‘What About Me?’: Bringing Women’s Well-Being to the Forefront of Motherhood

Earlier this month, I attended a “power breakfast” hosted by the Chamber of Mothers, an organization and movement driving national support for mothers. I was shocked and frankly disillusioned by how much basic maternal healthcare was emphasized as an area of desperate need.  

The way the U.S. understands, or refuses to understand, maternal health makes even asking for care a baffling proposition. Dawn Huckelbridge, founder of Paid Leave for All, recounted the moment she truly became “fired up and fed up” after giving birth to her first child. Huckelbridge was prepared in every sense: She had a supportive partner, health insurance and parents who could help her out. Upon delivering her baby, what she recalls as a traumatic experience for her mind and body, she was given even more resources for the baby: diapers, blankets, instructive care literature. 

And when she asked her doctor, “Well, what about me? What do I have to do to take care of my body?” he replied, “Things just have a way of healing.” That was the official prescription for a mother who had been carrying a baby for 40 weeks and had only given birth a moment ago.

“I’d hate to believe that it’s because we don’t care about mothers and that we don’t want to see them in power,” said Erin Erenberg, co-founder and CEO of the Chamber of Mothers.

‘Tap Someone In’: Mini Timmaraju on Mentorship, Motherhood and Mobilizing Indian American Women

Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL), doesn’t just rise—she brings others with her. This ethos of tapping in challenges Indian American women to move from individual achievement to collective empowerment.

As my conversation with Timmaraju unfolded, we explored her childhood, her professional journey and the simplest yet most impactful action she believes Indian American women should take right now. It’s clear that Timmaraju’s story is not just about her own path, but about building pathways for others.

“We need to build our own villages—not just for family, but for career and leadership, too,” she said. “We shouldn’t do it alone.”

Why Democracy Needs Data—and What Happens When It Vanishes

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In the first few months of Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, one thing has become crystal clear: The war on gender and racial equity is being waged in a new arena—on the battleground of data.

This fight isn’t waged with tweets or soundbites. It’s carried out through budget cuts, shuttered research programs and disappearing federal surveys. It’s a quiet but devastating assault on the tools we rely on to tell the truth—and to hold those in power accountable. And the message is chilling: If we can’t measure inequality, maybe we can pretend it doesn’t exist.

When race is stripped from maternal health reports, we overlook the crisis facing Black mothers. When LGBTQ+ identity is erased from youth surveys, we lose critical insight into mental health and safety. When disability status is omitted from labor market data, inequities in access and pay go unaddressed.

We need a renewed federal commitment to the research infrastructure that allows us to see and solve inequality—not ignore it.

Federal Court Considers Removing Medically Unnecessary FDA Restrictions on Abortion Pills

The FDA maintains burdensome, medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone, which is used in combination with another medication—misoprostol—for early pregnancy termination. This combination of medications is safer than Viagra and Tylenol and is now used in approximately two-thirds of all abortions in the United States.

Over the last decade, the FDA has removed some of the restrictions on mifepristone, including a requirement that the medication be dispensed in person by doctors, but the agency still requires prescribers and pharmacies to register with the drug maker and requires patients to sign a counseling form with redundant, inaccurate and confusing information, all of which has decreased access to the medication.

To remove these requirements, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit in May 2023, Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, asking a federal district court in Charlottesville, Va., to order the FDA to lift these restrictions on mifepristone.

On Monday, May 19, 2025, the court heard oral arguments on cross motions for summary judgment in the case. “The Trump administration has made it clear that they do not care about science, or our health and safety,” said CRR on social media. “They only care about taking away our rights. But we refuse to let that happen. We’re ALL IN on this fight.”

Republican Efforts to Defund Planned Parenthood Would Increase Budget Deficit $300 Million

The House Rules Committee is set to meet at 1 a.m. ET on May 21 to discuss Medicaid funding cuts that would essentially defund Planned Parenthood. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that blocking patients from using their Medicaid insurance plan to obtain sexual and reproductive healthcare at Planned Parenthood clinics would increase the deficit by $300 million.

“The fact of the matter is, if Republicans get their way—if they succeed in shutting the doors of Planned Parenthood clinics across the country—millions of women will have nowhere else to turn,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). “After all, two-thirds of Planned Parenthood health centers are in rural and medically underserved areas—places where there’s already a shortage of clinics and healthcare professionals. And for a lot of these patients, Planned Parenthood is literally the only provider in reach and in budget. They literally can’t afford to lose this care.”

The ‘Subway Shirt’: How Young Women Are Dressing to Deflect Unwanted Attention

An excerpt from Sexy Selfie Nation: Standing Up for Yourself in Today’s Toxic, Sexist Culture, in which Leora Tanenbaum offers an incisive exploration of why many young women wear body-revealing outfits and share sexy selfies and what these choices say about our toxic, sexist culture:

“As temperatures in New York City climbed, young women faced a dilemma: They wanted to wear summery tank tops and miniskirts but were concerned that as they traveled around the city, especially on the subway, they would be met with predatory stares, harassing, ‘Hey baby, won’t you give me a smile?’ comments, and even unwanted touches and gropes.

“And so, being resourceful New York women, they hatched a solution: the ‘subway shirt’—an oversized, shapeless shirt one slips over her ‘real’ outfit.”

Sean Combs’ Defense Leans on Familiar Tropes About Women. Will the Jury Believe His Accusers?

Casandra Elizabeth Ventura has described years of alleged physical and sexual abuse at the hands of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs has denied the charges, insisting that the sex acts were consensual.

The women’s credibility is therefore critical to the trial’s outcome.

As Combs’ lawyer already previewed, his team will endeavor to convince the jury that the accusers are lying. The courtroom becomes a stage for the oldest stories we tell about women and truth.

Profiles in Courage: Jocelyn Samuels and the Fight to Save the EEOC

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Ms.‘ Profiles in Courage spotlights women in the Department of Justice, federal agencies and the military whose careers have been defined by integrity, resilience and reform. Their quiet heroism—often at personal cost—reaffirms the enduring role of public servants who choose justice over self-interest. Through their stories, Ms. pays tribute to a tradition of service that safeguards democracy and inspires the next generation to lead with courage.

As a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Jocelyn Samuels spent a lifetime defending democracy and workers’ rights. Now she’s fighting to protect the agency she helped lead.

Adriana Smith and the Legal Horror of Reproductive Servitude in the U.S.

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Three months ago, 30-year-old Adriana Smith was declared brain-dead. But a hospital in Georgia is keeping her “alive” on life support because of the state’s strict abortion ban.

“In what universe does a hospital in Georgia … believe that they can take ownership of Adriana Smith’s body?” asked Michele Goodwin on a recent emergency episode of On the Issues: Fifteen Minutes of Feminism. “According to the hospital, she is now an incubator. … This is not science fiction, though I wish that it were.”

“I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision,” Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, said. “And if not, then their partner or their parents.”