On Tuesday, exactly 100 years after the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first introduced in Congress, members of the House of Representatives launched the first-ever Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Author: Carrie N. Baker
Carrie N. Baker, J.D., Ph.D., is the Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman professor in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College. She is a contributing editor at Ms. magazine.
You can contact Dr. Baker at cbaker@msmagazine.com or follow her on Twitter @CarrieNBaker.
Groundbreaking Exhibition on Minerva Parker Nichols, America’s First Independent Woman Architect
A new groundbreaking exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives recovers the story of a 19th-century architect named Minerva Parker Nichols (1862-1949). She was one of the country’s first woman architects, practicing in Philadelphia in the 1880s and 1890s. Over her lifetime, she designed over 80 buildings across the country, but Nichols has been largely forgotten.
The exhibit hopes to change that. It runs from March 21 to June 17 at University of Pennsylvania’s Architectural Archives and will then travel to University of Massachusetts, Amherst next year.
What Clinicians Want You to Know About Getting Abortion Pills in Anti-Abortion States
Women living in states restricting or banning abortion are finding creative ways to access abortion pills. Ms. spoke to telehealth abortion clinicians across several states to ask them what they wish their patients knew about mail forwarding.
“We want to help you, but we can’t know that you’re doing mail forwarding,” said one telehealth clinician. Another summed it up concisely: “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
What Stands in the Way for Equal Pay for Women?
Twenty years ago, the wage difference between what U.S. women and men earn overall was 80 cents on the dollar. Now it’s 82 cents. Mighty poor progress.
What is keeping these numbers so low? And what can the government do to close the gap?
Texas Judge Doesn’t Have Power to Ban Abortion Pills Nationwide, Say Legal Experts
While media headlines across the country declare a Texas judge has the power to ban the abortion pills nationwide, three leading legal experts say he in fact does not have that power.
After Backlash, Walgreens Re-Pledges to Sell Abortion Pill Mifepristone
Walgreens announced Thursday, March 2, that it will not dispense abortion pills in the following U.S. states out of an abundance of caution: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. The list includes several where abortion remains legal—like Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Montana.
Amidst an ever-changing set of laws regarding abortion care, pharmacists say they’re struggling to navigate “blatant contradictions between state and federal law that make it very challenging to identify what is legal and what is not legal.”
ICYMI, the Senate Just Held Its First ERA Hearing in 40 Years
On Tuesday, Feb. 28, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)—the first Senate committee hearing on the ERA since 1984. At the hearing, constitutional law scholars, ERA advocates and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle made the case for enshrining equality in the U.S. Constitution, and what Congress can do to make ERA ratification a reality.
Almost All Domestic Violence Is Preceded by Coercive Control. Proposed Massachusetts Laws Aim to Address the Crisis
Last year, there were 26 domestic violence-related homicides in Massachusetts—a more than 40 percent increase over the previous year. Survivors of domestic violence and their advocates are organizing across the state of Massachusetts to pass new laws like HD 1844 and SD 1975 to address the crisis of domestic violence, including coercive control.
Democratic AGs File Counter-Lawsuit to Expand Access to Abortion Pills
As people wait nervously for an anti-abortion judge to rule in a Texas lawsuit aimed at removing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market nationwide, Democratic attorneys general from a dozen states are fighting back with a lawsuit of their own.
On Feb. 24, attorneys general of Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), asking a Washington federal court to declare that mifepristone is safe and effective and that the FDA’s approval of mifepristone is lawful and valid. Experts see the lawsuit as an attempt to produce a contrary ruling from the Texas judge, whom observers predict will order the FDA to remove mifepristone from the market.
Lawmaker Urges Biden to ‘Ignore’ Texas Judge Who May Order FDA to Ban Mifepristone and Abortion Pill by Mail
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a long-time advocate for access to abortion pills who held the first congressional hearings on mifepristone in 1990, is calling on the Biden administration and the FDA to defy any ruling restricting abortion pills.
“There are moments in history where Americans and their leaders must look at circumstances like this one and say, ‘Enough.’ Not ‘let’s see how the appeals process plays out,’ or ‘Let’s hope Congress can fix this down the road.’ Just, ‘Enough.’”