“The pregnancy continued not so much because I chose it … I sobbed, until I could sob no more, and a quiet defiance and resolution settled around me, holding it all.”
Community Providers Have Given Free Abortion Pills to Over 70,000 People in Restrictive States Since Dobbs
Abortion advocates have created volunteer-run, donor-supported, community-based mutual aid groups around the country to provide free abortion pills to people living in states restricting abortion.
These groups serve people of all ages and gestational stages, using different protocols for people in later pregnancy. As they start their third year of operations, they have mailed abortion medications to over 70,000 people in total.
For Most Americans, Election Day Is in October
There’s about seven weeks till Election Day, but voters in most states—except those in Mississippi, Alabama and New Hampshire—will have the opportunity to vote in mere weeks.
For some states, the last day to register to vote is less than a month away. Currently 21 states and D.C. allow voter registration on Election Day, meaning that you can wait until Nov. 5 to register and vote. However, many states require registration as early as the first week in October.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: New Ranked-Choice Voting Ballot Initiative in Colorado; the ‘Electability’ Debate for Women in Politics
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: a new ranked-choice voting ballot initiative in Colorado, the “electability” debate for women running for office, the Democratic Party is challenging long-held beliefs regarding the electability of women candidates, and more.
Do Parents Have the Right to Control Their Daughters’ Sexuality?
Title X, the federally funded family planning program that provides confidential family planning services to teens has once again come under attack. In separate lawsuits, two Texas parents have alleged that by allowing their daughters to obtain contraceptives in the absence of their consent, the program has effectively divested them of their “God-given right to ensure their daughters remain virgins until marriage.”
This attack is on Title X is nothing new. The rights of parents to control the upbringing of their children has long been a rallying cry of Christian conservatives as they battle against the ostensible indoctrination of their children “with a secular worldview that amount[s] to a godless religion.” As they see it, a particularly pernicious aspect of this “godless religion” is the belief that “’teen promiscuity is … normal and acceptable conduct.”
Over the course of four decades, courts have consistently held that although Title X encourages parental involvement, it does not require it based on the recognition that “confidentiality [is] a crucial factor in attracting teenagers to Title X clinics and reducing incidence of teenage pregnancies.”
Celebrating Women Who Aren’t Afraid to Take the Lead
Just days after Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic party’s official nomination, Gloria Feldt—former Planned Parenthood president and longtime women’s rights activist—convened the 10th annual Take the Lead Conference in Washington, D.C., on Women’s Equality Day.
Hopes are high and determination steeled that 2025 will see the first woman president and the ratification of the ERA. For the hundreds of women and dozens of presenters and organizers who took part in the Take the Lead conference, promoting women’s power at every level and in every field has always been essential to the formula for that success.
Transphobia in Women’s Sports Is Dangerous for All Women
Olympic athlete and women’s boxing gold medalist Imane Khelif recently became a target for anti-trans activists and know-it-all couch potatoes. They decided Khelif was a man based on her perceived appearance and strength, rather than actual facts. So hyped are the anti-trans police that any woman who doesn’t seem to conform to gender norms is suspect and fair game, particularly if she’s public and successful. This is dangerous for all women, no matter their gender identity, and especially women of color.
If we accept transphobes’ arguments against all trans women in all sports, we inevitably accept a set of assumptions that harm women, trans and cis alike.
Thirty Years of the Violence Against Women Act Shows Progress Is Possible
On a long list of issues in the newly released survey, women identified domestic and sexual violence as the third most important one facing U.S. women collectively, behind abortion access and cost of living.
As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act today, it’s worth remembering one lesson that law teaches: Progress is possible.
Front and Center: ‘Maybe It’s Just Not My Time to Be Doing Everything I Hope For,’ Says Mississippi Mom of Four
Front & Center began as first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. Moving into the fourth year and next phase of this series, we’re expanding our focus beyond a single policy intervention to include a broader examination of systemic issues impacting Black women experiencing poverty. This means diving deeper into the interconnected challenges they face—including navigating the existing safety net; healthcare, childcare and elder care; and the importance of mental, physical and spiritual well-being.
Shomari is a mom of four who is struggling to find work because she doesn’t have reliable childcare. “My ideal future includes working a career I like, my kids doing well in school and extracurricular activities, and living in a house with a yard where my kids feel comfortable. I dream of going on vacations and providing a safe, stable environment for my family.”
You Should Call House Members ‘Representatives,’ Because That’s What They Are—Not ‘Congressmen’ or ‘Congresswomen’
For most of the nation’s history, members of the U.S. House of Representatives have been addressed as “Congressman” or “Congresswoman.” By contrast, a senator is referred to as, well, “Senator.” These gendered terms for House members dominate in journalism, everyday conversation and among members of Congress.
“Whereas ‘congressman’ or ‘congresswoman’ tends to call our attention to a House member’s Capitol Hill activities and to his or her relationship with colleagues,” wrote the late Richard Fenno, “‘representative’ points us toward a House member’s activities in his or her home district and to relationships with constituents.”