The Women, Peace and Security Framework Is Not ‘Woke’—It’s Smart Strategy for National Defense

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While most of the American populace may not know what Women, Peace and Security (WPS) is, or what it champions, WPS has recently found itself at the center of partisan political crossfire. The US WPS Act of 2017, a response to UN Security Council Resolution 1325, mandates agencies of the federal government to understand and facilitate the incorporation of women’s knowledge and skills in the realm of national security. WPS asserts that women should be involved in matters of peace and war, which too often have been the sole preserve of men.

Our Abortion Stories: ‘I Have the Privilege to Live in a State Where I Am Safe’

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“If she could have put off the baby for two more years, she could have saved up a nest egg and created her family the way she wanted. Instead, she was trapped with a baby too soon.”

Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. Telling stories of then and now shows how critical abortion has been and continues to be for women and girls. (Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.)

“Seven more days. To find out what is happening inside my body. What is poisoning my body. Starving my body. Starving my life of joy and laughter.”

Can Unconditional Cash Transfers Help Reduce Poverty?

How transformative would an extra $1,000 a month be for low-income Americans? That is the question that OpenResearch, started by the founder of OpenAI Sam Altman, set out to answer with its three-year Unconditional Cash Study. Participants were given $1,000 per month with no strings attached and their experiences were compared against a control group that received $50 per month.

The study’s director, Dr. Elizabeth Rhodes, sat down with Ms. to discuss the study’s findings and how cash transfers can help inform government policy to alleviate poverty.

Some highlights:
— “There are some very transformative stories and some ‘I was able to buy shampoo’ stories.”
— “We saw small reductions, about 2 percent or 1.3 hours per week, in employment. … Do we care that single parents are working a few hours less and spending more time with their kids?”
— “Critics of cash transfers argue that people will not spend the money in socially optimal ways, but participants spent to meet their basic needs.”

Defunding and Refunding the Women’s Health Initiative: Why States Must Focus on Menopausal Women’s Health

The ongoing decimation of the federal funding landscape brings some good(ish) news for women: the role of state legislatures in stepping up to help improve and advance the health of menopausal women.

Thus far, 13 states—a record one in four—have introduced more than 20 bills focused on menopause care, proposing changes that could permanently reshape insurance coverage and educational and health care resources. Public officials in Michigan, Illinois and West Virginia announced support for menopause reforms. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently hosted a roundtable for leaders and a statewide listening tour. The latest slate of bills—introduced in red and blue states alike—would bolster workplace supports and dedicate resources to public education. The bills are being proposed at such a fast clip that menopause was named on a “Ones To Watch: Legislation Landscape for 2025” list.

‘Three Dolls or Four Dolls’: Misogyny, Racism and the Lies We Tell Our Children

The media is casting Donald Trump as this year’s Scrooge after he doubled down on the need for high tariffs and fewer dolls in an interview with Kristen Welker. “I don’t think a beautiful baby girl that’s 11 years old needs to have 30 dolls,” he said. “I think they can have three dolls or four dolls.”

Clearly, this was an attempt to deflect from economic hardship (and buying dolls are the least of parents’ concerns when the price of essentials like car seats and strollers are soaring). Because, let’s be clear, girls didn’t create tariffs or supply chain crises. Yet, Trump finds it easier to belittle girls than to acknowledge the failures of male-dominated policymaking.

Texas Lawmakers Propose Abortion Pill Bill that Can’t be Challenged in State Courts

In 2021, when Texas passed an abortion ban enforced through private lawsuits, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan sarcastically derided the architects of the law as “some geniuses” who’d found the “chink in the armor” to sidestep Roe v. Wade. Four years later, those same folks are back with a new play to restrict the flow of abortion-inducing drugs into the state and a fresh set of never-before-seen legal tools that experts say would undermine the balance of power in the state.

Senate Bill 2880, which passed the Senate last week, allows anyone who manufactures, distributes, mails, prescribes or provides an abortion-inducing drug to be sued for up to $100,000. It expands the wrongful death statute to encourage family members, especially men who believe their partner had an abortion, to sue up to six years after the event, and empowers the Texas attorney general to bring lawsuits on behalf of “unborn children of residents of this state.”

That the Texas Senate passed a bill to crack down on abortion pills isn’t surprising. But the protections written into this bill, which says the law cannot be challenged as unconstitutional in state court, could have ripple effects far beyond the question of abortion access.

Why Do MAGA Women Dress Like That?

No judgment, but the women featured in Evie Magazine, a “conservative Cosmo” for women 18-34, are more likely than not to show off their breasts. In a nod to the tradwife fashion trend, milkmaid dresses with low décolletage are featured on young, voluptuous white women. An article making the case against body positivity and fat acceptance, “The Return of Skinny,” is accompanied by a photo of a busty white woman on a beach wearing a thong bikini. A photo spread of Eva Vlaardingerbroek showcases the Dutch right-wing activist wearing a gold cross necklace—along with her breasts falling out of a low-cut gingham dress.

To people with conservative views, only some women—those who look and act like ‘real women’—get the privilege of being sexy.