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
“I am your protector. I want to be your protector. Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”
—Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedom than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face, she may chase a squirrel in the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban. A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not in public.”
—Meryl Streep at an event on Afghan women’s rights at the U.N. General Assembly.
“The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact check.”
—JD Vance at the vice presidential debate, after moderators clarified that the Haitians immigrants in Ohio he continues to demonize do have legal status.
“That is a damning non-answer. … America, I think you’ve got a really clear choice on this election of who’s going to honor that democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”
—Tim Walz at the vice presidential debate, responding to Vance’s refusal to say Trump lost the 2020 election.
“The news of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller’s deaths this week shook me to my very core. These deaths were preventable. The vast majority of Black maternal deaths are preventable. It’s time to speak plainly—every legislator who voted for Georgia’s abortion ban, every justice on the Supreme Court who ruled to end Roe v. Wade, and former President Donald Trump himself, who orchestrated our nation’s current health care crisis, are all responsible for Amber and Candi’s deaths as well as the many people across the country who are put in dangerous situations trying to get the healthcare they need.”
—Nourbese Flint, president of All* Above All, in response to the preventable deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller as a result of Georgia’s abortion ban.
“Anti-choice Georgia lawmakers put politics before safety, health and care. Our state has made performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to a decade in prison, even when a patient is on the brink of death. And the tragic death of Amber Nicole Thurman, which experts have deemed as “preventable,” is the result of these heartless attacks on our bodies. This is the reality of being a Black woman seeking care in an anti-abortion America. We are dying.
“From high rates of maternal mortality to bearing the disproportionate impacts of abortion bans, Black women have endured attacks on our bodily autonomy throughout American history. This fight is not new to us. But right now, we must fight harder than ever before to defeat extremist politicians who oppose bodily autonomy.”
—SisterSong’s executive director, Monica Simpson
“My kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”
—Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders criticized Vice President Harris for not having biological children at a Trump campaign rally in Michigan.
“When antiabortion extremists like Donald Trump say they want to ‘leave abortion up to the states,’ what they really mean is that they want millions of people across the country to be denied access to healthcare. We know what happens when abortion is ‘left up to the states’—families like mine endure unimaginable cruelty.”
—Samantha Casiano, a Texas mother who was forced to give birth despite knowing her daughter would survive just a few hours due to a congenital defect.
“Some things are more important than staying in power. It’s your people that matter the most.”
—President Biden explaining his decision not to seek reelection while speaking to the U.N.
“Today we honor the memory of Rosie Jiménez, who was the first person who died because of the unjust 1977 ban on funding for abortion care. She died because she couldn’t afford care and she left behind a child and family. Nearly 50 years later, restrictions on abortion care and funding are still hurting our communities, as we learned recently about the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller because of their state’s abortion ban. They, and the others we may not know about, should still be alive, and would be if we had full access to this lifesaving health care. Unfortunately, this lack of access disproportionately affects communities of color, including Latinas/xs.
“No one should be denied the care they need, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they have. As we remember Rosie and the many more who have died because of abortion bans and funding restrictions, we owe it to them to create a country where everyone has the right, opportunity and resources to make their own decisions about their bodies and lives, including whether and when to become parents, and to raise their families with dignity and safety.”
—Lupe M. Rodríguez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, honoring Rosie Jiménez on Oct 3.
Milestones
+ Vice Presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance faced off in a debate Tuesday night. Governor Walz defended policies like abortion rights, paid family leave and tax credits for parents and first-time homebuyers. He pressed Vance on Jan. 6, the bipartisan border bill and the 2020 election, revealing Vance’s reluctance to go against Donald Trump.
Sen. Vance acknowledged that Republicans need to rebuild trust over reproductive rights, and argued that schools should focus on school safety and mental health instead of gun control. He also attempted to give Trump credit for the Affordable Care Act, and blamed everything from housing costs to gun violence on undocumented immigrants and Kamala Harris.
+ The Florida abortion rights campaign “Yes on 4” raised more than $7.8 million in one week, with almost half of donors giving between $10 and $25. In total, Floridians Protecting Freedom has raised more than $56 million, compared to the $2.6 million raised by their opposing antiabortion group.
+ The Florida Access Network (FAN) launched a new billboard and ad campaign, calling for Floridians to join the fight against abortion stigma and raise awareness of abortion funds.
“We’re not backing down. Despite the relentless attacks, we believe in a Florida where we can all live our best lives, love who we love, and access the reproductive care we need. Floridians have always needed abortion care, and they always will. We’re here to ensure they get it, no matter what,” explained FAN executive director Stephanie Loraine Pineiro.
+ For the second time, Senate Republicans—including JD Vance—blocked a bill designed to protect access to IVF.
Instead, Sen. Cruz (R-Tex.) tried to push a bill that would allow states to enact burdensome restrictions on IVF. Sen Murray (D-Wash.) said the “Republican bill does nothing to meaningfully protect IVF from the biggest threats from lawmakers and anti-abortion extremists all over this country. It would still allow states to regulate IVF out of existence! And this bill is silent on fetal personhood, which is the biggest threat to IVF.”
+ Vice President Harris voiced support for ending the Senate filibuster to pass an abortion rights bill. Without eliminating the filibuster, 60 senators, not just a simple majority, will need to support reproductive rights.
