Women Confront GOP Attacks in Statehouses and Demand Transparency in Congress

PUBLISHED 9/8/2025 by

As Texas escalates its war on women, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein take the fight to Congress.

There is a simple truth at the core of the current Republican agenda, and our current moment: It is unsafe to be a woman in today’s America. And that situation is by design—whether through abortion restrictions, questioning the safety of the most effective forms of contraception, or RFK Jr.’s targeting of safe and effective vaccines, and other proven public health interventions that save lives. We will all suffer the consequences—regardless of our politics. 

Soderbergh’s ‘Presence’ Isn’t a Horror Movie—It’s a Ghost Story About Grief, Love, Redemption and Family

PUBLISHED 9/6/2025 by

That trailer set me up for a straight-up horror film. What I got instead was something far more unsettling—and, ultimately, more rewarding. Presence isn’t built on cheap scares or cathartic screams. It’s a slow, intimate drift through grief and perspective, a ghost story told entirely from the other side.

By committing fully to realism, Soderbergh dismantles horror’s most familiar conventions and archetypes, leaving us with something haunting in an entirely different way. We aren’t watching the ghost terrorize a family—we are the ghost. We float through their arguments, their secrets, their loneliness, until the banality of eternity itself begins to sink in.

The result is one of the most quietly devastating haunted-house films in recent memory: a meditation on loss, dread and the slow realization that the scariest thing of all isn’t a jump scare, but grief itself.

The War on Children

PUBLISHED 9/5/2025 by

American children die at stunning rates because of policy choices, and mostly because of policy choices made by the “pro-life” right.

The Republican Party has long claimed the mantle of defending life. The new Republican Party has promised to make America healthy again. Instead, they’re leaving kids sick and dead.

This is a war on children. It is also a war on women. The “women and children” framing can feel incredibly condescending, but the truth is that women’s and children’s lives and wellbeing are indelibly intertwined. Women make children with our bodies; if we are not well, they are not well. Women still do most of the work of raising and nurturing children; if they are not well, we are not well. This does not apply to every single woman on earth. But it applies to women as a class, and to children as a class.

Texas Loves Its Bounty Hunters and Hates Its Women

PUBLISHED 9/5/2025 by

Over Labor Day weekend, Texas quietly rolled out yet another measure to restrict reproductive freedom. Senate Bill 33, which took effect Monday, bans municipal funding for abortion support—stripping cities like Austin and San Antonio of the ability to allocate local dollars to abortion funds, even for residents forced to travel out of state for care. The law denies “millions of Texans the opportunity” for their communities to support safe, legal abortion access, according to Jane’s Due Process, a nonprofit serving young people navigating the state’s bans.

It’s a playbook Texas has perfected. Four years ago, the state’s SB 8 created the infamous “bounty hunter” model, empowering private citizens to sue anyone who helps a person get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and rewarding them with $10,000. That law went into effect while Roe v. Wade was still technically the law of the land, an early harbinger of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. Since then, Texas has become the national laboratory for copycat measures that push the boundaries of authoritarian control—from targeting trans people to censoring librarians.

The toll is devastating. Maternal deaths and infant mortality are on the rise; patients risk sepsis because doctors fear prosecution; and the cost of accessing abortion care has skyrocketed. Advocates like Jane’s Due Process warn that these laws are not just about abortion—they are about consolidating state power, silencing local communities and testing the limits of democracy itself. “This is another attack on democracy in an antiabortion disguise,” said Lucie Arvallo, the group’s executive director.

‘It Was The Most Important Thing I Could Do’: Ellie Smeal Reflects on a Lifetime of ERA Activism—And What Comes Next

PUBLISHED 9/5/2025 by

Ellie Smeal helped architect the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. In the final episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward, she shares stories from the frontlines and offers lessons—and optimism—for the fight ahead.

Listen to the latest episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward, “The Feminist Fight For The Equal Rights Amendment Is Far From Over—and More Urgent Than Ever (with Pat Spearman, Ellie Smeal, Carol Moseley Braun, Kathy Spillar, and Ting Ting Cheng)” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Women as Teachers, Governors and Civil Service: The Fight for Women’s Leadership Everywhere

PUBLISHED 9/5/2025 by

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, sports and entertainment, judicial offices and the private sector—with a little gardening mixed in!

