Over a Million Women Are at Risk of a Pay Cut Under a New Trump Rule

The Trump administration’s Department of Labor recently proposed a new rule that would directly take earnings away from the more than 1.5 million home care workers in the United States, more than 80 percent women, and their families.

Between 2019 and 2040, the population of adults ages 65 and older is expected to balloon from 54 million people to nearly 81 million people, comprising an estimated 22 percent of the U.S. population. That means that the direct care workforce is projected to grow at a faster rate than any other occupation over the next decade.

From Alligator Alcatraz to National Guard Patrols: What Is the Cost of the Trump Administration’s Cruelty?

Reserve forces of the U.S. Army, 800 National Guardsmen, and for some reason, 120 FBI agents, are being newly assigned by El Presidente to patrol our national capital—citing crime as his motive, though it’s dropped by a third in recent (Biden) years. He’s already done this in Los Angeles for the last 60 days and predicts other cities are on his list: Baltimore, Chicago, Oakland, New York City—all places that just happen to vote blue.

Early on, the Pentagon testified it would spend about $134 million for the LA deployment, which sounds like a low-ball figure to anyone who’s recently shopped for groceries to feed 5,000 hungry young men three meals a day. And now, California’s governor is asking for the total cost to taxpayers of this “unlawful” deployment—because whether it’s political theater or not, we’re the ones footing the bill.

Will the SCORE Act Sideline Women Athletes? Title IX Advocates Push for NIL Protections

Members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus are pushing Congress for explicit Title IX protections for women student-athletes in a proposed national law related to name, image and likeness (NIL)—and long-time gender equity advocates hope they succeed.  

Four years into student-athletes being able to capitalize on their NIL, 32 states have enacted their own laws. Now, there is a proposed bill before Congress, the Student Compensation and Opportunity Through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act, which is designed to establish a national framework for collegiate athlete compensation, particularly as it pertains to NIL.

Something the SCORE Act doesn’t take into consideration is Title IX and gender equity. Earlier this year, the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights rescinded guidance put in place by the Biden administration, noting it was “overly burdensome” and effectively stating that Title IX, an educational statute that prohibits discrimination based on gender at any institution receiving federal funds, is inapplicable to NIL.

‘Protect Medicaid Vigil’ Shows The Power of Grief in an Era of Cruelty

Late last month, a 60-hour “Protect Medicaid Vigil” took place on the National Mall across from the Capitol. Featuring live music, speakers and a collaborative art table, it was a space for collective grief, anger, joy and hope in response to steep Medicaid cuts in the recently enacted Republican spending package.

The event was organized by Caring Across Generations, a national organization of family caregivers, care workers, disabled people and aging adults advocating for social and political change. It spanned 60 hours to represent each year of the Medicaid program to-date. During the vigil, Caring Across Generations lit 8,000 candles as a visual representation of the nearly 80 million Americans who rely on Medicaid coverage for healthcare.

Feminist thought-leaders, including Audre Lorde and Judith Butler, have theorized that emotions (particularly grief and anger) are essential to any successful social movement. By holding a vigil followed by a joyful day of action, Caring Across Generations and its partners showed how emotion can fuel and sustain activism under Trump.

Dreams Deferred: The Oppression of Women Judges Under Taliban Rule

On a cold Sunday morning in January 2021, Qadria Yasini, a judge on the Supreme Court of Afghanistan in Kabul, set out for work with her colleague, Zakia Herawi. As they rode in the back seat of a government-provided car, they were gunned down in broad daylight by three assassins, who then fled on foot and by motorcycle. When Yasini’s possessions were returned to her family, a Mother’s Day greeting from her two teenage sons was found in her handbag, riddled by bullets.

This heartbreaking story opens British journalist Karen Bartlett’s deeply reported, troubling new book: Escape From Kabul: The Afghan Women Judges Who Fled the Taliban and Those They Left Behind.

But Bartlett’s narrative also provides an inspiring tale of resilience.

The SAVE Act Will Set Women Voters Back a Generation

Barely six months into the new administration, President Trump and his allies are advancing a bill that will fundamentally change our elections and make it harder for millions of women to register, vote and participate in our democracy.

The deceptively named SAVE Act represents the latest and most dangerous threat of election denialism to date.

Proponents of the SAVE Act would have us believe that anyone can walk into a polling station and cast a vote without being identified at all. This could not be further from the truth.

SAVE Act supporters allege mass fraud in our elections, votes under the names of dead people and party activists voting multiple times. This, too, is false.

Five Ways the GOP Is Quietly Paving the Road to a National Abortion Ban

The vast majority of Americans support abortion and reproductive freedom, yet state lawmakers continue to introduce and pass laws stripping citizens of these rights. Providers face confusing, punitive rules that might lead them to delay or deny care. Planned Parenthood and other providers face budget cuts that threaten to restrict healthcare access for millions of Americans.

These are not isolated outcomes. Rather, they reveal a coordinated national strategy. Here are five myths we believe need to be dispelled to counter the challenges that lie ahead.

The Supreme Court’s Ruling on National Injunctions Will Hurt Us All—Immigrants First

In a 6-3 decision last Friday, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration a partial, but crucial, victory in its efforts to stop federal courts from blocking Trump’s agenda.

The vehicle for this power grab, CASA v. Trump, is a case about the legality of denying citizenship to children born to parents who are in the U.S. unlawfully or temporarily. In the majority’s ruling that nationwide injunctions were probably outside the federal judiciary’s authority, and therefore, judges should limit their orders to the parties and plaintiffs before them, it has tipped the balance of power to the president. And that is going to make many people’s lives—immigrants and nonimmigrants alike—much more difficult.

‘This Will Delay Care’: N.C. Doctor Warns of Harm After Trump’s Rollback on Emergency Abortion Rule

Earlier this month, the Trump administration canceled a 2022 directive issued under the Biden administration that said hospitals had to provide abortion care if it was needed to save a patient’s life or prevent serious harm. The rule was based on a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA, which requires emergency rooms to treat and stabilize all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

While North Carolina law allows abortions in cases where a patient’s life or health is in danger, the previous federal guidance offered clearer protections. Without it, doctors may be less sure about what’s allowed, and hesitate to act quickly in emergencies.