I am not like the women in this room. There are hundreds of them, plastered to the walls of the Korean Cultural Center in the mid-city neighborhood of Los Angeles. Some are as large as ostrich eggs; others are petite and demure. They announce themselves in shimmering metallics and matte pastels; uneven clumps of glitter […]
Author: Lauren Barbato
Lauren Barbato is a writer who enjoys focusing on the intersection of the arts and social justice. As a journalist, she has contributed to Ms., the Women's Media Center, IndieWire, MovieMaker Magazine and many others. She holds a B.F.A. degree in screenwriting from the University of Southern California. Follow her on Twitter @lauren_barbato.
Massachusetts May Unlock the Shackles
No one believed Kenzie was in labor. As an inmate at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional facility, she was told to wait while her contractions grew more severe. “They just kept denying me, saying I wasn’t really that far into labor because I was not hysterically screaming,” Kenzie told radio station WBUR in a recent interview. “It wasn’t until I had said that I had the urge to push that they decided to take me seriously.” Kenzie was transported to a nearby hospital with shackles on her ankles and cuffs on her wrists. The restraints remained until she could persuade a correctional officer […]
Late-Abortion Doctors Carry on “After Tiller”: A Talk with the Filmmakers
By now, we all know the story: While handing out bulletins in May 2009 at the Lutheran church he attended each Sunday, Wichita abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed by an anti-abortion extremist. Known nationally as the “Doctor of Last Resort,” Tiller was one of the few physicians willing to do late […]
Will Mississipi’s Last Abortion Clinic Stay Open?
When Ms. last spoke with Diane Derzis, director of Jackson Women’s Health Organization in Jackson, Mississippi, she was “forging ahead” in her battle to keep the state’s last abortion clinic open. That battle continues today, as the clinic’s physicians have been denied admitting privileges at seven hospitals in the area—and having those privileges is a […]
Displaced But Not Silent: How Hurricane Sandy Victims Can Cast Their Vote
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, voting has become an afterthought to those affected by the storm. Sandy ravaged much of the Northeast last week, leaving millions in the tri-state area without power and displacing hundreds of thousands more from their homes. In New Jersey alone, more than 2 million homes lost power last Monday; […]
Are You A #Feministsuperhero?
Last week, Ms. posted a “Question of the Day” on Twitter that asked followers “What would be your power(s) if you were a feminist superhero?” The response has been tremendous: Hundreds have replied to the question with their own wished-for feminist superhero power, and retweeted others’. Responses range from serious to humorous to awe-inspiring. People even […]
Know Your November Ballot: Reproductive Rights
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Ms. will be outlining state ballot initiatives and referenda of major significance to women. I know what you’re (wishfully) thinking: By 2012, American women should already have easy access to, and public funding for, abortions—with the most minimal-to-nonexistent restrictions. Unfortunately, the opposite is true: In state legislatures […]
NEWSFLASH: Earned Sick Time Fails to Make Florida Ballot
A coalition pushing for earned sick time in Orange County, Fla., was defeated today when its initiative failed to make the November 2012 ballot. Though the coalition, Citizens for a Greater Orange County, collected around 50,000 signatures during the summer in support of the initiative, the Orange County Commission halted the initiative from going forward. […]
Alabama Abortion Clinic Struggles; Mississippi’s Forges On
When Diane Derzis shut the doors of the New Woman All Women Health Care clinic in Birmingham, Ala., last May, she did not expect the clinic to be shut for good. Derzis, known as the “Abortion Queen” by both her opponents and her supporters in the Deep South, was under investigation by the Alabama Department […]
NEWSFLASH: Penn. Supreme Court Blocks Voter I.D. Law
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court temporarily stopped a harsh voter I.D. law from taking effect in the upcoming November 2012 election, sending the case back to the lower court for further review. In a 4-2 decision the state’s highest court ruled today that the six-month-old voter I.D. law is not being implemented correctly and, as a […]