National

Using Archaeology to Rediscover Harriet Tubman’s Life in Freedom

Archaeological and historic records related to Harriet Tubman’s life in freedom indicate that she was a resilient woman with deep spiritual beliefs and a willingness to open her home and to offer her resources to others. Despite obstacles, with the help of the AME Zion Church, and an array of supporters, Tubman created a special place where aging and homeless African Americans could find shelter and freedom from want.

The archaeological record recovered at the Harriet Tubman Home serves to remind us to move with deliberate action and to pursue freedom and dignity on behalf of others.   

The Texas Abortion Ban: The Unwanted Consequences of a Forced Unwanted Pregnancy

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Texas Senate Bill 8’s ultimate goal is to decrease abortion rates. But restricting access to abortion does not decrease its incidence—it only serves to hurt women and children in the process.

Legislation needs to focus on preventing unintended pregnancy before it happens and taking care of living children—not on restricting access to safe and proper reproductive healthcare.

Online Abortion Provider Razel Remen: ‘Telemedicine Abortion Is Safe and Reliable’

As we await the fate of Roe, Ms.’s “Online Abortion Provider” series will spotlight the wide range of new telemedicine abortion providers springing up across the country in response to the recent removal of longstanding FDA restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone.

Dr. Razel Remen, an independent abortion provider in Detroit, provides telemedicine abortion for people in Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York. She offers medication abortion pills to people 14 and older through 11 weeks of pregnancy. “If I had not done my residency in Alabama, I would not have become an abortion provider. It made me realize that lack of access to abortion not only negatively impacted individual people, but also their families and communities.”

Karen V. Hill, Director of the Harriet Tubman Home: ‘She Was Able To Separate the Brutality of Slavery From How She Loved the Land’

Karen V. Hill is president and CEO of the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. in Auburn, N.Y. She has successfully pursued federal legislation to have Harriet Tubman’s homestead become one of the newest units of the National Park Service.

“To me that’s just startling, that this place in Maryland where she had been treated so harshly, she was able to separate the brutality of slavery from how she loved the land.”

Rape Rhetoric and Russia’s War on Ukraine

As in the case of many an abusive ex-partner, Putin has threateningly hovered and glowered over Ukraine since the country declared itself independent in 1991.  

This playbook of bullying and domination is well known to those who study sexual and interpersonal violence, with parallels both implicit and explicit. For years, witnesses have stood on the sidelines while Putin raged and menaced.

The Two Harriets

The iconic figure of Harriet Tubman supersedes the factual details of her life: There is the real Harriet Tubman and there is how she is remembered, which looms larger. In most of the surviving photographs of Tubman, we see her as a stoic freedom fighter and abolitionist. However, in 2017, a recently discovered photograph of her was auctioned at Swann Galleries, and it shows us a new side of Tubman: a younger, more feminine Tubman, dressed on trend for the 1860s. Perhaps this photo represents a more hopeful Harriet Tubman forging a life post-emancipation.  

International Telemedicine Abortion Service Is ‘Safe, Effective and Acceptable,’ Says New Research

As states across the U.S. continue to restrict abortion access, people in states that ban telemedicine abortion are increasingly turning to European doctors to access abortion pills. New research definitively shows that people served by Austria-based telemedicine abortion provider Aid Access have had highly positive experiences with the service, with very low rates of complications reported.

Online Abortion Pill Orders Surged After Texas Ban. Researchers Say This Is Only the Beginning.

After the Supreme Court allowed the Texas six-week abortion ban SB 8 to go effect on September 1 last year, Austria-based telemedicine abortion provider Aid Access saw a sharp rise in Texans requesting abortion pills.

Researchers say that self-managed medication abortion could help preserve reproductive autonomy in the event of a Roe v. Wade reversal this June.

Texas Governor Calls Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth ‘Child Abuse’

Texas Governor Calls Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth 'Child Abuse'

This past week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott released an order asserting that allowing trans youth to access gender affirming health care constitutes “child abuse.”

While advocates say that the order is not technically legally binding, many worry that it will have negative social and legal ramifications for trans youth and their families in the Lone Star state—where they are already facing a legislative firestorm.