What Women Do With Political Power—and Why It Matters More Than Ever

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!

This week has been a challenging one for many of us: The fires rage on in Los Angeles, snow has blanketed many southern states for the first time in decades, and the climate in Washington, D.C., is literally and figuratively freezing. The new administration issued an historic number of executive orders that threaten to undermine gains for women and other marginalized constituencies.

In this week’s Weekend Reading, we cover the legacy of Cecile Richards, a new report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on authoritarianism and patriarchy, the impact of ranked-choice voting and open primaries on the legislative process in Alaska, the majority-women legislature in New Mexico, Joe Biden and the Equal Rights Amendment, access to a governmental website on women’s health, a monument celebrating women suffragists, and Oscar nominations.


Rest in Power: Reproductive Rights Champion Cecile Richards

Cecile Richards at the DNC in 2012. (Jenny Warburg)

Lifelong feminist, activist and former president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, died this week. Known as one of the strongest reproductive justice advocates in the U.S., she remained active in championing healthcare access for women, even after her cancer diagnosis. Richards, the daughter of Ann Richards, the first female governor of Texas, also co-founded Supermajority, an organization that promotes women’s leadership.

Roxanne Szal for Ms. wrote:

Richards was a frequent contributor and newsmaker at Ms.: as a guest on On the Issues With Michele Goodwin, and as a source for reproductive rights and Texas-related stories.

Throughout her career, Richards was one of the strongest pro-abortion rights activists in the U.S. Despite her cancer diagnosis in mid-2023, Richards remained a strong and trailblazing force for women’s health. Later that year, she helped launch a new online chatbot named Charley to help abortion seekers in all 50 states find quick, accurate and confidential abortion information, tailored to their individual needs and circumstances. She was a speaker at the Democratic National Convention in August, where she also helped to cast Texas’ votes to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

As Michele Goodwin wrote (also in Ms.), “On her untimely death on the holiday celebrating Dr. King’s life and legacy, the phrase ‘rest in power’ seems fitting.”


Patriarchy and Authoritarianism Work in Tandem to Undermine Democracy

The People’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18, 2025. (Ria Deshmukh)

As Donald Trump assumes the presidency and his party starts advancing legislation from a position of control of both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, this new report by Saskia Brechenmacher for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is sobering for any readers who have assumed increased women’s leadership was inevitable. Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

A growing body of evidence suggests that patriarchy and authoritarianism are not just related phenomena, but often operate as mutually reinforcing political projects. Particularly where threats to democracy emanate from far-right populist movements and leaders, attacks on women’s and LGBTQ rights and appeals to traditional gender hierarchies are important and often overlooked elements of illiberal discourse, mobilization and coalition-building strategies, and ideology. This article unpacks these linkages, highlighting four major points of intersection. It focuses primarily on the United States but draws on comparative examples from other contexts, including Brazil, India, Poland, and Türkiye.


Ranked-Choice Voting and Open Primaries Work in Tandem to Strengthen Democracy in Alaska

Freshmen Reps. Nellie Jimmie and Robyn Burke (center left and right) are sworn in alongside Reps. Neal Foster and Bryce Edgmon on the first day of session on Jan. 21, 2025. (Gavel Alaska)

In the midst of a troubling week for women and for democracy it was heartening to read this update from Matt Buxten on the beginning of the legislative session in Alaska, where women now hold the majority of seats in the House and bipartisanship is flourishing:

The Alaska Legislature gaveled in today, marking the start of the 34th Legislature that will serve the next two years. As was the case with the start of most sessions, the day was focused on the formalities of swearing in legislators and selecting each chamber’s leadership. In the Senate, the 14-member majority selected moderate Kenai Republican Sen. Gary Stevens for another term as Senate President. In the House, the 21-member majority put Dillingham independent Rep. Bryce Edgmon back in the Speaker’s seat, which he held from 2017 through 2020.  

The new session marks the first time in recent memory that bipartisan or multipartisan majorities control both chambers, and it’ll also be the first time that the House has a majority of women. Among the 21 women in the Alaska House, the three Alaska Native women—Reps. Maxine Dibert, Nellie Unangik Jimmie and Robyn Niayuq Burke—are the most in the chamber’s history.


New Mexico’s Woman-Majority State Legislature Prioritizes Women and Families  

(RepresentWomen)

Anita Gonzales’ victory in the New Mexico Legislature is part of a broader transformation where women now hold nearly two-thirds of House seats—the highest woman legislative majority in U.S. history. Women lawmakers have changed the legislative culture, addressing sexual harassment and championing policies to reduce child poverty and protect reproductive rights.

It is important to note: New Mexico state representatives do not receive a salary. Our report, “Salaries of State: Modernizing State Legislatures through Compensation Commissions,” highlights how compensation removes barriers for women running for/serving in office.

