In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.
Lest We Forget
“The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed to protect the future of Tribal Nations and promote the best interests of Native children, and it does just that. The touchstone law respects tribal sovereignty and protects Native children by helping Native families stay together and, whenever possible, keeping children with their extended families or community who already know them, love them, and can help them understand who they are as Native people and citizens of their Tribal Nations. The Indian Child Welfare Act safeguards that which is most precious to us all—our children. Today’s decision from the Supreme Court keeps in place a vital protection for tribal sovereignty and Native children.”
—President Biden in a statement on the Supreme Court decision Haaland v. Brackeen, which challenged the Indian Child Welfare Act. The legislation protects the right of tribal members to raise their children, prioritizing Native families and cultural preservation in foster and adoption cases.
“Since this country’s founding, Native American children have been torn away from their communities and used as pawns to undermine our tribal sovereignty. Generations of Indigenous people have endured trauma and heartbreak as our government tried to assimilate our children and decimate our people through Native American boarding schools. … Now is the time for our nation to acknowledge the truth and painful history of Native American boarding schools and the generational trauma that still exists today. Congress must immediately take up and pass important, pending legislation establishing an investigation into this shameful past. By shedding light on our shared history, together, we can embark on a journey of truth and healing for our nation and ourselves.“
—Edgar Villanueva, founder of the Decolonizing Wealth Project and Lumbee Tribe member, on the Supreme Court ruling.
“Far-right lawmakers are using their megaphones and their positions of power to bully kids. That’s what it comes down to. They are attacking people—attacking kids—for being different. For being themselves. … We all have a responsibility to stand up and make clear: This is not right. … We’ve got to push back against these attacks on trans kids every way we can: in the courts, with legislation, through executive action, and by speaking out—and speaking up. Which is why I’m here today to tell everyone facing these hateful attacks that you are not alone and you have so many people in your community and in your corner.”
—Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) condemning anti-trans bills on the Senate floor, as legislative attacks on the LGBTQ+ community continue throughout Pride Month.
“Under the newly adopted policy, the AMA recognizes issues with using BMI as a measurement due to its historical harm, its use for racist exclusion, and because BMI is based primarily on data collected from previous generations of non-Hispanic white populations. … The AMA also recognizes that relative body shape and composition differences across race/ethnic groups, sexes, genders, and age-span is essential to consider when applying BMI as a measure of adiposity and that BMI should not be used as a sole criterion to deny appropriate insurance reimbursement.”
—The American Medical Association’s statement on a new policy which warns against the use of Body Mass Index to assess individual risk and for insurance purposes. The BMI scale has been opposed by activists for decades due to its basis in white and male-centric roots.
Milestones
+ Catherine Kassenoff has been confirmed dead, Ms. has learned through an official source who does not want to reveal their identity or give further details. Kassenoff was a New York mother and accomplished attorney who said she was ending her life through an assisted suicide over Memorial Day Weekend because she couldn’t fight for custody of her daughters any longer.
“This is a story that ends with my own assisted death in Switzerland. Its lead up has been published for years on Facebook, in Ms. magazine and in other media,” Kassenoff wrote in a public post before her death. “The New York Court system is responsible for this outcome and should be held accountable for ruining the lives of my children, me, and so many other similarly-situated protective parents (mostly mothers) who have tried to stand up against abuse but were labeled ‘liars,’ ‘mentally ill’ and then treated like criminals.”
+ The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, June 8, to preserve the Voting Rights Act’s restrictions on racial gerrymandering. Alabama legislators attempted to redraw congressional boundaries in a way that would eliminate one of two Black-majority districts following the 2020 census, but were challenged in Allen v. Milligan.
“Despite his fervent campaign to dismantle the Voting Rights Act, John Roberts managed to recognize what has long been obvious: Congress is committed to protecting voters from racial discrimination,” Alliance for Justice president Rakim H.D. Brooks said in a statement. “The evidence was just too obvious here; our protections against racial gerrymandering live to see another day.”
+ After facing several criminal charges by federal prosecutors, former President Donal Trump was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday, June 8 for his mishandling of protected government records—the first-ever federal charges against a former president.
+ The Southern Baptist Convention is cracking down on women pastors serving within the denomination. Earlier this month, delegates in New Orleans at the Southern Baptists’ annual convention moved to purge women from church leadership. After leading the Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., for 30 years, Linda Barnes Popham is one of five women pastors whose churches have been expelled from the convention.
+ Olympic track athlete Tori Bowie died at age 32 in May, eight months pregnant, due to childbirth-related complications. The Associate Medical Examiner noted Bowie may have suffered from eclampsia, which occurs at higher rates in Black Americans.
We are deeply saddened to learn the cause of death of Olympic medalist and world champion sprinter, Tori Bowie.
— BET (@BET) June 12, 2023
Black women die at exceedingly higher rates due to pregnancy-related complications. We face a much higher risk of maternal death due to various reasons including… pic.twitter.com/ltsx5RDzGQ
+ Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) reintroduced the Right to Contraception Act in Congress on Wednesday, June 14, which would enshrine the right to birth control and emergency contraception access.
“My message to Republicans who claim to support the right to just get birth control: Now is your chance to prove it. Stand with us—not in our way,” Murray said at a press conference.
+ Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill on Wednesday, June 14, that moves to protect medical care when a pregnant person’s life is in danger, despite the state’s restrictive abortion ban—but the new provision only allows doctors to make an affirmative defense after they’re sued or criminalized.
How We’re Doing
+ There was a 28 percent increase in book bans during the last fall semester, according to a PEN America report on public schools. The bans disproportionately targeted books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes (26 percent). Thirty percent of the banned books included characters of color or themes of race and racism.
“Since Pen America started tracking public school book bans in July 2021, [it] has recorded more than 4,000 instances of banned books … this includes 1,477 individual book bans affecting 874 unique titles during the first half of the 2022-23 school year,” the report authors wrote.
+ The UCLA School of Law’s Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy surveyed cisgender women of reproductive age in California and found that of those having sex with male partners who do not intend to get pregnant, only three-in-four were using contraception. Nearly 1.4 million relied on sterilization and long-acting devices such as IUDs, while 933,000 used hormonal methods. Approximately 943,000 women were not using any contraception.
“An emphasis on abstinence-only sex education in the U.S. leaves many young people without access to accurate information about the effectiveness and harms of contraception. While California law requires school districts to ensure that students in grades seven to twelve receive inclusive comprehensive sexual health education, including HIV prevention education, some school districts have refused to comply with the law, leaving students to seek information elsewhere,” the authors noted. “Groups that seek to limit abortion access, especially post-Dobbs, are promoting misinformation that certain types of contraception are abortifacients.”
+ The average costs of childcare in the U.S., which hit $10,600 annually per child in 2021, has increased 220 percent since 1990. As a result, Black and Latinx family members are disproportionately leaving and turning down jobs due to child care concerns.
+ Nearly seven-in-10 Americans want to maintain legal access to first-trimester abortions, a Gallup poll found, including 47 percent of surveyed Republicans and 86 percent of surveyed Democrats. More than half of Americans (52 percent) self-identified as pro-choice for the second year in a row.
Up next:
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you. For as little as $5 each month, you’ll receive the print magazine along with our e-newsletters, action alerts, and invitations to Ms. Studios events and podcasts. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.
