More Than A Magazine, A Movement
‘Our Abortion Stories’ chronicles readers’ experiences of abortion pre- and post Roe. Abortions are sought by a wide range of people, for many different reasons. There is no single story. (Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.)
Ahead of the midterms, many were concerned that election workers and voters would face intimidation or threats at polling places. By and large, though, the push to recruit an “army” of poll watchers and observers didn’t amount to much.
How was it that this election, conducted in the midst of grave threats to our democracy, went so smoothly? In short, because many of the people who needed to step up did so.
Now, longer-term, consistent and adequate funding from the federal government is necessary to ensure election workers have the support they need to continually improve at their jobs without worrying for their own safety and that of their families.
By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court rejected the “independent state legislature” theory in a case about North Carolina’s congressional map. The theory would have emboldened state lawmakers and restricted the power of state courts to review certain election laws.
“Today, the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances,” tweeted former President Barack Obama. “This ruling rejects the far-right theory that threatened to undermine our democracy, and makes clear that courts can continue defending voters’ rights—in North Carolina and in every state.”
Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide. This week: news from Sweden, China, COP27 in Egypt, Iran, and more.
Employers around the country announced that they would assist their employees to travel out of state to access abortion healthcare. But a Trump-appointed member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is working from inside the civil rights agency to attack these employer benefits, claiming they are favoring workers seeking abortions while discriminating against pregnant workers and disabled workers.
This attempt to redirect the government’s limited civil rights resources to attacking women’s rights is evidence of the continuing harms caused by the Trump administration to women.
In 2014, Justice Samuel Alito allegedly leaked the impending decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby to anti-choice lobbyists weeks before the Court publicly issued it. This revelation suggests something more sinister: Some of the justices are acting in concert with conservative movement leaders, leaking opinions, signaling outcomes, and backchanneling. This is disturbing and devastating. The rule of law cannot survive if the judiciary ceases to be independent.
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes a male reporter shrink into a ball of shame; a new school is training women to fly drones—a key component to Ukraine’s resistance against Russian forces; an all-women referee trio for the first time at the World Cup;
It has simply become unthinkable for millions of white men to vote for a party they see—in crudely stereotypical and misogynous terms—as soft, weak and effeminate.
U.S. voters have faced significant changes in the voting rights landscape over the years—but when it comes to restrictions, the last two years take the cake. Since the beginning of 2021, lawmakers have passed at least 42 restrictive voting laws in 21 states, making last year the worst on record for voting access. Many of the same trends continued into 2022, affecting both midterm turnout and race outcomes, and putting U.S. democracy through the ultimate stress test.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has been fighting laws like these for over seven decades. Today, it’s led by Maya Wiley. In a conversation with Ms., Wiley gave her frank take on the 2022 midterms and the upcoming Georgia Senate race; discussed the role of voter suppression in key races this year; and shared her vision for the future of U.S. civil rights.
Ms. Muse is a discovery place for riotous, righteous and resonant feminist poetry that nourishes and gives voice to a rising tide of female resistance.
How do you redeem a woman’s worst nightmare lived—or at least one of them? How do you give a mute, silenced or dead woman a voice? These are a few of the questions answered by Melissa Studdard’s poems.
“after I died / I put my clothes back on. / Like women do. / When everything has been taken.”