MAGA Republicans are back in the White House, and Project 2025 is their guide—the right-wing plan to turn back the clock on women’s rights, remove abortion access, and force women into roles as wives and mothers in the “ideal, natural family structure.” We know an empowered female electorate is essential to democracy. That’s why day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.
Since our last report …
+ Texas Tech University has adopted a new university-wide policy that effectively bans the teaching and any research on LGBTQ+ topics in all its academic programs. Critics call these strict prohibitions an attack on women and gender studies programs as well as students’ and professors’ academic freedoms.
+ Earlier in the month, President Trump lost his latest appeal effort against paying New York writer E. Jean Carroll an $83.3 million defamation judgment after denying he sexually assaulted her and calling her a liar. Now, the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into writer E. Jean Carroll over whether she committed perjury during depositions tied to her civil lawsuits against Donald Trump—an inquiry critics are already framing as part of Trump’s broader campaign of retribution against political and legal adversaries. The move comes after two juries found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll.
+ Legal and civil rights aid groups in New York City are demanding accountability and an investigation after Samantha Randazzo was handcuffed and forced to deliver her baby on a Brooklyn courthouse bench while in labor during an arraignment hearing on low-level charges.
+ The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 2616, the so-called Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, after eight Democrats crossed the aisle to support it. If passed by the Senate and signed into law by the president, the bill would effectively ban public elementary or middle schools receiving federal funds from acknowledging the existence of transgender students. Additionally, it would mandate that teachers report to parents if a student identifies as transgender at school.
Let’s not forget what else was sent our way over the last month:
Friday, May 8: CPS Overreach in the Post-Dobbs Era
Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day and the legal team at If/When/How, a reproductive justice defense organization, have reported on an emerging and terrifying strategy: the government using family separation as an antiabortion tactic via Child Protective Services (CPS).
Valenti and advocates at If/When/How are seeing a pattern of CPS targeting mothers who assist their daughters in seeking abortion care. The rise in these stories represents an alarming, often unexamined consequence of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The Case of “Jane” and Dana”
Stories shared by If/When/How include a mother, Jane (names changed for privacy), whose teenage daughter, Dana, was abruptly removed from her home by CPS. The agency acted on a “tip” that the two had planned to travel from their Southern state to another region to access abortion care for Dana.
CPS arrived unannounced and took Dana into state custody. Caseworkers threatened Jane, claiming she would be charged with murder if Dana received an abortion and warning that her other child, a toddler, would also be removed from her care.
By the time Jane obtained legal representation from If/When/How and successfully fought to get Dana back, their scheduled appointment window and travel funds had both lapsed. Dana was effectively forced to carry the pregnancy to full term and delivery.
The Case of “Farrah”
If/When/How the legal services director, Kylee Sunderlin, shared another case involving a mother we will call Farrah. Farrah was questioned by social workers after bringing her daughter, who had a high fever, to the emergency room following a medication abortion at home.
Despite being in a Midwestern state where abortion is constitutionally protected, Farrah was immediately confronted by a social worker after she shared her daughter’s medical history for the sake of accurate care. The social worker demanded to know where the medication was obtained, then proceeded to call the police and CPS. While both investigations were eventually closed after If/When/How intervened, the ordeal put Farrah and her daughter through intense, state-sanctioned psychological distress
Sunderlin emphasizes that we are only scratching the surface of cases where state-sanctioned coercion and family separation are being weaponized to monitor and control reproductive care. “We’ve spoken to family defense attorneys in New York, where abortions, or allegations of attempted abortion, show up in petitions against parents. It’s pervasive.”
Sunday, May 10:
1. Tragedy on Campus: The Violent Deaths and Disappearances of Transgender Students
On May 10, Juniper Blessing, a 19-year-old transgender woman and student at the University of Washington, was brutally and fatally stabbed while doing laundry at the Nordheim Court Student Apartments. Her attacker, 31-year-old Christopher Leahy, surrendered to the Bellevue Police Department and is being held on charges of first-degree murder.
In a separate tragedy, Murray Foust, a 22-year-old transgender man and student at Northern Kentucky University, was reported missing on April 27 when they didn’t show up for class. Following a month-long search, Foust’s body was found in an industrial area in Wilder, Ky.
