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 sit here … and wonder how many more firsts will be sacrificed to the whims of the U.S. government, which denied me even the chance of furlough to attend your birth. How is it that the same politicians who preach ‘family values’ are the ones tearing families apart? …
“Deen, my love for you is deeper than anything I have ever known. … I hope one day you will stand tall knowing your father was not absent out of apathy, but out of conviction. And I will spend my life making up for the moments we lost—starting with this one, writing to you with all the love in my heart.”
—Mahmoud Khalil wrote a powerful letter to his newborn son while he remains detained by the Trump administration for pro-Palestinian activism. Khalil was finally able to hold Deen last week, despite the Trump administration’s attempts to keep them apart. A federal judge was forced to step in after ICE denied a “contact visit” with his family and suggested he should instead self-deport.
“In the dark of night, Republicans released new parts of their extreme budget bill that will abandon working families, seniors, kids, and people with disabilities in order to finance a tax handout for the rich. … Punishing hungry kids and seniors struggling to get healthcare isn’t ‘America first’—it’s billionaires first, working families last. It’s past time Republicans grow a backbone and stand up against Trump’s dangerous agenda, or they’ll face the consequences in the midterms.”
—DNC chair Ken Martin on House Republican’s reconciliation bill, which passed 215 to 214.
“This bill is unacceptable, inhumane and reckless. Republicans in the White House and Congress know that these proposed changes to SNAP—which go even further than the budget reconciliation directives— are outrageous and destructive. In fact, that’s the point. They know damn well that neither states nor individuals can meet the new requirements put on them by these changes, and that this is how they plan to force millions of people off of SNAP while giving tax breaks to their wealthiest donors. …
“Republicans are punishing people living with food insecurity in states and rural areas that are already understaffed and ill-equipped. The bill is a particularly egregious attack on single mothers in this country, who will have no way of managing the draconian expansion of SNAP’s already onerous work requirements. And it will be uniquely difficult for our partners in Tribal communities.”
—MAZON president and CEO Abby J. Leibman on the House Republicans’ reconciliation bill. MAZON co-led a letter signed by more than 150 Jewish organizations opposing cuts to SNAP and Medicaid.
“This hearing is actually not about oversight or DOGE, but about spreading hate and using trans lives to distract from the real issues that Americans are facing—from attacks on our economy, to attacks on our democracy, to attacks on our communities. It’s about bullying trans kids and members of the trans community to distract from the failed policies of the Trump administration, the failed policies and exploitation of this DOGE Subcommittee, and the GOP’s own cruel agenda that is happening right now here on Capitol Hill as they’re trying to gut Medicaid, gut food assistance, and gut environmental programs to give tax breaks to billionaires. …
“There is literally no oversight happening here in this committee under the GOP. In fact, my colleagues have failed to bring even a single administration witness here to this committee.
“So why bully trans kids? Why take up airspace to bully a population that only makes up 0.6 percent of the population? … Republicans are focused on the wrong 1 percent. Honestly, it’s weird and it’s wrong, and I just want to say to all of the people in the trans community who are watching, we uplift your stories. We are fighting for the community.”
—Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) slammed a hearing led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on trans women athletes.
“Voters are tired of Republicans enabling Trump, and they’re ready to reject candidates that co-sign his extreme, out-of-touch agenda that hurts working families. Last night’s victory, in a district Donald Trump won by 55 points in November, is yet another proof point Republicans are sinking. While Trump and Republicans side with billionaires, voters are siding with strong Democratic leaders who will fight for everyday Americans, protect their rights, and uphold their freedoms.”
—DNC chair Ken Martin celebrated Democrat Sam Sutton’s huge upset victory in the New York Senate District 22 special election, a district that Trump won by 55 points.
Milestones
+ In a video shared on X, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his department will no longer advise healthy pregnant women and children to receive the COVID vaccine—an unusual decision that sidesteps the standard process led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Until this recent change, the CDC and major medical organizations (such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine) strongly recommended vaccination for anyone 6 months and older, including pregnant women and children. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to meet later to discuss further recommendations.
+ The House of Representatives passed their reconciliation bill, with two Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it. It includes severe cuts of almost $1 trillion to SNAP and Medicaid that would devastate millions of Americans. More than 71 million Americans rely on Medicaid, and 42 million receive SNAP benefits. Hospitals and grocery stores will also be affected, especially in rural communities.
Now, the package goes to the Senate.
+ The White House claimed the reconciliation bill is “pro-family,” because it “strengthens paid family leave.” However, the paid leave tax credit they’re referencing rewards employers for providing as little as two weeks of paid leave at a fraction of a workers’ wages, and is only used by around 1,000 businesses.
+ Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law, making it a federal crime to share revenge porn and deepfake nudes. Platforms now have to remove content within 48 hours of a victim reporting it, and the law makes it clear that consent to take or create a photo does not mean there’s consent to share it.
“While the Take It Down Act offers a lifeline to victims of deepfake and revenge porn, critical blind spots, burdensome procedures, loopholes for offenders and a reactive framework threaten to undercut its promise,” wrote Sylvia Lu in Ms.
+ Doctors for America (DFA) and the cities of Columbus, Ohio and Madison, Wis. are stepping to defend a 2024 rule that expanded HIPAA rights to include reproductive care, which has been threatened by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Trump administration has chosen not to defend the rule in three other related cases.
+ Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk was released from federal custody after a judge ruled she was arrested and detained for more than six weeks solely in retaliation for an op-ed criticizing her school’s response to the war in Gaza. She is still at risk of deportation, like other non-citizen students the administration is targeting.
+ Actor Busy Philipps and Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) will co-chair the new Motherboard leadership network of the Vote Mama PAC designed to elect and support Democratic moms.
“Moms have always been political—whether or not anyone’s been paying attention. The Motherboard is how we bust through closed doors, shake up the status quo, and give a loud, unapologetic voice to the people who’ve been told to wait their turn. We’re getting moms elected, supported, and leading on the issues that actually matter, like paid leave and childcare,” said Philipps.
+ Trump accepted a luxury jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar, which he will keep after leaving office. The “palace in the sky” is estimated to cost $400 million, and Trump’s acceptance of the bribe blatantly breaks the law. When Democratic congress members pointed out the ethical and legal concerns of the “gift,” Trump called them “world class losers” on Truth Social.
+ Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled Title VII no longer protects sexual orientation or gender identity, contradicting the Supreme Court. Texas and the Heritage Foundation are suing the EEOC in an attempt to roll back workplace protections for LGBTQ people, and Judge Kacsmaryk upheld policies banning trans employees from using the correct restroom, and requiring dress codes consistent with “biological gender.”
+ Despite Missouri voting to protect abortion rights in November, state politicians passed a resolution giving the general assembly the authority to defy the will of the people and ban abortion once again. It will appear on the ballot with deceptive language designed to mislead voters about abortion and birth control.
So far this year, over 15 states have introduced more than 100 bills trying to overturn abortion rights votes or prevent future ballot measures upholding access to abortion.
+ Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus joined advocates outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments for Trump v. CASA, condemning the administration’s attempt to end birthright citizenship.
“Donald Trump’s executive order is a direct attack on immigrant communities and an affront to our national values,” said CHC chair Adriano Espaillat. “The Supreme Court must reject the dangerous attempt by the Trump administration to stop the nationwide pause on their illegal executive order and reaffirm that in every state in America, if you’re born here, you belong here.”
+ RFK Jr. is using a widely discredited pseudo-study report as an excuse to request the FDA reevaluate access to mifepristone—”a stunning move that could mark the first step toward a nationwide ban on abortion pills,” according to Ms. writer and editor Carrie Baker. Mifepristone has been found to be safe and effective for abortion care by the FDA, WHO, and more than 100 studies over 30 years of use. More than two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. use mifepristone.
+ A federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from canceling $3.2 million in grants to the American Bar Association (ABA) to train lawyers to represent victims of domestic and sexual violence. The ABA believes it was retaliation for their suit against the government for freezing foreign aid, since they have received the grant funding from the Justice Department since 1995.
+ Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) led a letter requesting funding for the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). They need resources to hire qualified immigration judges and address the backlog of more than 3.6 million pending court cases.
“This growing backlog impedes our immigration system, creating significant barriers for people legally seeking asylum, migrants, pregnant women, and people with disabilities that seek to remain in the United States. These complex cases can take up to seven years before receiving a hearing, leaving migrants, families, and communities in legal limbo as they await hearings and decisions,” the letter emphasizes.
+ Six civil rights organizations have signed an open letter calling on leaders and major institutions, like universities, media organizations, law firms and businesses, to stand up against the Trump administration and defend the freedoms of press and speech. In April, hundreds of college presidents signed a letter protesting the “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” on higher education.
+ Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), along with every Democrat on the Senate Judiciary committee, requested Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) call a hearing to discuss the Trump administration’s violations of due process while disappearing, detaining and deporting immigrants.
+ Most of the state legislators in South Carolina’s Family Caucus have left the group and rebuked caucus leader Rep. John McCravy, after he stood with antiabortion extremists in calling for a strict abortion ban. Caucus co-founder Davey Hiott also accused McCravy of making homophobic and anti-Semitic comments about fellow legislators.
How We’re Doing
+ LGBTQ Americans are twice as likely to need abortions than straight people. Researchers say this is because they are more likely to be poor and lack access to quality medical care and sex education. Nearly 36 percent of LGBTQ adults live in the South, where most states have banned or restricted abortion care.
+ Trump’s support among Latino voters is declining, as 66 percent believe his deportations are going too far. That includes 36 percent of Latinos who voted for Trump in 2024. Just 38 percent of respondents approve of Trump’s performance so far, and there has been a 22 point downward swing in approval among young Latino men.
+ Many men and boys are struggling with behavioral and emotional problems affecting their achievements. Eighty-three percent of boys graduate high school, compared to 89 percent of girls; 66 percent of those recent female graduates and 57 percent of male graduates are enrolled in college. Over a quarter of boys have a “mental, emotional, behavioral or developmental problem,” and 19 percent of men aged 25-34 live with their parents, compared to 13 percent of women.
+ In 2024, women launched 49 percent of all new businesses, up from just 29 percent in 2019. Women entrepreneurs are less likely than men to hire former colleagues or friends, and are more likely to list community impact as a top goal. AAPI- and Black-owned businesses were more likely to be started by women than men in 2024, and Millennial and Gen Z women were the majority of young entrepreneurs.
+ Women-owned small businesses are more likely to offer flexible work arrangements, and their employees report higher overall job satisfaction. Sixty percent of employees at women-owned small businesses say mental health benefits are essential, compared to 45 percent in other small businesses, and 78 percent of feel their workplace is inclusive. Overall, women who work at small businesses were more likely than other women to say they are thriving.
