Author: Roxy Szal

Roxy Szal is the digital editor at Ms. and a producer on the Ms. podcast "On the Issues With Michele Goodwin." Before becoming a journalist, she was a Texas public school English teacher. She is based in Austin, Texas. Find her on Twitter @roxyszal.
Our Favorite Signs from the Women's March for Reproductive Rights

Our Favorite Signs From the Women’s March for Reproductive Rights

On Saturday, Oct. 2, tens of thousands of protesters gathered, rallied and marched to express their support for Roe v. Wade and their opposition to a recent onslaught of abortion restrictions.

From Texas to New Jersey to California to D.C., here are some of our favorite signs, marches and protesters who showed up in 650 locations in all 50 states. They paint the picture of a multi-generational, diverse coalition that is dissatisfied with current anti-abortion lawmakers; anxious to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law; and fired up for next year’s midterm elections.

Cecile Richards: Business World Silence After Texas Abortion Ban Is “Unthinkable. ... It’s Time to Get on Board”

Pressure Mounts for Companies to Stand Against Texas’s Near-Total Abortion Ban: “Time to Get on Board,” Says Cecile Richards

Texas’s S.B. 8. has laid bare the precarious nature of abortion rights. Even still, it’s hard not to notice a relative silence from corporate America. Cecile Ricards, former president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018 and daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, calls this silence “unthinkable.” 

“This was the moment for corporations, businesses and employers, to stand up on behalf off the people that they employ, the people that they sell products to, and the places where they do business, on an issue like abortion rights, which has been a constitutional right in this country for [nearly] 50 years,” Richards told Ms. “Now in one state, Texas, essentially, that constitutional right effectively no longer exists.”

Corporate Backlash Builds Against Texas's Abortion Ban: "Policies That Restrict Reproductive Health Are Bad for Business"

Corporate Backlash Builds Against Texas’s Abortion Ban: “Policies That Restrict Reproductive Health Are Bad for Business”

On Tuesday, over 50 companies signed a letter titled “Don’t Ban Equality,” which argues that abortion restrictions are bad for business.

“Economic losses from existing abortion restrictions, including labor force impact and earnings, already cost the State of Texas an estimated $14.5 billion annually. Nationally, state-level restrictions cost state economies $105 billion dollars per year.”

Texas’s Abortion Ban Is Already Causing a Brain Drain in the State. Will Companies Speak Out?

Texas’s Abortion Ban Is Already Causing a Brain Drain in the State. Will Companies Speak Out?

For many, Texas has a lot to offer. It’s no wonder then that more than half a million people relocated to Texas from other states over the last few years.

Then along came Senate Bill 8—one of the nation’s most extreme abortion bans that criminalizes abortions after just six weeks and deputizes private citizens to enforce the law. The brain drain has already begun, and is likely to continue, as a result.

“When you’re looking at the accumulation of anti-constitutional rights legislation being passed over and over again here, it’s got to have a chilling effect on people’s willingness to consider Texas as a place to come,” Texas state Rep. Donna Howard told Ms.

Texas Lawmakers Achieved the Impossible: A Near-Total Ban on Abortion. Here's How Feminists Are Fighting Back

Texas Lawmakers Achieved the Impossible: A Near-Total Ban on Abortion. Here’s How Feminists Are Fighting Back

While many states have come close, Texas on Wednesday achieved something no other state has: the banning of abortion at just six weeks gestation. The mood among reproductive activists and feminists is fraught with fear, worry and rage.

“It’s devastating for many families across the state,” Dyana Limon-Mercado, executive director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, told Ms. during an abortion rights demonstration at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday.

Support for Afghan Refugees Is Both Popular and "a Moral Obligation"

Support for Afghan Refugees Is Both Popular and “a Moral Obligation”

Providing refuge to Afghans and their families who assisted America has broad public support from both Republicans and Democrats, according to a late August CBS poll. In total, 81 percent of Americans say they believe the U.S. should help Afghans who worked for U.S. troops and officials resettle in America—including 90 percent of Democrats, 76 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Independents.

Educators Across the U.S. Pledge to Teach Truth: “We Refuse to Lie to Young People About U.S. History”

Across the U.S., lawmakers in at least 28 states are attempting to pass so-called anti-critical race theory legislation that would prohibit teachers from teaching students about the role of racism, sexism and oppression throughout U.S. history.

In response, educators across the United States are signing a “pledge to teach the truth.” And this weekend, educators in at least 115 cities will stage public demonstrations to stand in protest against the wave of bans on discussing social justice issues in American schools and workplaces.

texas filibuster

Texas Sen. Carol Alvarado Withstands Brutal Overnight Filibuster in Attempt to Stop Voter Suppression Bill

Trying to block the infamous GOP-led elections bill at the heart of months of protests, Texas state Sen. Carol Alvarado began her filibuster just before 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday. By Thursday morning, Alvarado was still at it. She finished her speech at 9:00 a.m. CT—marking 15 total hours.

The Texas filibuster is particularly brutal: While they speak, senators cannot eat, drink, sit or lean on any surface, or use the bathroom. The senator must be continually speaking and the words discussed must be relevant to the bill.

Texas Voting Rights Advocates Launch Selma-Style March

In Texas, Voting Rights Four-Day March Ends in Capitol Rally With Thousands in Attendance

On Saturday, a four-day, 27-mile Selma-to-Montgomery style march from Georgetown—a suburb north of Austin—ended with a rally at the Texas Capitol attended by almost 10,000 people. The rally was the culmination of a four-day march from Georgetown, a suburb north of Austin, which began on Wednesday, as a way to pressure the U.S. Congress to pass voting rights legislation.

Texas Democrats: On Abortion Rights and Voting Rights, “I Don’t Want To Go Back”

Texas Democrats: On Abortion Rights and Voting Rights, “I Don’t Want To Go Back”

It’s been a little over a week since Texas Democratic state legislators decamped to Washington, D.C., in protest over Gov. Greg Abbott’s uncompromising agenda during the state’s special legislative session. Republican attempts to pass extreme voter suppression legislation are taking up the bulk of media attention—understandably. But the fight isn’t just for voting rights: It’s also about reproductive rights, which are under severe attack in the Lone Star State.

Texas state Rep. Donna Howard is one of the Democrats that fled the state. As a registered nurse and current chair of the Texas Women’s Health Caucus, Howard spoke to Ms. late last week to discuss the flawed assumptions behind the Republican push to restrict abortion access in Texas and the real-life impact of these laws on everyday Texans.