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
“Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
—President Trump to political reporter Catherine Lucey after she asked him why he refused to release the Epstein files.
“Let me just tell you, you are an obnoxious—a terrible, actually a terrible reporter.“
—Trump to reporter Rachel Scott on whether he would direct Defense Secretary Hegseth to release video of a second strike that targeted the remains of a boat on Sept. 2.
“Despite months of Donald Trump’s stonewalling, we are one step closer to achieving justice for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and the transparency and accountability that the American people deserve. … Americans know that he’s been using the power of the government to protect predators and save himself from scrutiny. The time for damage control is over. The American people won’t stand for a government cover-up, and they certainly won’t stand for protecting Epstein and his inner circle of rich elites over everyday Americans.“
—DNC spokesperson Jaelin O’Halloran after Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill requiring the Justice department to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.
“Men and women are different in this way. Men can compartmentalize things better [than women].“
— House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who is currently second in line to the presidency after Vice President JD Vance.
“This moment requires resilience and resistance. We must never ever give up on building a nation that can hold all of us—where all of us can thrive—and that perseverance was on display last night. Feminist Majority Foundation has led for decades, understanding the relationship between the rights of women and girls and the health of our democracy, and it was inspiring to be among both those whose shoulders we stand on as well as a new generation of advocates carrying the work forward in this critical moment. Our greatest wish is that our work on behalf of and commitment to the American people incubates hope and reminds people to never give up.”
—The Feminist Majority Foundation honored Skye Perryman as “Resister in Law” at the 17th annual Global Women’s Rights Awards and Gala. Perryman is the president and CEO of Democracy Forward, and has built a “visionary litigation team to confront anti-democratic extremism head-on.”
“Voters are looking for someone to stand up for them and fight for them. They’re not looking for UFC-style fighting. They’re looking for someone to be on their side, to create a better future. And I think one of the big lessons that we took away from previous election results and from the electorate was that we needed to meet voters where they were on the issues that they cared most about. And that has been affordability. That has been economic prosperity and opportunity.”
—Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) president Heather Williams on key takeaways after Democrats overwhelmingly won the November elections.
“I started to hear, as I went for my weekly visit, that ‘your daughter could be a high risk baby, you may need to consider amylocentesis and possibly termination.’ I’m five months pregnant in a new city, no doctor, and I thought, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do here.’ … I chose, along with my husband, …my daughter’s life without the amniocentesis and decided that she should live however she was with me. But if I didn’t have that choice, as women don’t today, who knows what could have happened? I would have been forced to have my child.”
—Texas state Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers (D) at the Texas Tribune Festival.
“We cannot abandon Texas. That is my message to my colleagues. … You really have a battle in the Republican Party about how hard we go. Leading antiabortion groups are losing that fight nationwide, but they’re winning it in these places like Texas, and that should scare us.“
—Texas state Sen. Carol Alvarado at TribFest.
” … the WNBA has never been given the credit it deserves, in my humble opinion, by the male-dominated mainstream sports media—until Caitlin Clark arrived.“
—Christine Brennan, sports journalist and author of On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports, at TribFest.
“This is a league that 74 percent are black or mixed race with a significant number of queer players. And to many, of course, it seems like undeniably and patently unfair that it takes Caitlin Clark to give the league the attention it deserves.”
—journalist Emily Ramshaw in conversation with Brennan at TribFest.
“One branch of government cannot check another branch of government without broader mobilization. And so it is time for Congress to wake up. It is time for the American people to demand that Congress wake up … And that’s not just Congress, it’s us. It’s mass mobilizations. It’s learning again how to strike and how to boycott and how to say that the people in this country still get to be in charge. We are going to have to learn to build those muscles.”
—Skye Perryman at TribFest.
“People generally trust … their own election administrator, they don’t trust yours—and they especially don’t trust yours if you’re in Phoenix, or you’re in Philly, or you’re in Detroit. And so we need … the election administrators in places to say, ‘Oh no, Philly is fine.’ And if we had a coordinated message there, and I think we are getting that, that would be great.“
—Carah Ong Whaley, Ph.D., executive director of Better Choices for Democracy, at Tribfest.
“Let’s be clear: This is an attack on students, families, and the promise of equal opportunity. The Department of Education plays a critical role in upholding civil rights, protecting students from discrimination, and ensuring federal education dollars actually reach the communities who need them. Attempting to dismantle it through bureaucratic loopholes is a direct threat to Latino students and every student who relies on a fair public education system.
“This is not about efficiency; it is about eroding the federal commitment to equity in education and leaving our most marginalized students to fend for themselves. At a time when Latino students are living in fear due to the administration’s actions, destabilizing the agency charged with protecting their rights is not only irresponsible—it is cruel.”
