Politics

These Women Couldn’t Get Life-Saving Care. Now They’re Changing the Law.

A group of Texas women denied life-saving healthcare during their wanted pregnancies are feeling “cautiously optimistic” and “hopeful” after meeting with state legislators and urging changes to an abortion-related bill currently working its way through the legislature.

These women have been telling their devastating stories of life and loss for years. So why are they just starting to break through and spur legislative action from Republican lawmakers now?

“You have to keep repeating it. And so as painful as it is for me to relive those days and to relive my story, I will continue to do it for my daughter.”

‘Feminism, Fascism and the Future’: Sociologist Laurie Essig on Dissolving Democracies in Russia and the U.S.

Sociologist and author Laurie Essig has decades of experience studying and visiting Russia (and before that, the Soviet Union). Her first book, Queer in Russia, chronicles and analyzes the time between the dissolution of the USSR and the solidification of Putin’s non- (or anti-)democratic rule in Russia.

As Trump’s second term intensifies anti-gender rhetoric, sociologist Laurie Essig draws chilling parallels between rising U.S. authoritarianism and decades of state-sponsored repression in Putin’s Russia.

“One of the things we can learn from Russia is just how important resistance is. There were moments when things could have gone differently. They didn’t, but I don’t think that was pre-ordained. …

“Every strongman, every dictator we look at, had anxiety about masculinity.”

Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair

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Whether it’s lending or borrowing a cup of sugar, or providing others bare necessities when the power goes out on your block for two weeks, it is essential that we break our prolonged isolation and build relationships across differences. 

Building face-to-face relationships across differences is the first act of resistance—and the foundation for community defense, disaster response and democratic revival in the South.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund.)

In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space

Amid political uncertainty, Native American women in Montana are leading social justice movements and shaping public policy. Historically marginalized in policymaking, Native voices are now gaining equitable representation at the state level, driving impactful change. In 2024, Montana had twelve Democratic Native legislators, including five women: Sen. Susan Webber, Rep. Jade Sooktis, Rep. Shelly Fyant, Sen. Jacinda Morigeau, and Rep. Thedis Crowe. These leaders advocate and take action, transforming Montana’s policy landscape and inspiring future generations.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund.)

What Threats to Government Employment Mean for Black Women

The sweeping federal job cuts taking place under the Trump administration are not just an attack on government effectiveness—they represent a direct threat to the economic stability of Black women, who have long utilized public sector employment as a pathway to financial security and upward mobility.

Now, as layoffs accelerate, Black women face a dual crisis: the loss of stable employment and the dismantling of one of the few sectors that has consistently countered private-sector inequities. These cuts risk unraveling decades of progress in building economic resilience for Black families and communities.

Trump Officials Trolling Journalists Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

When The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed last month that he had inadvertently been invited into a Signal group chat of senior U.S. national security officials, the news dominated headlines, cable broadcasts and social media for several days.

While Democratic lawmakers called for an investigation into the incident, Trump officials set their sights elsewhere: on Goldberg himself. The harassment Goldberg faced was an unusually intense pile-on, but it underscores the increasingly common trend of targeting individual journalists by administration officials and even President Donald Trump.

“You can be a little heartened by the extent to which the administration is going after the news media, because it is probably the biggest threat to their agenda,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, executive director of the Washington-based International Women’s Media Foundation. “It does speak to the power of the news media as the ultimate source of holding people to account.”

This Week in Women’s Representation: Women Outperformed Expectations in Battleground Congressional Races in 2024; Gen Z Women Shake Up Congress

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

This week: The 2024 election is not yet over for North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs; Kat Abughazaleh in Illinois and Deja Foxx in Arizona are redefining what it means to run for office; debunking any suggestion that women and racial minorities are not electable; and more.

‘I Don’t Want Thick Skin. I Want to Feel People’s Pain’: Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Truth, Power and Breaking the Rules

Rep. Pramila Jayapal doesn’t believe in growing a thick skin. “I want to feel people’s pain,” she tells me. As chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and founder of the Resistance Lab, she’s building a politics rooted in empathy, resistance, and readiness: “We have to get strike ready.”

From walking out of the State of the Union to confronting power with “moral clarity,” Jayapal is done playing by the old rules: “When you don’t give respect, you don’t get respect.”

Our Baby Was Bleeding. I Was Jobless. Medicaid Was Our Lifeline.

When I lost my job while on maternity leave, I never expected I’d soon be in a hospital while my infant underwent emergency surgery. As my life became a highwire act, Medicaid became a safety net for my family.

Our Medicaid plan provided 100 percent coverage for what would’ve been thousands of dollars in hospital and surgical bills. It covered my baby’s follow-up appointments with specialists and his prescription formula. It covered all of our basic health needs. It covered my therapy.