Keeping Score: States Threaten Church-State Separation; Doctors Avoid States With Abortion Bans; N.Y. ERA Will Be on November Ballot

PUBLISHED 7/9/2024 by

In every issue of Ms.., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: the Supreme Court ruled on the EMTALA abortion case, presidential immunity and criminalizing homelessness; Louisiana requires public classrooms to display the 10 Commandments; medical residents are avoiding states with abortion bans; Gen Z swing voters care about the cost of living, healthcare and housing; college-educated women now outnumber college-educated men in the workforce, but women’s wages still lag behind; and more.

The First National Data on Birth Control Post-Dobbs Is Here, and the News Is Not Good

PUBLISHED 7/9/2024 by

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs decision, as dozens of abortion clinics shut down in states with total or near-total abortion bans, reproductive justice advocates warned that the closures wouldn’t just affect patients seeking to terminate their pregnancies.

Now, in the first research to look at national trends in the use of birth control pills and emergency contraceptives in the post-Roe era, a USC study has found states with the most draconian abortion policies saw significant declines in the number of birth control prescriptions filled, especially for emergency contraception. 

Whether Abusers Like Zackey Rahimi Should Be Able to Have Guns Should Have Never Reached the Supreme Court

PUBLISHED 7/9/2024 by and

For 30 years, federal law has disarmed domestic abusers who are subject to domestic violence protection orders. Last month, in United States v. Rahimi, the Supreme Court rejected the gun lobby’s effort to upend that status quo.

But make no mistake: this Supreme Court, along with lower courts attempting to follow its flawed precedents, remains a grave threat to the health and safety of women and countless others. 

Our Abortion Stories: ‘Instead of an Immediate Dilation and Curettage, I Was Sent Home to Wait for Nature to Take Its Course’

PUBLISHED 7/8/2024 by

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.)

Author Anne Shaw Heinrich reflects on her abortion story, motherhood and how it connects to the characters in her book, God Bless the Child.

What the 3.2 Million-Year-Old Lucy Fossil Reveals About Nudity and Shame

PUBLISHED 7/7/2024 by

Fifty years ago, scientists discovered “Lucy,” a nearly complete fossilized skull and hundreds of pieces of bone of a 3.2-million-year-old female specimen of the genus Australopithecus afarensis, often described as “the mother of us all.”

Though Lucy has solved some evolutionary riddles, her appearance remains an ancestral secret.

Popular renderings dress her in thick, reddish-brown fur, with her face, hands, feet and breasts peeking out of denser thickets.This hairy picture of Lucy, it turns out, might be wrong.

Nursing Parents Still Have No Place to Pump at Work. Now They’re Suing.

PUBLISHED 7/5/2024 by

A wave of lawsuits—including against major companies—is coming after the PUMP Act gave employees the right to sue over a lack of workplace accommodations.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for the first year of a child’s life, a standard that is difficult to meet in the United States because postpartum workplace protections are very limited.

The Fight Over Military Abortion Access: ‘The National Defense Act Being Used by Far-Right MAGA Extremists as a Wish List’

PUBLISHED 7/5/2024 by

Women lawmakers are leading efforts across the aisle to expand some childcare and contraception benefits and also limit abortion-related travel expenses.

“It seems as if Republicans are really working to use the National Defense Authorization Act—much like other pieces of legislation—to reverse a lot of the progress women have made across the country,” said Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey.

The Supreme Court Left the Door Open for Attacks on Emergency Medical Care

PUBLISHED 7/5/2024 by

The Supreme Court handed down its decision on EMTALA last week and vacated the case. This conclusion—at least temporarily—protected a small sliver of the safety net that pregnant patients can count on for care. For the time being, this means that patients in need of emergency abortion care will no longer need to be airlifted out of Idaho, which has been happening since the start of 2024. You would think this decision would be comforting.

It is not.

Instead of doing what it should have done, which was affirm that pregnant people have the same protections as anyone else, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower courts and left the door open for other extremists to bring this argument again.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Ensuring Fair Pay for Legislators; Alyia Gaskins May Be Alexandria’s First Black Woman Mayor

PUBLISHED 7/5/2024 by

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

This week: Alyia Gaskins secured the Democratic nomination for mayor of Alexandria and is on track to become the first Black woman mayor in the city; over 100 women are on the November ballot, aiming for seats in the Texas House next year; women across the nation report salary as a key consideration when deciding to run or remain in office; and more.

As Women’s Incarceration Rates Rise, Advocates Say Clean Slate Legislation Is Needed

PUBLISHED 7/3/2024 by

Women are being incarcerated at record rates in the U.S. With 190,600 women currently incarcerated, incarceration rates are rising twice as fast as men’s. Women now make up a larger portion of the prison population than ever before. 

Despite this dramatic increase, the reentry needs of formerly incarcerated women remain largely unaddressed. Over 18 million women in the U.S. now bear the weight of a criminal record. What support exists to help them rebuild their lives?