—Voto Latino’s response to the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle much of the Department of Education. More than 14.4 million Latino students are in K-12 public schools, but in recent months schools are reporting decreased enrollment of students from immigrant families.
“At every turn, President Trump and his administration have sought to increase hunger and hardship for anyone who doesn’t look like them, sound like them, or think like them. By bringing back the public charge rule from his first administration, which was rightfully overturned when he lost power, the President is again denying immigrants a fair chance at the American dream and instilling fear across the country.
“This policy will make life harder and more painful for immigrants and their families, including children who are U.S. citizens. It was designed to dissuade them from seeking critical food assistance benefits, and it celebrates an odious and impossible choice that runs counter to who we are and what we stand for as Americans.”
—MAZON president & CEO Abby J. Leibman spoke out against the Trump administration’s plans to reinstate a “public charge” rule that uses immigrants’ participation in SNAP and other benefits against them in immigrant proceedings.
“That’s OK, you can just say yes. It’s easier. I don’t mind.“
—President Trump, answering for New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani when a reporter asked if he stands by calling Trump a fascist.
Milestones
+ The House of Representatives voted to release the Epstein files 427-1, and the Senate unanimously passed the bill. Reversing course from previous statements, Trump signed it into law, starting a 30-day deadline for the Justice Department to publicly share the documents. However, they can withhold files related to active investigations.
+ Additional Epstein emails released by the House Oversight committee reveal that “of course [Trump] knew about the girls” and he “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims.
+ Tierra Walker died from preeclampsia in Texas after being repeatedly denied an abortion. More than 90 doctors were involved in her care, but none offered her abortion care despite seizures, a high-risk blood clot and a documented high risk of death. At least 11 women are known to have died because of abortion bans, but this is almost certainly a significant undercount.
+ After the federal government reopened, November SNAP benefits remained delayed for a week or more in many states, putting Americans’ health and financial stability at risk.
+ USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has threat to cut funding from states that won’t turn over private SNAP recipient data. “Despite an order from a federal judge barring exactly this type of retaliation, Rollins is trying to use her bully pulpit to threaten states,” said MAZON president & CEO Abby J. Leibman. “Her behavior is both morally and legally contemptuous.”
+ Supreme Court Justice Alito temporarily restored the Texas congressional map designed to gain five seats for Republicans in the midterm elections. A lower court had previously ruled the map appeared to be illegal race-based gerrymandering.
+ A Texas law limiting access to abortion pills went into effect, allowing people to sue anyone who manufactures, mails or provides medication abortion in Texas. The law is designed to scare doctors and patients away from telemedicine and mail access pills, but many organizations plan to continue providing access to abortion care.
+ A strict antiabortion law failed in the South Carolina senate. SB 323 would have threatened patients with 30 years in prison, criminalized abortion referrals and sharing information about abortion care, redefined contraception and removed exceptions for rape, incest or fetal anomaly from the current six-week ban.
+ Starting Jan. 1, Minnesota’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave program will allow eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave and 12 weeks of paid family leave.
+ Viola Ford Fletcher died at age 111. She was the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
+ A Projecting Democracy exhibit by artist Michele Pred will be shown at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery, exploring equality, bodily autonomy, freedom and collective resistance. Pred projects feminist statements on public landmarks, merging art and pro-democracy activism.
+ The Indiana Senate will not meet to redraw the state’s congressional maps mid-cycle, despite pressure from Gov. Mike Braun (R) and Vice President JD Vance.
+ Florida is suing Planned Parenthood, saying they “misrepresent the safety” of abortion pills. PPFA general counsel Susan Baker Manning responded, “Antiabortion lawmakers and officials are relentless in their effort to end access to all abortion care, and to stop patients from getting accurate medical information. We will continue to be just as relentless in our effort to defend access to this safe, effective care. See you in court.”
+ Antiabortion protester Mark Baumgartner allegedly shot a man in the leg outside a South Carolina Planned Parenthood clinic. Clinic volunteers say Baumgartner’s antiabortion group has a history of aggression with patients, including hitting and physically blocking people. Video appears to show him pepper-spraying the victim and holding a gun, and he was charged with assault and battery, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
+ A record number of women will serve in the Virginia General Assembly, after voters elected 37 Democratic women to the House of Delegates. The state’s Democrats now have the largest House majority in almost 40 years.
+ A federal judge dismissed the indictments against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.
+ Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) introduced the Restoring Access to Detainees Act. The bill would ensure detained noncitizens can contact their lawyer and families, which ICE and CBP often prevent.
+ Amazon employees filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming the company systematically violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Workers report that the Unpaid Time Off (UPT) policy is used to retaliate against workers who request accommodations of legally protected absences. This has a chilling effect that discourages workers from exercising their rights.
+ North Dakota’s total abortion ban was reinstated after the state’s Supreme Court reversed a temporary injunction from a lower court. There are now 13 states with total bans.
