Speaker Johnson Announces Anti-Trans Bathroom Ban Throughout U.S. Capitol

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday issued a statement purporting to ban transgender women from women’s restrooms and transgender men from men’s restrooms throughout the Capitol and House office buildings. 

The policy announcement from the Republican House leader was the latest move in a multi-day attack on Sarah McBride, a Democrat elected to represent Delaware in the House who will be the first out transgender member of Congress. The move also comes in the midst of attacks on transgender people more broadly—in legislation and campaigns, and elsewhere—and just weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court is due to hear a major case over the constitutionality of anti-trans laws banning gender-affirming medical care for minors.

Is Adoption Reform a Missing Element in the Fight for Reproductive Justice?

Fresh out of college, with no support from my baby’s father and still relying on my parents, I was thrust into a world of limited options and impossible choices. Little did I know that choosing what society labels “the loving option” would expose me to an unregulated industry rife with predation. Though I have a successful open adoption and immense love for the family I chose, I was unprepared for the depth of my sorrow, shame and guilt—and I had been given no warning.

As we forge ahead in the brawl for fundamental rights, I hope the reproductive justice movement remembers to carry with it the territory of adoption reform.

The Public Is Demanding Paid Sick Time. It’s Time for Lawmakers to Pay Attention.

There was a promising development in the 2024 election that should not be overlooked: By large and decisive margins, voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska all voted yes to enacting new paid sick time laws in each state. Now, 3 million more U.S. workers have the legal right to paid sick time and will no longer need to make the impossible choice between sacrificing a paycheck and going to work or sending a child to school sick.

With these ballot wins, 19 states, as well as over a dozen localities, have now embraced paid sick time as a fundamental workplace right—and that is worth celebrating. But access to such a vital protection shouldn’t depend on luck or zip code. Tens of millions of workers are still being left behind. If Congress wants to address widespread concerns about economic hardship and rising costs of living, they can listen to voters and tangibly improve the well-being of working families everywhere by passing the federal Healthy Families Act.

Worn Down, Splintered and Underrepresented: The Fight for Women’s Progress Is Far From Over

Since Election Day, I’ve cycled through a whirlwind of emotions and tried to make sense of it all. In this time of unprecedented division, when hope felt within reach—the chance to elect the first woman president—history took a familiar turn and, once again, did not break that ultimate glass ceiling. 

But history also teaches us that meaningful change is rarely linear. It’s slow, uneven and complicated—especially when women don’t speak with one voice. Progress requires resilience, grit and an unwavering commitment to push through hard times. Taking action is key. And as hard as it can be, the effort is always worth it, even when it’s hard to see.

Japan’s Far-Right ‘Jokes’ About Forced Hysterectomies as Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook Goes Global

As Americans grapple with the shadow of Trump’s second term, they’d do well to watch what’s happening in Japan, Hungary, Brazil and beyond. When satire is weaponized as a tool for authoritarianism, it’s not just rhetoric—it’s strategy.

Japan’s Conservative Party leader Naoki Hyakuta sparked outrage on a Nov. 11 YouTube broadcast with “solutions” to Japan’s declining birthrate that sound more like a dystopian nightmare than public policy. His proposals—banning women from university after the age of 18, legally preventing women over 25 who are single from ever marrying, and, most chillingly, surgically removing the wombs of women once they turn 30—were framed as “science fiction by a novelist” intended to “spark debate.” But in a country still grappling with gender equality, many Japanese citizens see through the thin veneer of satire. 

There’s a Growing Movement to Recognize Abortion as a Human Right. A Recent Supreme Court Case Shows How Necessary This Is.

The election of Donald Trump to a second term has abortion rights advocates across the country worried about a renewed assault on abortion access. These fears are well-founded, but they must also account for successful ballot measures and other victories that demonstrate sustainable, popular support for abortion rights expansion. This enthusiasm for progress is perhaps best encapsulated by the movement to recognize abortion as a human right.

In October, members of Congress introduced a resolution that commended state and local governments for “championing reproductive rights as human rights.” These efforts represent a growing movement that rejects past compromises on abortion rights and sees human rights recognition as the only path forward for safe and accessible abortion care in the United States. Given the Supreme Court’s recent failure to rule definitively on the right to abortion during life-threatening health emergencies, this movement couldn’t come at a more critical moment.

It’s Time for Federal Paid Leave for Caregivers

No one is prepared to become a caregiver, but at some point, we will either be a caregiver or we will need to be cared for. In a country without a federal paid leave program, caregivers like me have to decide if we go to work or stay home and take care of ourselves or a family member.

Millions of people are faced with an unimaginable choice between taking care of a loved one or losing employment and health care benefits every day. In a country without a federal paid leave program, caregivers like me have to decide if we go to work or stay home and take care of ourselves or a family member. The time for a federal paid leave program is now, so we can all care for our families without losing employment and income.

Feeling Sold Out by Your Own Country Isn’t New for Many Americans

In my university classes, I teach undergraduates about the ways in which people on the land that is today the United States have been accepted or rejected as American citizens, and how even those who have gained citizenship must continually fight for their status as full citizens. We discuss issues facing minority groups including indigenous, Black and LGBTQ Americans. And we discuss marginalized majority groups: women and working and middle-class Americans. Students learn how all these struggles persist over decades, if not centuries.

History and politics are cyclical. Logically, I know this is how the American story goes. (And so many stories across the globe.) But it still hurts anyway. There are big changes coming, but as the late civil rights icon, Rep. John Lewis, wrote in his masterful op-ed published posthumously: “The truth does not change.” It is on us to speak that truth to power. It is more important than ever to stay engaged, to resist the urge to flee or opt out of the political process when we get that taste of loss or rejection—a feeling that’s all too familiar for many Americans.

The ‘Woman in Charge’: Diane von Furstenberg’s Lifelong Commitment to Empowering Women, Fashion and Philanthropy

Though her fame as a designer came through the success of her iconic wrap dress, Diane von Furstenberg has said, “I don’t think I had a vocation for fashion; I had a vocation to be a woman in charge.”

Towards the end of the exhibit—on display at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles until Aug. 31, 2025—a QR code directs visitors to sign up for her more recent innovation: the “InCharge platform,” which serves as “a place to rally, where we use our connections to help all women be the women they want to be.” Its aim urges women to make “first a commitment to ourselves” by “owning who we are” and then to use the platform to “connect, expand, inspire, and advocate.” It is her latest project in a lifetime of advocacy meant to strengthen women.