Politics

The Top Four Causes Igniting Young People

PUBLISHED 10/22/2024 by

By rallying around causes that matter, young people are not only shaping their own futures but also redefining the landscape of civic engagement. 

(This essay is part of a Women & Democracy multimedia package focused on Gen Z and student voters. The future envisioned by young leaders is bright—it’s built on reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, sustainability, freedom from violence and economic opportunity. Explore essays, a brand-new podcast, videos and more from some of your most loved [or soon to be!] influencers and writers, brought to you by Ms., DoSomething, the nonprofit that helps make volunteerism “cool,” and The Anthem Awards, the social impact arm of The Webbys.)

The Road to My First Vote: Finding My Voice as a First-Generation Immigrant

PUBLISHED 10/22/2024 by

I’m part of the 8 million youth who are now old enough to vote in 2024. It wasn’t until I noticed the inequities that existed around me that I realized the potential my voice could have on the ballot.

(This essay is part of a Women & Democracy multimedia package focused on Gen Z and student voters. The future envisioned by young leaders is bright—it’s built on reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, sustainability, freedom from violence and economic opportunity. Explore essays, a brand-new podcast, videos and more from some of your most loved [or soon to be!] influencers and writers, brought to you by Ms., DoSomething, the nonprofit that helps make volunteerism “cool,” and The Anthem Awards, the social impact arm of The Webbys.)

How to Prepare for Election Season

PUBLISHED 10/22/2024 by

Over 41 million Gen Zers will be eligible to vote in this upcoming general election. That’s huge! It also means the face of our electorate is rapidly changing, and we need to ensure voters like you have all the necessary tools in your toolkit to claim our democracy. As a voter, your vote holds the key to deciding the future of our country. We know that elections can seem daunting and overwhelming, but we want to equip you with the knowledge to show up and take action at the polls this fall.

(This essay is part of a Women & Democracy multimedia package focused on Gen Z and student voters. The future envisioned by young leaders is bright—it’s built on reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, sustainability, freedom from violence and economic opportunity. Explore essays, a brand-new podcast, videos and more from some of your most loved [or soon to be!] influencers and writers, brought to you by Ms., DoSomething, the nonprofit that helps make volunteerism “cool,” and The Anthem Awards, the social impact arm of The Webbys.)

Keeping Score: Federal Judge to DeSantis, ‘It’s the First Amendment, Stupid’; N.Y. Woman Investigated for Pregnancy Loss; Abortion Is #1 Issue for Women Voters Under 30

PUBLISHED 10/21/2024 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: Abortion is the number one election issue for women under 30; a record-breaking 300,000 Georgians cast their ballots on the first day; equal pay trailblazer Lilly Ledbetter died at age 86; X (Twitter) fails to quickly remove revenge porn; less than 1 percent of U.S. abortions happen after 21 weeks; and more.

Project 2025 Would Establish an Unborn Uber Class

PUBLISHED 10/21/2024 by and

Mostly without using the term “person,” Project 2025 lays out a plan for the next conservative president to use the federal government’s executive powers to enact nationwide policies that treat fertilized eggs as persons without needing to rely on courts or legislatures to achieve their goal—overriding the majority of Americans who oppose these measures.

Project 2025 would undermine public health, destroy and degrade women’s lives and inevitably lead to their criminalization.

We must understand Project 2025 as the culmination of the radical personhood agenda, launched in the 1970s, significantly advanced in 2022 by the Supreme Court decision overturning of Roe v. Wade and now poised to be fully achieved if Donald Trump is elected.  

Heyday or Headwinds? Medical Research for Women Is in the Balance This Election Season

PUBLISHED 10/21/2024 by

The Biden administration recognized decades of failure to include half the population in medical research when it established a White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research and dedicated tens of millions of dollars to study diseases affecting primarily women and to include more women in studies of diseases that affect everyone.

It would likely stop dead if former President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester Could Make History as First Two Black Women to Serve Simultaneously in U.S. Senate

PUBLISHED 10/18/2024 by

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

This week: Indigenous People’s Day, the New York Equal Rights Amendment, fostering trust in a time of misinformation, Angela Alsobrooks’ and Lisa Blunt Rochester’s campaigns, calls for increased women’s representation in the Sri Lankan parliament, and more.

From Music Fans to Voters: Registering Young People Ahead of the 2024 Elections

PUBLISHED 10/17/2024 by | UPDATED 10/22/2024 at 11:02 A.M. PT

Gen Z and millennials are officially the largest voting bloc in the U.S., making up 48 percent of eligible voters. In 2022, it’s estimated that 27 percent of people aged 18-29 cast a ballot, marking the second highest youth voter turnout in a midterm election in almost three decades. Since then, 8 million young people have reached voting age, and just under half of them are people of color. 

(This essay is part of a Women & Democracy multimedia package focused on Gen Z and student voters. The future envisioned by young leaders is bright—it’s built on reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, sustainability, freedom from violence and economic opportunity. Explore essays, a brand-new podcast, videos and more from some of your most loved [or soon to be!] influencers and writers, brought to you by Ms., DoSomething, the nonprofit that helps make volunteerism “cool,” and The Anthem Awards, the social impact arm of The Webbys.)