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. Connect with her on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Civil Rights Groups Launch Southern Voting Rights Mobilization Following Supreme Court’s Callais Decision

Civil and voting rights organizations across the South are launching a wave of rallies, trainings and grassroots mobilizations in response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which decimated one of the last meaningful protections against racially discriminatory voting maps.

Over the next two months in Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as online, organizers will mobilize against the top-down national assault on Black political representation and multiracial democracy itself.

The actions come amid growing fears that the Court’s ruling will make it dramatically harder for Black voters and other voters of color to challenge discriminatory district maps in federal court.

Civil rights groups are calling for mass organizing and voter engagement, laying a groundwork for rebuilding the country through “sustained effort over time.” They also urge states to adopt their own Voting Rights Acts to help fill the vacuum left by the weakening of federal protections.

Upcoming actions include rallies at the Missouri Supreme Court, a National Day of Action in Alabama featuring events at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the Alabama State Capitol, and the nationwide “John Lewis Good Trouble Lives On” mobilization planned for July.

Justice Kagan Sounds the Alarm as Supreme Court Dismantles Voting Rights Protections: ‘Elected Politicians Picking Their Voters’

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In a 6-3 decision in Callais v. Louisiana on Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s current congressional map—drawn after the 2020 census to include a second majority-Black district—and, in doing so, weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the last remaining nationwide tool for challenging racially discriminatory voting laws.

‘A Warning Shot’: DOJ Indictment of Southern Poverty Law Center Sparks Outcry Across Civil and Women’s Rights Movement

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The U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal case against the Southern Poverty Law Center marks a stunning escalation in the federal government’s attacks and aggression toward civil rights organizations. A grand jury has indicted the SPLC on charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering—allegations the organization has called false and politically motivated.

The charges are rooted in bad-faith characterizations of payments SPLC made to informants in extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Trump’s DOJ is attempting to argue these payments counted as financial support. In reality, the SPLC’s work helped dismantle some of the country’s most prominent white supremacist groups.

For feminist and civil rights groups, the indictment is the clearest sign yet of an escalating campaign to intimidate the nonprofit sector, criminalize civil rights advocacy and silence dissent. In their view, the administration is not only attacking outcomes or messages, but working to turn the machinery of government itself against advocacy groups: criminal law, regulatory scrutiny and national security frameworks.

‘First They Came for My College’: The Takeover of a Florida College and the Students Who Refused to Disappear

When I told coworkers and friends I was going to see a documentary about the right-wing takeover of a small public Florida college, the reaction was immediate and unanimous: Why would you do that to yourself? Too depressing. I’d be too angry.

They weren’t wrong. Premiering at SXSW last month and directed by Patrick Bresnan, First They Came for My College is, at times, almost unbearable to watch—a slow, procedural dismantling of a public institution, carried out in meeting rooms and press conferences and budget lines.

But what stayed with me wasn’t only the anger—it was the stubborn, surprising insistence on community, joy and showing up anyway.

14 Powerful Lines From Justice Jackson’s Dissent on Conversion Therapy: ‘Like It or Not, Treatment Standards Exist in America’

The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth, ruling the law likely violates the First Amendment—a decision advocates warn will put young people at risk.

In a rare and forceful move, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson delivered her dissent from the bench.

We’ve pulled the most powerful, incisive—and yes, spiciest—lines from her 35-page dissent. Read, share your favorite line, and help lift up a dissent that refuses to mince words about what’s at stake.

Furious, Fearless and Defiant: Our Favorite Protest Signs From No Kings 3.0

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On Saturday, March 28, 2026, millions showed up for the latest wave of No Kings protests, drawing an estimated 8 million people across more than 3,300 events worldwide.

The flagship event was held in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the site of a controversial immigration enforcement surge resulting in the deaths of two residents, Renée Nicole Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, at the hands of federal agents.

March 31, Join Ms. Live: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Menopause, From Symptoms to Systemic Reform

Despite affecting roughly half the population, menopause remains under-researched, underfunded and often stigmatized—leaving many without adequate medical guidance or institutional support.

On Tuesday, March 31, Ms. magazine will convene a panel of physicians and policy experts to demystify menopause, addressing everything from symptoms and treatment gaps, to the broader structural changes needed.

The virtual event, “All You Ever Wanted to Know About Menopause, From Symptoms to Systemic Reforms (2026 Edition),” will take place at 5 p.m. PT / 7 CT / 8 ET. Registration is free and open to the public.

The panel will feature:
—Huong Nghiem Eilbeck, M.D., M.P.H., a physician affiliated with Pandia Health and AltaMed Health Services, with additional clinical experience across maternal health and labor medicine. She holds certifications from The Menopause Society and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
—Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, executive director of partnerships and strategy at Ms., executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU Law, and a leading voice on menstrual equity. Her forthcoming book, When in Menopause: A User’s Manual and Citizen’s Guide (October 2026), expands her work connecting reproductive health to policy and democratic participation.
—Sophia Yen, M.D., M.P.H., a physician trained at MIT, UCSF and UC Berkeley, and CEO and co-founder of Pandia Health, a birth control delivery company. Yen specializes in adolescent medicine and reproductive health, with a clinical focus that spans contraception, menstrual regulation and broader gynecological care.

FAQs About the SAVE America Act and Its Impact on Voters

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As the SAVE America Act heads toward a Senate showdown, Republican leaders are preparing marathon debate sessions that could stretch late into the night. The legislation, backed by Trump, would require Americans to present documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, in order to register to vote in federal elections.

As the political fight intensifies, confusion about what the bill would actually require has spread widely online and across social media. Supporters describe the measure as a simple election-integrity policy, while critics warn it could create sweeping new barriers for millions of eligible voters who do not have ready access to the required documents—including many women whose current legal names may not match the names on their birth certificates after marriage.

To cut through the noise, Ms. has put together this guide to the SAVE America Act, answering common questions about what it would do and how it could affect your right to vote, including: Does a Real ID count? What if I can’t find my passport? And why are Trump and Republicans pushing so hard for this bill?

‘We Will Not Be Sidelined Again’: Survivors Respond After DOJ Releases Epstein Files With Unredacted Names and Personal Details

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The Department of Justice has released more than 3 million pages of records related to Jeffrey Epstein. For decades, survivors have begged for answers and accountability. But they say the latest tranche of documents—many containing unredacted names, contact information and identifying details—have left them retraumatized, exposed and furious.

Some describe the release as careless. Others call it deliberate. Many say it confirms what they have long believed: that survivors are still not being centered, protected or heard.

Read survivors’ reactions, in their own words.

“My sister Maria Farmer filed a lawsuit against the government for negligence in this case, and really as I see it this is just further examples of that—of the ways that we have not been protected and that DOJ has not done their job.”

“I can’t help but wonder why the DOJ has once again failed us. Again. It feels like they’re ignoring our need for protection, especially when they’ve taken the time to redact the names of powerful individuals … but not ours. This double standard makes it even harder for us to trust them.”