No, It’s Not True that People in Abortion Ban States Have ‘No Options’

Too often, we hear stories of people unable to obtain the abortions they desperately want and need—like Ashley, a 13-year-old rape survivor in Clarksdale, Miss., who was forced to continue her pregnancy due to financial constraints.

Resources like the National Abortion Hotline and other abortion funds could have helped Ashley and her mother understand their options, plan their travel and even cover the costs of gas, food and a place to stay during the trip. But Ashley’s doctor isn’t to blame for the incorrect and insufficient information given to Ashley and her mother—anti-abortion lawmakers and extremists are.

Ms. Global: Baby Trafficking Network in Peru Uncovered; Rubiales Suspended by FIFA for Non-Consensual Kiss; Iran’s Continued Crackdown

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The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.

This time with news from Peru, Iran, Antarctica, Sudan and more.

The End of Eating for Two?

An expectation of sacrificial motherhood may explain why eating while pregnant is such a fraught affair. On the food-related anxieties and pressure placed onto pregnant women:

“I discovered that “eating for two” is an anachronism, a unicorn, a thing from a svelter (or hungrier) past. … The pressure for mothers to modify their behaviors based on poorly understood risks plays out in the way that women are ‘educated’ about eating.

“Mothers are exhorted to optimize every dimension of children’s lives beginning in the womb. Good mothering is construed as behavior that reduces even minuscule or poorly understood risks to offspring, regardless of potential cost to the mother.”

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Election Season Kicks Off in Earnest. Here’s to Building a Pipeline of Women Candidates!

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. 

This week: an update on RepresentWomen’s work as we celebrate our fifth anniversary as an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization; spotlighting impactful female leadership and systems strategies like ranked-choice voting that elect more women to office; and more.

Dr. Katalin Karikó’s Hope in Messenger RNA Helped the World Recover from COVID-19

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Dr. Katalin Karikó’s 2021 discovery of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology led to the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Millions of people owe their health—if not their lives—to her perseverance. 

“Science is 99 percent challenge,” said Karikó. “You are doing things you have never done, or nobody has ever done. You don’t even know if it is possible.”

Front and Center: Two Years Since Receiving a Guaranteed Income, Sequaya Says the Investment Still Helps Her Family ‘Weather the Storm’

Front and Center is a groundbreaking series published by Ms. and created in partnership with the Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT), which aims to put front and center the voices of Black women who are affected most by the often-abstract policies currently debated at the national level. Sequaya first shared her story with Ms. in 2021 after receiving a year of guaranteed income, no strings attached. We checked in with her recently to see how she’s doing.

“I worked the entire time I had MMT. Most of the 2020 cohort did. You have to keep going because MMT is going to end, we’re not receiving it for a lifetime. Politicians could be focusing on so much more than worrying about whether or not someone’s being lazy. … One of my biggest principles before I had children was I never wanted to rely on government systems. But then you have kids and have to be an adult. Reality hits and you have no choice.”

In Novel ‘Bessie,’ Linda Kass Takes on Antisemitism Through the Story of the First and Only Jewish Miss America

“Bessie was not raised to be a beauty queen,” said Bessie novelist Linda Kass of Bess Myerson, the only Jewish Miss America. “She sought to have a voice, to make a difference.

“Antisemitism, racism and sexism were virulent, and homophobia was taken as a given. The arguments voiced then are similar to what we’re hearing and seeing today.”