More Than A Magazine, A Movement
In the war against Trump-era authoritarianism and inequality, federal funding is another battlefront—and feminists are “battle ready.”
(This is the final installment in a four-part series on the steps activists are taking to fight for our rights amid Trump’s attacks on democracy.)
We are learning just how deeply offended powerful men are by the idea that any limits might be placed on them. Faced with the most basic oversight, they have lashed out and are now determined to take bodily and economic autonomy away from the rest of us.
With federal AI governance on hold, we have a unique opportunity to reassess our approach and address the growing AI divide. Rather than blindly pushing forward with inequitable systems, we can focus on building AI policies that prioritize fairness, access and inclusion. This moment offers a chance to shape AI’s future in a way that truly serves all communities, not just the privileged few.
The Trump administration’s recent attempt to freeze federal funding has sparked renewed debate about government efficiency and program effectiveness. While the freeze was quickly reversed following public outcry, it highlights a fundamental tension: how to balance fiscal responsibility with essential support for vulnerable populations. There’s a proven approach that could satisfy both imperatives: place-based programming.
Not satisfied with the overthrow of Roe v. Wade and Trump’s compliance with nearly all things Project 2025, right-wing conservatives are pushing the president to go further. In a chilling blueprint, “Stopping Pills that Kill,” antiabortion groups urge President Trump to stop the movement of domestic and international abortion pills using the Comstock Act of 1873 and a dragnet of new regulations.
The new scheme calls for every U.S. law enforcement entity to play a role—federal, state and city/county agencies. Starting at home, extremists urge Trump to compel federal prosecutors to charge providers of abortion pills weaponizing both the Comstock Act and racketeering statutes (RICO) for using the postal system. They would then add regulations governing the U.S. postmaster general and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to list abortion pills as “nonmailable … hazardous materials or devices that may present an immediate threat to persons,” which would make shipping them a federal offense carrying civil and possibly criminal penalties.
New York is taking a stand against conservative states’ attempts to criminalize out-of-state abortion providers. By refusing to extradite Dr. Margaret Carpenter to Louisiana, Gov. Kathy Hochul is reinforcing the state’s telehealth shield law, setting up a major legal showdown over abortion access across state lines.
“There just aren’t any bereavement days for a child that never was. … . If you know me and love me: Without abortion, you would be visiting my grave. You would be remembering me. You would be telling my motherless children about me.”
Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. Telling stories of then and now shows how critical abortion has been and continues to be for women and girls. (Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.)
“I truly am one of the lucky ones. We cannot go back. We need to forge ahead, shining the brightest of lights on this issue, to stand behind our fellow women in their darkest of hours. A wise woman once told me, our stories are powerful and this is my story. Dedicated to all six of my children, living and non-living, and to all of my fellow warriors who have suffered in silence.”
Chrystia Freeland, the former deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Canada, has taken on Trump before. During his last presidency, she was Canada’s quarterback, who amidst Trump’s snarky comments and bullying, charmingly negotiated her way out into a cohesive NAFTA deal that worked not only for Canada but all players. Now she is up for a rematch.
In a time where masculinity is once again defining much of global leadership, many women in power are looking to one another for inspiration, solidarity and models of leadership that challenge the status quo. Freeland, it seemed, unintentionally has been seen as a female leader among international peers, even before she officially launched her recent leadership campaign focused on taking on Trump.
With all the upheaval, just two weeks in, that has accompanied the second term of the current presidential administration, the 67th annual Grammy Awards show came and went Sunday night like a welcome distraction. Even calling the event a “distraction” misses the serious work of art and its purpose in troubled times: to mobilize the masses, reaffirm our values and spread joy and light amid the darkness.
The big night, however, went to pop star Beyoncé, who not only made history as the first Black woman to win Best Country Album, but finally earned Album of the Year for her politically salient album Cowboy Carter, after previously losing in the category. The album, which opened with a “requiem” for America and closed on a prayer that “we’ll be the ones to purify our fathers’ sins,” calls on all of us to witness this nation’s history and its present, to reckon with its “sins” of exclusion and discrimination and demand that we purify it toward the democratic promise it has always held out for all of us and not just a select few determined to set us back on a backward course.
A fierce feminist resistance is ready to defend women’s rights at the federal level—and creatively expand equality protections in the states. This is the third in a four-part series on the steps activists are taking to fight for our rights amid Trump’s attacks on democracy.
(This is the third in a four-part series on the steps activists are taking to fight for our rights amid Trump administration’s attacks on democracy.)