More Than A Magazine, A Movement
After the Supreme Court allowed the Texas six-week abortion ban SB 8 to go effect on September 1 last year, Austria-based telemedicine abortion provider Aid Access saw a sharp rise in Texans requesting abortion pills.
Researchers say that self-managed medication abortion could help preserve reproductive autonomy in the event of a Roe v. Wade reversal this June.
This past week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott released an order asserting that allowing trans youth to access gender affirming health care constitutes “child abuse.”
While advocates say that the order is not technically legally binding, many worry that it will have negative social and legal ramifications for trans youth and their families in the Lone Star state—where they are already facing a legislative firestorm.
On Friday, President Joe Biden announced he would be nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill Justice Stephen Breyer’s vacancy on the Supreme Court. Feminist groups and lawmakers applauded the nomination, citing Jackson’s qualifications and previous clerkship under Breyer as proof that she is more than qualified for the role.
In the last of our three-part series on menstrual equity, highlighting our Period Project research study and forthcoming Period Project Report Cards, we report on schooling and access to menstrual products.
Within the last five years, over a dozen states passed laws to require that menstrual products be made available free of charge in at least some schools—up from zero. State laws requiring access to menstrual products free of charge represent a crucial component of ending period poverty and achieving menstrual equity.
It’s been six months since Texas’s chilling six-week abortion ban took effect. And the Women’s Health Protection Act—which would codify abortion rights into law and supersede state-level restrictions—was dead on arrival during its Senate debut on Monday. It’s now official: No one is coming to save Texans seeking abortions.
Marc Hearron, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), calls the continuation of S.B. 8 “a grave warning for the rest of the country” and “a preview of what will happen on a much larger scale if Roe falls.”
Although only 5 percent of the world’s female population lived in the United States, it accounts for nearly 30 percent of the world’s incarcerated women. Inadequate and inaccessible menstrual products remain a pervasive issue in the U.S. carceral system. Our research shows few states have taken action to address the issue and enforcement lags behind laws that mandate access to menstrual supplies.
(This is the second article in a three-part series on the Period Project, which examines the scope and consequences of period poverty and assesses state progress toward achieving menstrual equity through legislation.)
The U.S. is now the first country to grant equal pay for its men’s and women’s soccer teams. But for years, U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team players have repeatedly complained that they’ve been getting as little as 40 percent of the salary their male counterparts get—especially considering the women’s team has four World Cup titles and the men’s team has … none.
In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in in this biweekly round-up.
This week: Women brought home 17 of Team USA’s 25 Olympic medals in Beijing; Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Georgia Republicans target abortion rights, while Vermont passes Reproductive Liberty amendment; more Latina women are running for governor than ever before; a record 36 openly LGBTQ+ athletes competed in the Winter Olympics; and more.
Access to affordable menstrual products remains a persistent issue. That’s why we’re launching the Period Project—which uses original research to develop “Period Project Report Cards,” assigning each state and the District of Columbia a grade on an A–F scale to evaluate their progress toward menstrual equity.
(This article is the first in a three-part series introducing the Period Project, which examines the scope and consequences of period poverty and assesses state progress toward achieving menstrual equity through legislation.)
The U.S., one of the world’s oldest democracies, is now seeing a rise of antidemocratic views. But never fear. We come bearing good news. There is hope. And that hope, we believe, is the shared power and potential of mobilized women to forge a new movement for a 21st century democracy.
We hope you are inspired and encouraged by what this slate of women experts—working at all levels to reform and revitalize our democracy—have to say. And to hear more about democracy solutions and how you can get involved, join us March 8–10 from 3–5 p.m. ET for RepresentWomen’s democracy Solutions Summit, which brings together experts and leaders in election administration, voting rights and democracy reform who are working on innovative solutions that upgrade and strengthen our democracy.