Cecilia Nowell for Mother Jones wrote:

Female legislators already have made enormous gains by putting progressive ideas into policy in the state. Since 2018, when New Mexico first elected a female majority to the House, legislators have implemented near-universal free child carepaid sick leavefree school meals, and medical aid in dying. They also codified the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions into state law so those protections will stand if the act is gutted at the federal level—as Trump allies have vowed to do—offered a child tax creditraised teacher salaries 20 percent, and repealed the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban

In the legislative session that begins Tuesday, lawmakers are expected to take up paid family medical leaveincreased funding for early childhood education, and Medicaid reimbursements for birth centers and behavioral health care—as well as deflecting whatever attacks the new Trump administration throws at them. “There’s a chance for me to help protect my girls from legislators and from laws that want to control their bodies,” says Sarah Silva, a longtime community organizer and first-time candidate who was elected to represent the Las Cruces area in the House. “There’s an opportunity for me to protect immigrant families here on the border. There’s an opportunity for me to make sure that families have every opportunity to get their needs met.” 


The Legal Status of the Equal Rights Amendment

Demonstrators carry an ERA banner on Pennsylvania Avenue during the Equal Rights Amendment March in Washington D.C., July 9, 1978. (Ann E. Zelle / Getty Images)

One of President Biden’s final acts in office was to declare the Equal Rights Amendment ratified and officially the 28th Amendment to the Constitution.

As Erwin Chemerinsky wrote in Ms.:

Former President Joe Biden’s statement that the Equal Rights Amendment has been ratified and should be deemed part of the Constitution is welcome and correct as to the law. But it also is likely to engender great confusion and unfortunately has no legal effect. …

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the ERA in 1971 and the Senate in 1972. In accordance with the Constitution, it then went to the states for ratification. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment. Thus, Biden is correct: The requirements for the ERA to be deemed the 28th Amendment have been met. …

But whether it’s this Congress or a future one, Congress still can and should deem the ERA to be properly ratified. It then unquestionably will be part of the Constitution. Unfortunately, Biden’s proclamation, though laudable, makes no legal difference.

(art by Melanie Humble)

Trump Pauses Communication on Public Health and Reproductive Rights

One of President Trump’s many executive orders issued over the last week was to take down reproductiverights.gov, a website designed to support women across the nation looking to access reproductive healthcare services. This site also clarified the use of mifepristone

Coupled with multiple directives to suspend notification services from public health agencies and withdrawing from the World Health Organization, this move will only make it harder for women to access necessary medical care in the United States.

Lauren Fichten of CBS wrote: 

The site, launched in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of a public awareness campaign, contained information on access to abortion and reproductive health care and a Know-Your-Rights patient fact sheet. 

“Reproductive health care, including access to birth control and safe and legal abortion care, is an essential part of your health and well-being,” a statement on the website read. “While Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortion remains legal in many states, and other reproductive health care services remain protected by law.”


Bipartisan Plans For a Women’s Monument in Washington, D.C., Move Forward

In “How a Monument to Women Finally Won a Place on the National Mall,” the New York Times’ Jennifer Schuessler tells the gripping story of the bipartisan push of women Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Tammy Baldwin who overcame resistance from men in Congress and the National Park Service to establish the first-ever memorial on the National Mall featuring women. The memorial will commemorate the women who doubled the size of the American electorate, with Wisconsin having been the first state to ratify the 19th Amendment and Tennessee the final necessary state.

“Baldwin and Blackburn paid tributes to famous suffragists both Black and white, along with what Baldwin called “the countless other women who fought and continued to fight for true equality for women in this country.” What true equality means remains a matter of contentious debate. But in a statement, Blackburn (rated one of the Senate’s most conservative members) noted her across-the-aisle collaboration with Baldwin (one of the most liberal). “The Women’s Suffrage National Monument will give the women who pioneered the way for future generations the recognition they deserve on the National Mall,” she said.

The project, Laymon estimates, will be ready for unveiling in 2030 or 2031.


What’s Your Choice for Best Picture?

Oscar nominations were announced this week. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is surprisingly ahead of the curve regarding elections. The Academy uses gendered categories to ensure women in acting roles are nominated and recognized for their work. Oscar nominees are chosen with proportional ranked choice voting, while winners are chosen using ranked choice voting, creating a fair selection of winners with majority support.

  • Read more on the use of ranked-choice voting by Oscar voters in this 2022 piece by RepresentWomen team member Katie Usalis.
  • Then, vote like an Academy member, and rank these newly announced Best Picture nominees!

My amaryllis and paperwhites are in full bloom—filling my kitchen with the aroma of spring.

Meanwhile, the snow keeps falling in Washington, D.C., but my trusty solar lights keep burning bright.

That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend!

About

Cynthia Richie Terrell is the founder and executive director of RepresentWomen and a founding board member of the ReflectUS coalition of non-partisan women’s representation organizations. Terrell is an outspoken advocate for innovative rules and systems reforms to advance women’s representation and leadership in the United States. Terrell and her husband Rob Richie helped to found FairVote—a nonpartisan champion of electoral reforms that give voters greater choice, a stronger voice and a truly representative democracy. Terrell has worked on projects related to women's representation, voting system reform and democracy in the United States and abroad.