Agencies continue to suspend funding, despite multiple court orders blocking the federal freeze. Experts say the Trump administration’s actions set the stage for challenges to Congress’ authority—and the limits of the presidency.
The Fight for Midlife and Menopausal Health Is Essential to Reproductive Rights—and Democracy
Less than one into the Trump presidency, attacks on reproductive health and rights have begun. Against this backdrop, it may sound surprising to hold out hope for the immediate future of any women’s health issue. But I think menopause may be an outlier.
Perhaps you’ve seen the headlines: Menopause is having a moment, from new tell-all books by Brooke Shields and Naomi Watts, to viral clips of Halle Berry shouting from the steps of the U.S. Capitol, “I’m in menopause, OK?!” Commitment goes well beyond celebrity moments and includes notable support from public policy leaders across the spectrum—Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and in blue and red states. These prominent voices are part of a new wave of recognition that menopausal women deserve to make informed choices about our bodies.
Just as the fight for reproductive rights is an essential tenet of any free and fair democracy, so too is autonomy and health at this life stage.
We Heart: Nike Champions Women’s Sports in First Super Bowl Ad in 27 Years
In the middle of the Eagles vs. Chiefs Super Bowl game, Nike’s “So Win” ad encouraged women to take control not just on the playing field but in the narratives that surround women in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as sports.
A voiceover from Grammy-winning rapper Doechii echoes frequent limitations leveled at women in sports and in life (“You can’t be demanding,” “You can’t dominate,” “You can’t be emotional”) before urging women, “Whatever you do, you can’t win … So win.”
Executive Orders, Pardons and Purges: Trump’s Opening Salvo Meets a Fierce Resistance
As the Trump administration unleashes a barrage of destructive policies, a powerful resistance—led by activists, lawmakers and legal teams—is already pushing back in the courts, in the streets and in statehouses across the country.
USAID’s Reproductive Health Funding Has Saved Millions of Lives. Now It’s Gone.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, boasted that he was gutting the federal agency tasked with providing foreign aid to its poorest. The agency’s funding in 2023 was about $40 billion, which represented less than 1 percent of the federal budget. “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” Musk, the tech billionaire head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, posted on his social media platform, X.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was established in 1961 to provide foreign assistance to impoverished countries around the world through food aid and humanitarian and economic development work. It is also one of the world’s largest providers of contraception through its family planning program.
Three Months After Missouri Voted to Make Abortion Legal, Access Is Still Being Blocked
Reproductive rights are now enshrined in the state Constitution, but Missouri’s main abortion provider is fighting legal hurdles to resume offering the procedure. Meanwhile, antiabortion lawmakers strategize to prevent a return of abortion services.
Wombs for Hire: Inside Europe’s Underground Surrogacy Networks
The legal landscape of surrogacy remains a complex patchwork across nations, with some countries embracing it while others maintain strict prohibitions. This inconsistency in regulations has created gray areas.
Scientific research highlights the possibility of abuse arising from gaps in legal frameworks and disputes, whether surrogacy is legal or not. It points to unethical practices such as trafficking of women, coercion of both surrogates and prospective parents by agencies, lack of respect for bodily autonomy or informed consent, ‘sham’ procedures and multiple embryo exchanges.
Amid this contentious landscape, the European Parliament Council took decisive action on Jan. 23, 2024, reaching a provisional agreement to classify exploitative surrogacy practices as human trafficking. The measure was formally adopted on May 27, 2024. The new framework imposes strict penalties on those who exploit women through forced surrogacy or deceptive practices, while establishing comprehensive support systems for victims. E.U. member states must implement these protections into their national legislation within two years.
Physicians Sound the Alarm: The Data Is Gone, But the Need Isn’t
The Trump administration has erased thousands of pages of public health data from government websites—information doctors rely on and taxpayers funded.
“They took down information that healthcare providers use on a daily basis to make sure you’re safe, to prevent the spread of disease,” said Dr. Sophia Yen, medical director and co-founder of Pandia Health. “You just can’t play with people’s lives. You can’t play with people’s health.”
Trans Activist Raquel Willis Offers Thoughts on Organizing, Strength and Hope in this Moment
Within the first three weeks of Donald Trump’s second term, he has signed a devastating and chaotic wave of executive orders that undo a wide variety of laws and protections impacting vulnerable Americans.
With so many rights and freedoms at stake, I reached out to trailblazing transgender activist Raquel Willis to get her perspective on what we are facing under this administration and how we can support the trans community.
“We’re not starting from zero.” The fight for trans rights continues—and so does the resistance.
Against the Normalization of Trump’s Misogyny
In just over two weeks, an emboldened and angry Donald Trump, restored to power, has plunged the federal government into chaos and threatened the rule of law, separation of powers, and other core tenets of American democracy.
It’s important for people to stand up and take action in real time, and do whatever they can—through lawsuits, legislative action and public protest—to block the implementation of immoral and illegal policies. But let’s take a moment to step back and ponder a broader question: Trump’s legitimacy as the nation’s leader, and what that means in terms of social norms, or what effect Trump’s behavior has on what it means to be normal.