This week:
—Teachers have always been the cornerstone of thriving communities and a healthy democracy. It’s no accident that so many powerful women leaders began their journeys in classrooms. And yet, while women dominate the teaching profession, they remain underrepresented in our political institutions.
—President Trump’s recent federal workforce reductions have disproportionately harmed Black women, who are long overrepresented in civil service relative to the private sector.
—A growing number of women are entering the race for governor in 2025 and 2026.
—Debra Shigley, an attorney, small business owner and mom of five, has secured a top spot in a Georgia runoff election for a state Senate seat. Her election on Tuesday, Sept. 23, will be one to watch as women’s leadership in Georgia, and across the country, continues to grow. Georgia already uses ranked-choice voting, sometimes called “instant runoffs,” for military and overseas voters. Expanding this system statewide would guarantee majority winners in a single election.
—U.K. women are calling out dangerous narratives that weaponize sexual violence against women to scapegoat asylum seekers.
—Italian women fight digital violence and demand consent online.

… and more.

The Sound of Silence After Minneapolis: America’s Masculinity Blind Spot

PUBLISHED 9/4/2025 by

A trans shooter in Minneapolis does not change the pattern: Most mass murderers are cisgender men. Change begins with acknowledging that truth. And then acting on it.

Men, let’s answer the call. Let’s urge Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison to use their platforms to spark a movement of men to lead the way. Enough is enough. The time is now—before the guns ring out again.

My Paycheck Covers Rent, Lights and Food. Guaranteed Income Helps Me Dream Bigger.

PUBLISHED 9/4/2025 by

Front & Center amplifies the voices of Black women navigating poverty—highlighting their struggles, resilience and dreams as they care for their families, build careers and challenge systems not built for their success. Now in its fourth year, Front & Center is a collaboration between Ms. and Springboard to Opportunities, a nonprofit based in Jackson, Miss., working alongside residents of federally subsidized housing as they pursue their goals.

In Jackson, Miss., Latisha juggles full-time work, parenting and rising costs—while a guaranteed income program gives her the breathing room to plan for the future.

“Affordable childcare is [a] big barrier. Right now there aren’t even openings for state childcare vouchers, and when there are, the hoops to qualify … keep a lot of working parents from getting help they really need. …

“If I could tell Congress one thing, it would be this: Don’t cut benefits like SNAP or childcare. Make them stronger, because they fill the gap for working families. In jobs like mine—essential jobs serving food and keeping businesses going—the paychecks often aren’t enough to cover the most basic needs of childcare, food and rent. These programs are a safety net when hours get cut or expenses spike.

“These days, I’m finding joy at home. The money from the Trust has allowed me to scale back my hours a little, which means I can rest and be more present with my kids. Having that time and energy back makes a difference in how I show up for them—and for myself.”

Digital Deception: Beware the Rise of Fake Telehealth Abortion Clinics

PUBLISHED 9/4/2025 by

For decades, antiabortion crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) have preyed on vulnerable women, planting themselves next to abortion clinics to misdirect and confuse women seeking abortion care. Now, as telehealth abortion is becoming a more common way to access abortion care—accounting for one in four abortions in 2024—the CPC industry is moving to sabotage this vital option, especially for women living in states with abortion bans and restrictions. The two-billion-dollar CPC industry is now developing telehealth strategies to mislead women seeking telehealth abortion and divert them away from legitimate providers.

Many CPC websites feature pop-up chats purportedly offering consultations with nurses. What’s new today is that more and more CPCs are marketing themselves as telehealth providers, claiming to offer appointments with medical professionals.

“CPCs target the most vulnerable—young people, uninsured and underinsured people, women of color and immigrants—the very people with the fewest options and greatest barriers to abortion and all reproductive healthcare,” said McKenna. “As our country faces worsening maternity care deserts, provider shortages and devastating cuts to the reproductive healthcare safety net, pregnant women and teens need honest, evidence-based care more than ever, not ideologically driven pseudo-health care.”