+ A federal judge, Robert McBurney, struck down a six-week abortion ban, finding that it violated the Georgia constitution. “Liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices. When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then—and only then—may society intervene,” he wrote.
+ Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear banned conversion therapy for minors, joining 23 states and D.C. in prohibiting the dangerous anti-LGBTQ practice.
“Conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science, and it can cause significant long-term harm to our kids, including increased rates of suicide and depression. This is about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them,” said Beshear.
+ Tara Dower set a new record on the Appalachian Trail, finishing the long-distance trek in just 40 days and 18 hours. The ultrarunner and long-distance hiker also raised $21,000 for physical education nonprofit Girls on the Run along the way.
+ Aisha Nyandoro, founding CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, is on the TIME 100 Next list—making her among the next 100 most influential people in the world. The Ms. series Front & Center offers first-person accounts of Black mothers who work with Springboard and live in Jackson, Miss. (Explore the full series here, including the series relaunch.)
Last month, Nyandoro also received the Heinz Award in the Economy.
+ University of Pennsylvania professor Dorothy Roberts has won a prestigious MacArthur Foundation “genius” award—one of just 22 fellows to be named this year. Roberts hosted the Ms. limited series podcast, Torn Apart, which examines the child welfare system and advocates for abolishing family policing and reimagining child welfare, and is based on her award-winning book by the same name.
+ Amira Diamond and Melinda Kramer, climate activists and co-founders of the Women’s Earth Alliance, received the Heinz Award for the Environment. Their work has provided women leaders in 31 countries with the training, funding and support they need to take action on climate initiatives.
+ Sept. 28 was the 24th anniversary of the FDA approving mifepristone. “I’ve witnessed firsthand the profound impact that access to mifepristone has had on my patients over the past 24 years. We will continue to advocate for care based on medical and scientific evidence, not ideology and politics to ensure that all people have the compassionate, comprehensive evidence-based health care they deserve. Access to mifepristone is about more than health—it’s about justice, autonomy, and dignity, and we will not stop fighting for it,” said OB-GYN and Physicians for Reproductive Health president and CEO Dr. Jamila Perritt.
+ Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) plans to introduce a bill allocating $10 billion to the fight against long COVID. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the matching Senate bill in August. The bill would establish a new research program within NIH, and fund public education and clinics dedicated to the chronic condition affecting over 23 million Americans.
+ The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act was signed into law. It allows maternal and child health grants to be used to prevent stillbirths, and will lead to better state-level data and reporting about stillbirth deaths.
How We’re Doing
+ Tuesday, Oct. 3, marks Latina Equal Pay Day, when Latinas catch up to what white men earned in the previous year. Last year, the wage gap for Latinas was stark, with earnings on average at 51 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
+ Polls suggest that American women are moving more to the left, while young men are becoming more conservative. Harris is currently winning women by 21 points, while Trump is leading by 13 points among men. Forty percent of women ages 18-29 now identify as liberal or very liberal, compared to 25 percent of men and 27 percent of women 30 and older.
+ Maternal mortality in Texas rose by 56 percent from 2019 to 2022, compared to 11 percent nationwide. Evidence indicates that the state’s abortion ban is to blame, and is also resulting in women going without prenatal care and OB-GYN appointments.
+ Abortion care in Florida decreased by over 30 percent after the state’s six-week abortion ban went into effect in May. Even steeper declines were seen in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas.
+ Research into school district leadership found that just 30 percent of superintendents are women, despite teachers being 80 pecent women. Forty percent of the top 500 superintendencies are leaders of color, and just 14 percent are women of color.
Women superintendents are also held to greater expectations. They are 15 percent more likely to hold a doctoral degree than their white male counterparts. But when positions open, men replace men 70 percent of the time, and men replace women 60 percent of the time. The researchers advocate for policies like balanced hiring processes, family support, financial fairness and leadership support systems to lower barriers against women leaders.
+ More than 3 in 5 Americans support legal abortion medication to end a pregnancy at home and roughly the same amount agree that patients deserve access to abortion medication through telehealth and mail services.
+ In 2023, 17 percent of LGBTQ adults experienced discrimination or harassment at work. Trans and nonbinary workers were more than twice as likely to experience both than cisgender queer employees. Despite federal protections for LGBTQ workers, almost half are not out to their supervisor and one-fifth aren’t out to any coworkers. Those who are out are three times as likely to report discrimination.
Nonbinary people are more likely to hide their identities. Unfortunately, their gender expression frequently becomes a target for violence or threats, with 3 in 5 reporting workplace discrimination or harassment at some point in their lives.
+ More than a third of women workers worry that their age will negatively affect their job, and almost a quarter are concerned about the career impact of health changes like menopause. Women tend to be less comfortable discussing their health at work, and over 50 percent of women but only 42 percent of men think they should get time off work to manage symptoms of menopause and menstruation.
+ Now that many pandemic-era childcare policies have expired, costs have risen to new heights. In New York, prices have increased by 46 percent since 2019, averaging almost $20,000 per year for infant care. However, the American Rescue Plan grants worked—about 40 percent of childcare programs would have been forced to close during COVID without them. States that have continued to invest money in childcare are doing better than others, but new federal investments are needed to help centers retain employees and keep costs down.
The American public agrees: 89 percent of voters want candidates to have a plan ready to help working parents afford high-quality childcare. This includes 99 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of Independents, and 80 percent of Republicans. Sixty-eight percent of voters say access to childcare is important to strengthening the economy.
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