Cecile Richards—former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018; founder of Supermajority, an organization dedicated to championing women’s leadership; daughter of Gov. Ann Richards, the first and only female governor of the state; and a lifelong feminist and political activist and trailblazer—died Monday, Jan. 20, after a battle with brain cancer. She was 67.
Author: Roxanne Szal
Roxanne Szal (or Roxy) is the managing digital editor at Ms. and a producer on the Ms. podcast On the Issues With Michele Goodwin. She is also a mentor editor for The OpEd Project. Before becoming a journalist, she was a Texas public school English teacher. She is based in Austin, Texas. Find her on Twitter @roxyszal.
The Most-Read Stories of 2024
Every day of 2024, Ms. writers and editors set out to create content that empowered, informed and infuriated readers. We sought out the truth, sounded alarms, asked tough questions, mourned feminist losses (and feminists we lost), looked to gender justice advocates abroad, and handed the microphone over to experts. Dear reader: As we enter a new year and a new era of the movement, we promise you more of this.
Explore the 30 most popular articles published this year on MsMagazine.com—the articles feminists most clicked, shared, studied, bookmarked and passed out at marches.
The Best Lines from Kamala Harris’ Concession Speech: ‘Sometimes the Fight Takes a While’
“We will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square. We will also wage it in quieter ways, in how we live our lives, by treating one another with kindness and respect, by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor, by always using our strength to lift people up.”
After an electric 107-day campaign that made history, challenged traditional norms of political leadership and centered equality for all Americans, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a concession speech at Howard University, acknowledging the outcome of the election was not what she had hoped for but emphasizing the enduring promise of America.
Rest in Power: A Running List of the Preventable Deaths Caused by Abortion Bans
Porsha Ngumezi.
Josseli Barnica.
Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick.
Nevaeh Crain.
Amber Nicole Thurman.
Candi Miller.
Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski.
Today, 21 states ban abortion or restrict the procedure earlier in pregnancy than the standard set by Roe v. Wade. These states are failing women and their families, causing preventable deaths and irreparable pain and heartbreak for their families—leaving children without mothers, parents without their daughters, and spouses without their partners.
We Heart: Feminist Art on Display in Texas Declares, ‘Be Afraid. We Are Coming for You.’
With just days before polls close in the 2024 elections, art on display in east Austin, Texas, declares, “You can’t control us. You can’t stop us.”
Parsing the Polls: The Ms. Q&A With Pollster Anna Greenberg
Election Day is just two weeks away. (Of course, thanks to early voting, for most Americans, Election Day is in October.) As the election comes more into focus, you’re probably wondering what the polls say about Kamala Harris’ chances of becoming president. And how much can these polls even be trusted? Do the pollsters believe women will remember Dobbs in the voting booth? Or will the economy and immigration trump reproductive rights?
To answer these these urgent questions and more, polling expert Anna Greenberg went live on Instagram on Oct. 17 with managing digital editor Roxy Szal.
Watch the 15-minute conversation, or read a transcript.
JD Vance Is Lying on Abortion
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faced Sen. JD Vance of Ohio Tuesday night at the vice presidential debate, and day-after results are showing more or less a toss-up on who won among pundits.
Admittedly, Vance sounded coherent and slick. But much of what he said—especially on abortion, IVF and childcare—were lies, engineered for women to let their guards down and to distance himself from his extreme views, most of which are ripped right from Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership. Vance has stood consistently against abortion rights during his two-year political career—despite attempts Tuesday night to embody a congenial and reasonable version of conservatism.
Women, Your Vote Is a Secret, Says New Guerrilla Post-It Campaign
In a world where the political gender gap is growing as women move left, a clever grassroots campaign is reminding women of a fundamental truth: Their vote is private. This guerrilla movement uses a simple yet powerful tool—Post-It notes—to reach women whose partners may disagree with their political choices.
The premise is simple: small, brightly colored notes discreetly placed in public spaces, like bathroom stalls, libraries, cafes, dorm buildings, workplace lounges, doctors’ offices and community boards. Each note carries the message that every woman has the right to cast her vote freely and privately.
She Said, He Said: Your Fast Feminist Guide to the Harris-Trump Debate
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris had their first and only debate on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. According to CNN, Trump spoke for about 42 minutes and 52 seconds, while Harris spoke for 37 minutes and 36 seconds. Trump spoke 39 times to Harris’ 23 times.
Here’s what each candidate said on some of the issues feminists care about—including access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare, the Affordable Care Act, childcare, immigration, racial unity and the economy.
The Courts Are the New Frontlines in the War on Abortion
As abortion access is increasingly being decided by state and federal courts, two reproductive rights attorneys make sense of past rulings and the ongoing fight for reproductive healthcare.