule on the temporary restraining order, but did not specify when.

“While we still hope that the Court ultimately rejects the state’s request and does so quickly, in this case we fear that justice delayed will be justice denied,” said Cox’s lawyer, Molly Duane, in a Friday evening statement.

Women’s Rights Leaders Urge Full Investigation and Justice for Israeli Rape Victims and Survivors

At a United Nations conference on Monday, Israeli officials shared harrowing accounts of sexual violence, rape, mutilation and torture of women at the hands of Hamas during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack. Now, women’s rights leaders and elected officials are sending a strong message to the United Nations about the need for action. 

Expanding the Federal Judiciary Is Not About ‘Packing’ the Courts—It’s About *Saving* Them

The Senate’s set to leave for the year on Dec. 15. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has urged his Senate colleagues to treat judicial nominations as a priority and to prepare “to stay in Washington until we finish our work.” (Trump had confirmed 187 judges by the end of 2019. President Joe Biden had secured 153 as of Thanksgiving.)

But it’s not enough to confirm nominees to the seats that exist; we need to expand the courts. Here’s the case for expanding the federal judiciary.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Sexual Harassment Is Pervasive in State Politics; Remembering Sandra Day O’Connor

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. 

This week: Although Latinas represent 20 percent of California’s population, their representation in elected office lags far behind that; sexual harassment by sitting state lawmakers over the last decade is pervasive and ongoing; the urgent need for creating space for disabled leaders within the political sphere; former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; and more.

New DOJ Settlement Aims to Reunite Separated Families

Five years after the Trump administration separated nearly 5,000 children and families in an attempt to deter migration, the Department of Justice has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit, Ms. L v. ICE, brought on behalf of those families by the ACLU. What began as a lawsuit representing one mother and one child quickly grew, as initial discovery in the case revealed that the scope of separations was far greater, and started far earlier, than May and June 2018, when the bulk of the separations took place.

“All of the consequences of such a horrific policy came, in part, because we don’t have an immigration system that actually centers the welfare of the child in decision-making.”

The First ‘Health’ COP Must Prioritize Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for Young People

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The 28th U.N. Climate Climate Change Conference (COP) currently meeting in Dubai until Dec. 12, is being hailed as the “Health COP”––promising to bring the climate and health agenda into the mainstream. Yet we are seeing almost no direct focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, which is a critical gap because climate change creates barriers to fulfilling those rights.

Texas Supreme Court Halts Emergency Order from Lower Court Judge Allowing Kate Cox to Abort Fetus With Lethal Abnormality

For the first time in at least 50 years, a judge has intervened to allow an adult woman to terminate her pregnancy.

Kate Cox, 31, at 20 weeks pregnant, has learned her fetus has a lethal abnormality that is almost always fatal at birth. After a 45-minute Zoom hearing Thursday, Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled that Cox should be allowed to terminate the pregnancy, and that Dr. Damla Karsan, a Houston OB-GYN, should be protected from civil and criminal penalties if she performs the procedure. The state cannot directly appeal Thursday’s order, since it is a temporary restraining order. Instead, the Office of the Attorney General would have to file a writ of mandamus petition, asking a higher court to take the extraordinary measure of overturning the emergency order.

The Difference a Guaranteed Income Makes: ‘I’ve Been Sleeping Better. I’ve Been Eating Better.’

Front and Center is a groundbreaking series created in partnership with the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which aims to put front and center the voices of Black women who are affected most by the often-abstract policies debated at the national level.

“This is my first month being a part of Magnolia Mother’s Trust and it has already made a huge difference physically and emotionally. … I’ve been sleeping better. I’ve been eating better.

“To the politicians who say programs like the Magnolia Mother’s Trust shouldn’t be expanded because it’ll stop families from working, I want to say that there are people who are working, who want to better themselves, who are trying to move out of the unsafe apartment complex that they’re in, or start a business. These programs help with that.”