In this edition: On Wednesday, September 1, the most extreme U.S. abortion law took effect in Texas; Texans can still access medication abortion through the mail—for now; COVID hospitalizations skyrocket among the unvaccinated; and conservatives are using a debunked animal de-worming drug to “cure” COVID-19.
Supreme Court Allows Texas’s “Radical” Six Week Ban to Stand, Leaving Abortion Advocates Stunned
Reproductive rights advocates, health care providers and lawmakers blasted the Court’s decision to allow Texas’ extreme six week abortion ban to go into effect, and not intervene.
“This should send chills down the spine of everyone in this country who cares about the constitution,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
For Abortion Access, Look to Your State House
It’s clear: We can’t rely on the courts to protect our reproductive freedoms. And given the gridlock in Washington, we can’t wait for the federal government to pass national abortion legislation. Our best short and long term line of defense is to build power in our state houses.
Front and Center: This Mom Is “Saving and Paying My Bills on Time” to Buy a Home—With Help from a Guaranteed Income and the Child Tax Credit
Front and Center highlights the success of Springboard to Opportunities’ Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which this year will give $1,000 per month for 12 months to 100 families headed by Black women living in federally subsidized housing.
“A lawyer advised me to file bankruptcy, so I did. And now that’s going to complicate getting a home, which is really frustrating because I had gotten everything else in order. … Now it just feels like I’m at a standstill.”
The Texas Abortion Ban Is History Revisited
Aspects of Texas’s new six-week abortion law are eerily reminiscent of the Fugitive Slave Acts, which traumatized Black people for fear of being tracked, stalked and charged with violating the codes of slavery.
Texas has stepped into a dangerous zone that not only undermines the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy—but now calls for the worst in citizen action.
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.
First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom on Gender Justice, Feminist Backlash and the Future of Women’s Leadership
Despite tremendous media coverage of the upcoming recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, one aspect of this political struggle that has barely registered in California or nationally is the women’s rights work and leadership of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the first partner of California. In a Ms. exclusive interview, contributing writer Jackson Katz, a long-time colleague and collaborator of Ms. Newsom, asked her about her gender justice advocacy work both in and outside of the Newsom administration—and her unfinished agenda.
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9 (Free) Films for Understanding Afghanistan and the Lives of Women Who Live There
As the world watches the Taliban seize power in Afghanistan and women’s lives come under threat, Women Make Movies, a nonprofit distributor of independent films made by and about women, is making their Voices of Afghan Women film collection available to watch for free through September 12, 2021.
September 2021 Reads for the Rest of Us
Enjoy this month’s list of 30 feminist books from writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, AAPI, LGBIA+, queer, disabled, and more. This list has given me new knowledge, deeper empathy, broader perspectives, much-needed laughter and increased inspiration. I hope you find something here that does the same for you.
A Historic Win for Brooklyn’s First Muslim Woman Elected to NYC Council, Shahana Hanif: “This Seat Has Only Been Held by White Men”
Shahana Hanif, the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants and community organizer, made history last month when she became the first Muslim woman elected to New York City Council, one of the first South Asian reps, and first woman of color to represent her Brooklyn district.