Justice & Law

Republican AGs Want Access to Health Records of Out-of-State Abortion Seekers. Texas’ Ken Paxton Is Leading the Charge.

PUBLISHED 10/16/2024 by

Since the fall of Roe, cross-border abortion travel has doubled. To guard against the threat of having—as President Biden put it—the medical records of abortion patients “used against them, their doctor, or their loved one just because they sought or received lawful reproductive healthcare,” a new HIPAA rule issued last year enhances the privacy protections for reproductive healthcare.

Attorneys general from 19 abortion-hostile states submitted a formal letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in opposition to the proposed enhanced privacy rule, based on its disregard for fetal personhood. The AGs failed in their mission to prevent the proposed 2024 rule from becoming final—so Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took matters into his own hands. The Texas challenge will be heard by Republican appointee Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock, Texas. It is anticipated that he will be sympathetic to the state’s position.

Half a Century After Title IX, Universities Are Still Failing Survivors: The Ms. Q&A With Nicole Bedera

PUBLISHED 10/15/2024 by

Ms. spoke with Bedera about her research for her newly released book, On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence, and how Title IX has fared in the 52 years since its passage.

Her findings are appalling.

“The average college expels just one perpetrator of sexual assault every three years.

“One of the administrators … told me that he hesitated to consider something as rape unless it involved ‘a stranger jumping out of the bushes.’ Survivors’ experiences were consistently misunderstood and minimized.”

Realizing Youth Power: Engaging Youth Beyond Elections

PUBLISHED 10/15/2024 by | UPDATED 11/5/2024 at 9:25 A.M. PT

Ever since I could remember, the prevailing narrative about young people and elections has been that they don’t care and don’t vote. As a result, politicians have expressed no obligation to young people and their priorities. Yet, in August, as I watched the Democratic National Convention, I saw something different: Broadcasters and commentators referred to “the youth vote” as a meaningful voting bloc. For the first time, our political discourse was acknowledging the critical role young people have played in the last several elections.

Issues like climate change, reproductive justice, student debt, education and gun violence are life-and-death issues, with clear implications for young people’s daily experiences. Drawing from the work of foster care system and disability justice activists, young leaders rally for “Nothing about us without us.”

(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.)

State Supreme Court Races Will Determine Abortion Access in Several States

PUBLISHED 10/15/2024 by | UPDATED 12/10/2024 at 1:07 P.M. PT

Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision gave states the authority to decide whether women can access legal abortions, state supreme courts are emerging as vital arenas in the battle over bodily autonomy. This November, 82 supreme court seats are up for an election or retention vote, across 33 states. This number includes judges who voted to uphold abortion bans in Florida and Arizona. 

(This article originally appears in the Fall 2024 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox!)

Abortions, Astrologers and Alleged Deep-State Assassinations: An Excerpt From ‘Reproductive Rites’

PUBLISHED 10/14/2024 by

What do Ronald Reagan, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, and the occult have in common? In this excerpt from her forthcoming book, Reproductive Rites: The Real-Life Witches and Witch Hunts in the Centuries-Long Fight for Abortion, author Sophia Saint Thomas explores the unconventional and contradictory beliefs of prominent anti-choice politicians from the Reagan administration.

In the U.S., Marriage Functions More Like a Privilege—Not an Equal Basic Right

PUBLISHED 10/14/2024 by | UPDATED 10/15/2024 at 7:57 A.M. PT

An excerpt from Allison Raskin’s new book, I Do (I Think): Conversations About Marriage.

“This elevation of marriage is a problem for multiple reasons, because as we know well by this point in the chapter, not everyone has the same level of access to it—legally or financially. The fight for true marriage equality didn’t end with the federal legalization of same-sex marriage, and it is impossible to ignore the classist, ableist and patriarchal forces at play when it comes to who can get married easily and what those marriages end up looking like. “

Rest in Power: Lilly Ledbetter, Trailblazing Icon for Women’s Equal Pay

PUBLISHED 10/14/2024 by

Lilly Ledbetter, an equal pay activist whose legal fight against her employer led to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, died this weekend. She was 86. 

“One of the next steps in reaching pay equity is the Paycheck Fairness Act—a bill that would amend the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to give workers stronger enforcement tools and remedies to help close the pay gap between men and women once and for all,” wrote Ledbetter in an op-ed for Ms. in January. “But things have been frustratingly stagnant in Congress.”

California Becomes First State to Enshrine Intersectionality in Law, Recognizing the Amplified Harms of Overlapping Discrimination

PUBLISHED 10/11/2024 by

Thirty-five years ago, Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” to explain how multiple forms of discrimination interact to exacerbate each other, resulting in amplified forms of prejudice and harm. Last week, California became the first state to explicitly recognize intersectionality in discrimination law.

Gun Violence Is Higher in Republican-Led States. We Need Red Flag Laws Across the U.S.

PUBLISHED 10/11/2024 by

The deadliest school shooting in Georgia’s history last month shows a shocking reality: People in Republican-led states face a significantly higher risk of gun violence than those in blue states.

Vice President Harris’ gun violence prevention agenda, centered around red flag laws, could potentially save more lives in red states where such measures are often lacking.