Justice & Law

The Same Conservative Playbook That Overturned Roe Is Now Coming for Trans Healthcare

2024 marks the first time in several years that the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a significant case relating to abortion rights—but the question of the constitutional right to bodily autonomy remains on the docket. On Wednesday, Dec. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a case challenging Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for trans youth. The case is the first of its kind to be heard by the nation’s highest court—and as such will likely set an important precedent for future trans rights cases.

“The Court has the opportunity and duty to apply the law fairly, which means returning medical decisions to where they rightfully belong: to parents, their children and their doctors.”

Keeping Score: Women Stockpile Plan B Post-Election; Feminists React to Trump’s Cabinet Picks; Harriet Tubman Finally Recognized for Military Service

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 this biweekly roundup.

This week: Women stockpile emergency contraception and medication abortion after the election; one in five Americans gets news from social media influencers; House Republicans Nancy Mace and Speaker Mike Johnson harass incoming trans Representative Sarah McBride; Michelle Obama explains the double standards Kamala Harris faced; childcare costs more than rent for many families; Trump’s Cabinet picks spread sexist messages; Rep. Erica Lee Carter (D-Texas) became the 95th member of the Democratic Women’s Caucus after winning a special election to replace her late mother Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee; acknowledging Native Women’s Equal Pay Day; Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman was finally recognized for her military service; Trump’s margin over Harris will be about 1.5 points, the fifth-smallest gap since 1900; and more.

In New Book on Abortion Pills, Carrie Baker Chronicles the History of Resistance and Resilience That Changed the Abortion Landscape

“Pills have become the frontline of the battle for abortion access,” writes professor and Ms. contributor editor Carrie N. Baker in her new book Abortion Pills: U.S. History and Politics—the first to offer a comprehensive history of abortion pills in the United States.

Trump’s Chilling Promise to ‘Protect Women’ Puts ‘Women Not on a Pedestal, but in a Cage’

On the campaign trail, Trump boasted that under his presidency, “women will be happy, healthy, confident and free” and that we will also magically be freed from the stress of “thinking about abortion.” 

Trump’s back-and forth with women at his rallies may, at first glance, be viewed as an act of paternalistic beneficence for our collective best interest. After all, who would not prefer to be “happy, healthy, confident and free” over being “abandoned, lonely, and scared?” But, as history makes clear, paternalistic protectionism reinforces male supremacy. It is premised on the deeply subordinating and essentialist view that women are “weak and incapable of taking care of themselves.” Accordingly, we require protection for own good, with the resulting loss of self-agency and decisional autonomy.

Here’s What the Biden Administration Can Do About Abortion Before Trump Takes Office

Though President-elect Donald Trump has waffled on how his administration might handle abortion policy, antiabortion activists are already exerting a pressure campaign for the incoming Trump administration to take a hardline approach and undo many of the policies set in place by the Biden administration.

Still, with two months left before Biden leaves office, there are some areas where legal scholars and attorneys suggest the outgoing administration could still take action, even if the impact may be narrow or short-lived.

‘Take Beauty From Ashes’: Advocating for Felony Murder Law Reform

In 2017, Briana Martinson, then 20, and Megan Cater, 19, went to the apartment of a man whom they believed had stolen medication from Martinson, with the intent to steal it back. By the time they arrived at the apartment, Martinson and Cater were joined by several other individuals, two of whom were older men that the women did not know. According to Martinson, one of the men threatened them with a gun before entering, at which point she realized, “Okay, there’s no turning back.”

In the end, they were each sentenced to 13 and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional felony murder.

Was this a case of wrongful conviction? It’s complicated.

From Subsidized Housing to Homeownership: A Single Mom’s Journey of Growth, Grit and Guaranteed Income

Front & Center began as first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. Moving into the fourth year and next phase of this series, we’re expanding our focus beyond a single policy intervention to include a broader examination of systemic issues impacting Black women experiencing poverty. This means diving deeper into the interconnected challenges they face—including navigating the existing safety net; healthcare, childcare and elder care; and the importance of mental, physical and spiritual well-being. .

“When I learned about the Magnolia Mother’s Trust program, it felt like a lifeline during a tough time when I was recovering from multiple eye surgeries. I have a lot of eye issues and bad vision and currently need new glasses but the cost is just too high, and I’m trying really hard to protect my savings. … It’s important for me to prioritize my children’s needs over unnecessary spending on wants. I’m also figuring out other ways to save, like refinancing my vehicle with a better interest rate. I hadn’t even had a checking account in years until the MMT program.”

The Future of Judicial Reform 

Come Jan. 3, 2025, both the Senate and the House will be in Republican hands. A few weeks later, on Jan. 20, Donald Trump will return to the White House. With a slim Democratic majority in the Senate and a Republican House, the likelihood Democrats could make headway on judicial ethics over the last four years was never high. It’s now nil. The need for reform, however, is greater than ever—as is public support for it.

Power will shift in January, but conversation about the necessity of and path to judicial reform as a way of laying the legislative groundwork must continue.

Through the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative, Jhody Polk Is Building Legal Empowerment from the Inside Out

Jhody Polk was arrested, convicted and jailed in 2007. She served the majority of the seven-year sentence at Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy, Fla., where she met a group of women called Law Clerks who had been trained to help others: doing legal research, filing appeals and applications in addition to assisting other incarcerated women with the paperwork needed to request a pardon, early release or lodge a complaint about dangerous conditions or abuse by correction officers or others.

Although all of the Clerks at Gadsden were serving life sentences and she was not, Polk says that the prison’s librarian—a civilian employee—encouraged her to join their ranks. She did, studying to become a “jailhouse lawyer,” a shift she considers life-changing. 

The Digital War on Women: Sexualized Deepfakes, Weaponized Data and Stalkerware That Monitors Victims Online

The 2024 U.S. election is over, but the online abuse of women in politics is set to intensify.

Around the world, a growing number of female candidates have been targeted by manipulated explicit content; and while the harm escalates fast, legal recourse is lengthy. Moreover, nearly any system that collects and shares location data can now be weaponized against its users. Digital surveillance can have a devastating impact on women, especially given the lack of robust legal or social protections against gender-based violence.