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
“It is highly unsettling that our federal health agencies are willing to make an announcement that will affect the health and well-being of millions of people without the backing of reliable data. … Acetaminophen is one of the few options available to pregnant patients to treat pain and fever, which can be harmful to pregnant people when left untreated. Maternal fever, headaches as an early sign of preeclampsia, and pain are all managed with the therapeutic use of acetaminophen, making acetaminophen essential to the people who need it.”
—Steven J. Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), pushed back on the administration’s dangerous and unfounded claim that pregnant women should not take acetaminophen (Tylenol / paracetamol) because it increases the risk of autism.
“As we commemorate Constitution Day, it is important we recognize the arc of this country is not one that has bent on its own. We must remember who we are—descendants of the revolutionaries, the abolitionists, the immigrants, the freedom riders, suffragists, LGBTQ+ activists—those who have fought and fought and demanded more. People who have not expected quick fixes or short cuts. We are here, and the only way out is through.“
—Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman, at a Constitution Day address at the University of Louisville.
“Abortion pills have completely disrupted anti-choice efforts to ban abortion in the United States. Thanks to mifepristone, misoprostol, and a robust ecosystem of providers, abortion seekers in every state have direct access to a safe and effective way to end an early pregnancy. New rules and bans will not be able to stop the many routes of access that have developed post-Dobbs. … Safe abortion is here to stay, largely thanks to mifepristone.”
—Elisa Wells, access director and co-founder of Plan C, commemorated the 25th anniversary of mifepristone receiving FDA approval on Sept. 28. In 2023, 63 percent of abortions were medication abortions.
“We must condemn violence without abandoning our right to speak out against ideas that are inconsistent with our values as Americans. We strongly disagree with many of the beliefs Charlie Kirk promoted: including his belief that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended racial segregation, was a mistake; his denial that systemic racism exists; his promotion of the Great Replacement theory; and his offensive claims about Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Michelle Obama, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee lacking adequate cognitive ability.
“In the wake of this tragedy, President Trump has senselessly threatened to go after the political left. The American people are tired of this kind of cynical politics. It’s disheartening to see a tragedy used to further divide the country and suppress honest debate.“
—The Congressional Black Caucus responded to Charlie Kirk’s death and the attempts by Republicans to legitimize his views.
“Donald Trump loved to promise that other people would pay for his schemes. Mexico would pay for the wall. China would pay for the tariffs. Cute. Here’s the correction: Other people don’t pay. You do. Your kid. Your neighbor who works nights. The person at the hamburger joint sliding fries across the counter. Tariffs are a stealth sales tax—invisible, regressive, and perfectly designed to hurt people who can’t afford it.“
—Writer, pollster and political strategist Rachel Bitecofer.
Milestones
+ Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to four years in prison. Judge Arun Subramanian told survivors, “We heard you” and said that the sentence will “send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability.”
+ On Oct. 1, the U.S. entered a federal government shutdown after Congress failed to agree on a budget deal for the new fiscal year. Republicans aim to pass a short-term “continuing resolution” (CR), but Democrats want to reverse cuts to Medicaid and extend key Affordable Care Act subsidies. If the subsidies are allowed to expire at the end of the year, 22 million Americans will have their premiums skyrocket, by an average of 114 percent.
Social Security and Medicare will not be severely affected, but if the shutdown continues, SNAP and WIC benefits may be disrupted. Head Start funding will also run out eventually. Millions of government workers are now working without pay or have been furloughed, and Trump has threatened more mass firings of federal workers.
Despite Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, the Trump administration is blaming the shutdown on Democrats—even adding banners on government websites criticizing the “radical left.” This partisan messaging could be a Hatch Act violation.
+ Zoologist, primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall died at age 91. She extensively studied chimpanzees, finding that they were similar to humans in many ways. Goodall was the first to discover that they used tools, and observed their complex emotions and social bonds. In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute and spent decades advocating for the protection of animals, environmental conservation and climate action.
+ The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case to decide if Trump can fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors. She will remain in her role as the case continues, against Trump’s wish to immediately remove her without proof of her alleged financial misconduct.
+ The Supreme Court began its new term, and will hear a case on deceptive antiabortion “crisis pregnancy centers.”
Even before the term started, the Supreme Court has increasingly issued emergency rulings as a “shadow docket” to allow President Trump to fire federal workers and withhold billions in foreign aid funding. And concerningly, Justice Clarence Thomas recently threatened to ignore precedent “if I find it doesn’t make any sense.”
+ The Department of Justice is weaponizing the FACE Act, using it to sue pro-Palenestinan protesters. The act was designed to protect access to abortion clinics, but the administration recently announced it would no longer enforce it against antiabortion protesters.
+ The Trump administration is offering migrant children $2,500 to return to their home countries. Experts fear it could prevent informed decisions and pressure children to abandon their legal claims.
+ State Rep. Xp Lee won a special election to the Minnesota House, restoring a party tie and filling the seat held by Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman before she was assassinated in June. This was the third special election won by Democrats in the state this year, with two more on the ballot in November.
+ University of California faculty, staff and students are suing the Trump administration for using financial threats to undermine free speech and coerce schools. UCLA was fined $1.2 billion, the first public university targeted with federal funding freezes. The administration demanded control over curriculums, access to admissions, student and hiring data, ending DEI efforts and gender-inclusive policies and cooperation with immigration enforcement.
+ Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” accepted $50,000 from undercover FBI agents last year, allegedly promising to help them get government contracts in a second Trump administration.
After Trump was elected, his appointees closed the FBI and Department of Justice investigation, which was considering criminal charges for conspiracy, bribery and fraud. Now, Democracy Forward is suing the administration for violating a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to make the recording of the deal public.
+ Four journalists have resigned from Alaska newspapers after the corporate owner gave in to pressure from a Republican lawmaker to edit an article about Charlie Kirk’s death.
“We believe this destroys the credibility the public has placed in us as reporters and editors. The willingness to acquiesce to a public official’s editorial demands and have conversations with her about the direction of our coverage is a betrayal not just of the journalists who work for Carpenter Media, but of the company’s integrity as a purveyor of news,” they wrote.
+ Black liberation activist Assata Shakur died at age 78 in Cuba, where she fled for political asylum after escaping from prison in the U.S. in 1979. Shakur was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army (BLA). She was convicted of killing a state trooper, but always maintained that she was innocent.
+ The ACLU and religious freedom organizations are suing to block 14 more Texas school districts from implementing a law requiring classrooms to display Ten Commandments posters. A federal judge temporarily blocked the law, but only for the school districts named in the first lawsuit. But now other districts are planning to enforce it. Judge Biery found in August that the law favors Christianity and “crosses the line from exposure to coercion.”
+ At DePaul University, students are distributing contraceptives to get around a birth control ban on campus. In June, the university revoked the Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter’s status as a student organization. But student activists are still stepping up to lead sex education seminars and distribute condoms and emergency contraception.
+ Hundreds of migrants have disappeared from official records after being held at “Alligator Alcatraz.” A federal judge ruled that the mass detention must close, but the injunction was put on hold in early September. Last week, Florida received a $608 million grant to cover immigration detention expenses, including at Alligator Alcatraz.
+ The Trump administration ordered the National Park Service to remove materials on slavery and Native Americans. One targeted image is “The Scourged Back,” a photograph of a formerly enslaved man with scars from being whipped. They also took down signs memorializing people enslaved by George Washington, stating that land once belonged to Native American tribes and more.
+ A federal judge overturned part of Florida’s book ban. Judge Carlos Mendoza ruled that the law violates students’ First Amendment rights.
+ Texas passed a bill restricting trans people from using the correct bathroom in government buildings and schools. It also forces trans inmates to be held in prisons according to their sex assigned at birth and bans trans women from women’s domestic violence shelters. Institutions will be fined up to $125,000 for violating the law, once it goes into effect in December.
How We’re Doing
+ About 519,000 clinician-provided abortions occurred in the first six months of 2025 in states without total bans, a 5 percent decrease from 2024. Out-of-state travel for abortion care also decreased 8 percent, possibly due to increased access to medication abortion.
+ A new report from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) found that abortion bans disrupt other fields of medicine. Patients experience delays in emergency care, get prescribed less effective drugs and have been denied mifepristone or misoprostol for even non-abortion use.
They also found that specialists are leaving ban states, creating maternity care “deserts.” Gaps are also showing up in cancer and cardiac care.
“I’ve seen on more than one occasion a patient [who came here for abortion care] was told in her home state that her pregnancy did not pose enough of a threat to her life, regardless of her cancer diagnosis and regardless of needing to delay the appropriate treatment for cancer,” said one ob-gyn interviewed.
+ Michigan’s unconditional cash support program for new families (Rx Kids) provides $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 per month for a child’s first year. The program has saved millions in NICU costs, lowered rates of postpartum depression, improved infant health and helped families maintain stable housing.
+ Just 3.4 percent of Americans (those in Arkansas, Massachusetts and New Hampshire) are represented by a governor who is a mom with young children.
“Increasingly, the state level is where we are having debates about the policies that matter most to families, such as bringing down costs, and there are opportunities to increase moms’ representation in New Jersey and Virginia in 2025, and in California, Maine, Michigan, and more in 2026,” said Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder and CEO of Vote Mama Foundation.
+ Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroduced the Child Care for Every Community Act. The Act would cap childcare costs and ensure universal access. These policies are extremely popular and bipartisan, with a recent poll finding 74 percent of rural voters support more congressional focus on childcare.
+ Louisiana’s secretary of state announced that non-citizens illegally voting is not a systemic problem in the state, matching years of other research. In voting records from the last 40 years, just 79 voters out of tens of millions were flagged as even potentially being noncitizens.
+ The CDC is preventing Mississippi from gathering data on pregnancies, right after their infant death rate was classified as a public health emergency. Infant deaths rise by 7.2 percent and pregnant people are twice as likely to die during pregnancy in states with abortion bans.
+ Eighty percent of right-wing groups advocating against trans rights have received donations from fossil fuel companies or billionaires. Alliance Defending Freedom, for example, has launched several anti-trans bills in 2025 as part of their Project 2025 goals.
Climate policy expert Vivian Taylor explains that funding transphobic rhetoric builds a conservative base of support for other right-wing issues: “If we care about climate, we’re going to have to care about trans rights. We’re going to have to find ways of getting America and the whole world past all forms of bigotry so that we can work together to face an existential threat to all of humanity and the natural world.”