+ The State Department will now consider countries with subsidies for abortion to be violating human rights. Workplace DEI laws, hate speech laws and trans-friendly policies for minors will also be targeted.
+ Around 20 DACA recipients (“Dreamers”) have been targeted and detained under the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Advocates worry the administration will detain DACA recipients indefinitely without cause, waiting out their protection from deportation, in order to undermine the program.
+ Regular Ms. contributor Jackson Katz won a “Write to End Violence Against Women Award” for his piece “Netflix’s Adolescence: Ten “Teachable” Takeaways.”
+ The Department of Education moved to reclassify graduate nursing, social work and teaching degrees as “non-professional.” This would limit the amount of federal student loans students can receive.
+ Over 1,000 co-plaintiffs are suing Pfizer over Depo-Provera. They claim Pfizer failed to warn patients about the risks of the contraceptive injection, which may increase the risk of meningiomas (tumors of the lining around the brain). A quarter of sexually active women in the U.S. have used Depo-Provera, and Black women use it at double the national rate.
+ President Donald Trump failed to acknowledge World AIDS Day and the State Department warned employees not to promote the day, which took place on Dec. 1. Madonna commented on the president’s decision: “I bet he’s never watched his best friend die of AIDS, held their hand, and watched the blood drain from their face as they took their last breath.”
How We’re Doing
+ Trans Day of Remembrance was Nov. 20. Violence against trans women, and particularly Black trans women, remains disproportionately high. In the last year, at least 58 trans people were lost, including 27 to violent causes. Sixty-one percent of trans people lost to suicide were between ages 15 and 24. Anti-trans violence, political attacks and government erasure of trans data and research are increasing.
+ Nov. 18 was Native Women’s Equal Pay Day, highlighting that Native American women working full time only make 58 cents for every dollar earned by non-Hispanic white men. When including all workers, Native women average just 53 cents on the dollar.
+ Every day, 137 women and girls are killed by intimate partners or family members. That’s one every 10 minutes, and 50,000 in 2024. In total, 83,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2024. Just 11 percent of male homicides were by intimate partners or family.
+ The fertility rate in the U.S. fell to a record low in 2024, under 1.6 births per woman. Now, 18 percent of moms with one child have decided not to have more, and 35 percent are wrestling with the decision. Financial concerns like debt, cost of living and childcare costs are the biggest barriers.
+ Planned Parenthood has shut down at least 20 health centers since July, due to cuts in Medicaid funding from the Republican budget bill. In total, they were forced to close 50 clinics this year.
+ When generative AI tools are asked to produce resumes, they consistently make women younger and less experienced than men. When evaluating resumes, they rank older men higher, even when they have the same information as women’s resumes. If employers use AI to review resumes, they may be reinforcing hiring discrimination against older women.
+ A new report analyzes how phones can be used for government surveillance through dangerous spyware. Some state and local government agencies are currently allowed to use spyware, but banning its use could protect our human rights and privacy. ICE recently reactivated a contract with spyware developers previously sanctioned for supplying foreign governments with tools used to target journalists and activists.
+ The unregulated “crisis pregnancy clinic” (CPC) industry will surpass $2.5 billion in revenue in 2025, up from $1.9 billion in 2023. In 2025 alone, state legislatures have given these antiabortion centers over $300 million in taxpayer funding, a 20 percent increase since 2023. Texas is in the lead, giving them $180 million in funding from 2025-2027.
+ College students in the top quartile of income are 280 times more likely than the bottom quartile to receive more state or institutional grants than they need. White students are three times more likely than Hispanic and Black students to receive more financial support than they need. Overall, grants disproportionately benefit students at highly selective public colleges or out-of-state students, not low-income students.
+ Marriage offers increased stability and support for LGBTQ people with disabilities. LGBTQ people are more likely than cis straight people to have a disability, and face worse health outcomes as they age. But marriage may help reduce stress and strengthen relationships with families of origin.
“Marriage equality has helped validate LGBTQ+ identities and legitimize same-sex relationships, potentially increasing acceptance and support from family. Access to marriage has also given couples greater legal protections and shared benefits, such as tax credits or health insurance, which are especially important for aging couples or those managing health issues,” said lead author Abbie E. Goldberg.
+ The cost of unpaid caregiving in the U.S. is over $1 trillion, and the lack of federal paid family and medical leave means workers lose $34 billion in wages every year. Women lose an average of $400,000 over their lifetime because of unequal caregiving earnings, soaring to $1 million for Black women. Care investments are critical to reduce inequality, support families and create jobs.
+ The price of a Thanksgiving meal was 9.8 percent more expensive this year than last, more than triple the inflation rate. Almost two-thirds of Americans were stressed about Thanksgiving prices, with 37 percent planning to buy fewer items than normal.
