Stopping the Flow of Abortion Pills by Any Means Possible: Texas Takes on Telehealth Abortion Shield Laws

Last month Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of the state against New York doctor Maggie Carpenter, co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telehealth, for prescribing abortion pills through telehealth to a Texas woman.

Paxton’s lawsuit is a direct attack on telehealth abortion shield laws— a move that has been anticipated since Massachusetts enacted the country’s first such law in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs.

‘We’ve Got to Stop This’: Doctors Sound Alarm as Miscarrying Women Die Under Texas Abortion Ban

The Texas abortion ban’s harsh penalties are “terrifying” doctors, leading to women dying from miscarriages.

“It’s like a knife straight to your stomach,” said Dr. Todd Ivey, a Houston-based OB-GYN at an academic hospital, about a third woman dying in the state during a miscarriage.

Five doctors who provide reproductive healthcare in Texas on why they believe three healthy young women died—and their advice about how other pregnant Texans can do their best to survive a miscarriage in the state.

Ms. Magazine’s Top Feminists of 2024

From top athletes, to community activists, to badass lawmakers, here are our 25 picks for the top U.S. feminists of 2024, and two of the best things they did or said.

Featuring: Kamala Harris, the 27 women who sued the state of Texas for its abortion ban in Zurawski v. Texas, Sarah McBride, abortion providers and funders, Black women voters, Jasmine Crockett, South Carolina’s “Sister Senators” and more.

2024’s Top Feminist Moments in Pop Culture

The year 2024 had promised an era of women rising to the top. This was spectacularly highlighted by the historic presidential run of Vice President Kamala Harris, who had mounted an unprecedented campaign in just over 100 days. Sadly, Harris fell short of the necessary votes.

2024 nonetheless demonstrated that women still hold powerful sway across our popular culture, even as they struggle for the highest political position. We continue to hold onto hope for a feminist future with more opportunities for gender and racial breakthroughs, which are still possible because they have been imagined and envisioned in our pop culture. Here are our picks for the year’s top 10 feminist moments.

Sahra Mani’s ‘Bread & Roses’: A Documentary ‘About Afghan Women, by Afghan Women, When the World Had Stopped Seeing Them’

In her new documentary, Bread & Roses (available now on Apple+), filmmaker Sahra Mani reveals the fierce and courageous resistance of Afghan women defying the Taliban—who wish to make them disappear.

It’s a documentary about Afghan women, by Afghan women, at a time when the world had stopped seeing them.

Stop Trashing Trans People. Get Smarter About Gender.

Throwing trans and nonbinary people under the bus is a terrible compromise to the very authoritarian ambitions that liberals say they’re stepping up to fight. We need more love and support for people who are stigmatized and under assault, not less. And we desperately need more understanding of sex, gender and sexuality.

Let’s equip ourselves with the intellectual tools that will help us understand how would-be tyrants use gender to divide us.  

Black Women on the Ballot: Top Races to Watch in 2024

The 2024 elections are a watershed moment for Black women in politics.

As Americans—particularly young people and people of color—become more disillusioned by our political processes, the intentional and strategic advancement of Black women candidates may infuse a much-needed dose of confidence in decency, democracy and dignity in politics.

The Top Four Causes Igniting Young People

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.)

Tracking Fertility, Not Freedom: The Dystopian Vision of Trump’s ‘Baby Boom’ Agenda

Project 2025, the far-right blueprint for a second Trump term, proposes replacing comprehensive sex education with government-endorsed fertility tracking programs under the guise of promoting “natural” family planning. This medically unsound initiative is part of a broader effort to control reproductive knowledge and engineer a state-sponsored “baby boom.”