The violent loss of Blessing and Foust does not occur in a vacuum. It follows a period of unprecedented escalation in anti-trans rhetoric and legislation across the United States. When lawmakers introduce bills like H.R. 2616—which seek to erase the very existence of transgender people from the public consciousness—it sends a dangerous precedent that trans lives are less worthy of protection. When hatred is ratified into law, a clear transphobic message is sent from legislative halls all the way down to college dorm rooms.
As we track the “War on Women,” we must recognize that the dismantling of bodily autonomy and the rise in gender-based violence are deeply intertwined. The dehumanization of trans students is a core pillar of the broad effort to control and punish those who exist outside of rigid, state-mandated gender norms.
2. White House and HHS Debut New Website for Expectant and New Mothers
Timing its release on Mother’s Day, the White House and HHS launched a new website, Moms.Gov, as a resource for expectant and new mothers.
The purpose of the website is to provide a variety of information and links for mothers and fathers. Topics include: links to pregnancy centers and federally qualified health centers, pregnancy nutrition facts, TrumpRx, resources for women and parents, preconception health, breastfeeding, mental health and adoption.
Largely absent were resources to Planned Parenthood and other places that provide abortion counseling and services, as well as accurate resources on infant/childhood vaccinations.
“On the homepage is a headless, legless torso of a heavily-pregnant white woman with long blond hair in a yellow tulle dress embroidered with flowers, arms cradling a massive belly in a field of tall yellow grass. Animated pink and blue baby footprints march up the sides of the image as the viewer scrolls down the page.”
Stated in a press release, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. praised the website, saying, “The Trump administration is strengthening its commitment to America’s families by equipping mothers and fathers with the resources and information they need to build healthy, prosperous lives … This is how you Make America Healthy Again.”
The launch of the website prompted concerns from leading women’s health groups, including Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (ACOG)
Emma Trawick, M.D., a PRH fellow and maternal-fetal medicine physician in North Carolina, expressed concern that moms.gov only offers referrals to crisis pregnancy centers:
“They have a long history of using religious shaming, financial incentives, pseudoscience and altered ultrasound images to mislead patients into believing they are too far along in pregnancy to have an abortion. The website dangerously promotes antiabortion and disinformation-focused content to potential parents on a government website rather than making maternal healthcare more accessible and safer. Moms.gov compromises my patients’ access to evidence-based, reliable information.”
Crisis pregnancy centers, or fake clinics, are not legitimate medical clinics and are not subject to the regulatory oversight and infrastructure that govern medical clinics, nor are they bound by federal privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Physicians at ACOG also sounded the alarm in an email statement about the website’s disinformation, particularly the reference to false claims that acetaminophen use in pregnancy can cause autism. It goes on to say the site is “lacking certain key information, such as vaccination resources, comprehensive information on fertility and the full scope of options for counseling information in pregnancy.”
Thursday, May 14: Supreme Court Upholds Access to Abortion Pill Mifepristone Via Telehealth
The Supreme Court ruled that access to the abortion medication mifepristone will remain protected and available via telehealth. The ruling stays a May 1 decision from the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That challenge, brought by Louisiana against the Food and Drug Administration, would have effectively banned the nationwide mailing of mifepristone had it been allowed to take effect.
Telehealth allows patients seeking abortion care to connect with healthcare providers via phone or online. If eligible, providers can prescribe a two-medication regimen consisting of mifepristone and misoprostol. Patients can then pick up the medication at a local pharmacy or have it mailed to their homes.
Since the Dobbs decision ended nationwide abortion protections, and as strict bans rise across various states, telehealth has become an essential lifeline for those seeking reproductive healthcare.
Mifepristone and misoprostol have been authorized and deemed safe for abortion care since 2000. Accounting for more than half of all documented abortions in the U.S., these medicationshave proven their effectiveness and safety through over 5 million real-world uses and hundreds of high-quality peer-reviewed studies.
In a statement from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine;
“This ruling ensures that mifepristone remains available and allows us to continue to provide safe, effective and compassionate care. Every person deserves access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including abortion care.”
