The third annual Democracy Solutions Summit put on by RepresentWomen took place March 5-7 following Super Tuesday. Democracy experts and elected officials weighed in on ranked-choice voting and how we might use voting reform to create more equitable elections in the U.S.
Author: Livia Follet
Livia Follet is an editorial intern for Ms. and a recent graduate from The University of Colorado Boulder where she earned bachelor's degrees in English literature and women and gender studies. Raised in rural Colorado, her interests include environmental justice movements, Indigenous feminisms and reproductive justice.
Why Menstrual Literacy Is Needed for a Working Democracy
According to Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, author and a leading advocate for menstrual equity in the U.S. (and executive director of partnerships and strategy for Ms.), the issue is inextricably tied to clashes over abortion and education. Trump’s statement makes the all too common assumption that weeks of pregnancy equates to time available to obtain an abortion. However, a 16-week pregnancy does not mean a person has been allowed four months to obtain an abortion.
Saie Relaunches ‘The Every Body Campaign’ in Support of SisterSong
Saie, a clean beauty brand, recently relaunched The Every Body Campaign. The campaign joins together over 60 brands to raise awareness and funds for reproductive justice. As the largest beauty industry-backed reproductive justice initiative in history, the campaign is projected to raise over $300,000 to support services for birthing people, mothers and funding for abortion care in Georgia, North Carolina and Kentucky.
Your Top Questions on Abortion and Birth Control, Broken Down
Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, CEO of nonprofit Power to Decide and practicing OB-GYN, is dedicated to educating people on abortion and the healthcare options that come with it. #AskDrRaegan provides candid, judgment-free sexual health information to young people by meeting them where they are: on social media.
Check out TikTok users’ top questions on abortion and birth control, answered by Dr. Raegan.
Our Abortion Stories: ‘I Knew Something Was Wrong, But My Doctor Wouldn’t Listen’
Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. Telling stories of then and now shows how critical abortion has been and continues to be for women and girls. (Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.)
Two women detail their experiences with miscarriage and abortion healthcare in this edition of Our Abortion Stories: “It was one blow after another. It turned out the doctors there wanted me to have a hysterectomy. I laughed at them.”
Biden Administration Announces New Steps to Protect Abortion and Reproductive Health Access
In the midst of Republican elected officials “sowing chaos” in a “quest to ban abortion nationwide,” the Biden administration announced this week it is taking steps to help improve Americans’ reproductive healthcare access—including expanding coverage for no-cost contraception, increasing patient and provider awareness of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), safeguarding medication abortion access, and prosecuting violence against clinics and healthcare providers.
What Is the Path Forward to Securing U.S. Abortion Access?
Abortion is currently banned in 14 states and highly restricted in an additional 10, and the average American lives 86 miles from an abortion provider. This leaves many pregnant people with the complex task of traveling across state lines—spending substantial amounts of money and time—to receive essential medical care.
Ahead of the Roe anniversary, a panel of Senate Democrats and activists discussed a range of issues related to abortion rights—including state abortion bans and their desire to pass the Women’s Protection Act to restore abortion rights nationwide.