Housing, voting rights, immigration, reproductive freedom and LGBTQ+ equality all collided this week in a stark reminder that democracy itself remains on the ballot.
This week, Trump cancelled a planned signing ceremony for the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act—which would help address the worsening housing affordability crisis—and said he won’t sign it unless Republicans in the Senate vote to pass the SAVE America Act. If you recall, the SAVE Act would implement sweeping voting restrictions, including necessitating proof of citizenship to vote, and in doing so, make it much more difficult for millions of women who changed their name at marriage to vote.
The move shows a cruel indifference that seems to know no bounds—holding housing aid for struggling people hostage, in the name of manipulating American elections.
In a social media post, he said the bill was of “minor importance”—and in a meeting with Republican senators on the issue, a source reports he said, “I don’t care about housing…”
Well, even if he doesn’t care about housing, people definitely do. Polls show that majorities of Americans reject Trump’s agenda, with his approval ratings reaching a remarkable low of 37 percent.
His fixation on the SAVE America Act isn’t about safeguarding the elections for Americans—it’s about rigging the elections to ensure a Republican win, by suppressing the votes of those who disagree.
On the eve of the 250th anniversary of a country that was famously built by immigrants, the Supreme Court has chosen to throw the lives of over a million legal immigrants into chaos.
In its ruling for Mullin v. Doe, the Court’s conservative majority ruled hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians are not protected from removal while their challenges are pending to the administration’s decision to end their Temporary Protected Status. Adding insult to injury, the majority rejected the idea that Trump’s attacks on the Haitian immigrants are racist. “The evidence they have offered includes statements by the President so repellent and racially inflected that the majority declines to put them in print,” pointed out Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent.
This past Wednesday marked four years since the Supreme Court broke precedent and overturned Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson decision—unleashing a wave of abortion restrictions and outright bans in states across the country.
Poll after poll shows a majority of Americans support reproductive healthcare access, and have been outraged by the overturn of Roe. But still, public debate on reproductive rights often overlooks the lives shaped by abortion access, contraception, IVF, miscarriage care, maternal healthcare or comprehensive sex education—countless women who chose to pursue an education, have children, not have children, protect their health and chart their own future.
With that in mind, we’re launching a campaign to share those stories—and we want you to be a part of it. Add your voice and complete the sentence: “Access to reproductive choices gave me the freedom to …” Together, our stories help show not only why reproductive freedom remains a majority value, but also what it makes possible.
As many cities celebrate Pride this weekend, we’re intimately aware that these celebrations come in a time of escalating attacks on queer and trans rights—from mounting restrictions on healthcare to bans on trans athletes participating in sports and a Supreme Court that seems increasingly amenable to repealing marriage equality (something Justice Clarence Thomas directly suggested in the very same ruling that overturned Roe).
These escalating attacks—just like attacks on abortion, which are more often than not coming from the same lawmakers and conservative institutions—are directly contributing to the erosion of our democracy.
As we think about how to fight back against that erosion, the latest installment in our FEMINIST 250 series features feminist thought leaders debuting the next generation of policy proposals that will reimagine a democracy that includes all of us. Their ideas—from court reform to universal childcare and paid leave and beyond—point the way to a better future and a “more perfect union” for all.
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