California

The Complexities of Choice: An OB-GYN’s Perspective on Abortion and Autonomy

A personal narrative by Dr. Katherine Brown, an OB-GYN physician who provides comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion services. She reflects on the evolution of her understanding of her role as a physician, emphasizing the importance of humility and recognizing the expertise of her patients in making decisions about their own reproductive health. Dr. Brown criticizes political interference in abortion care, arguing that such decisions should be left to the individuals directly affected.

“Abortion can be relief but at the same time despair. Abortion can be the right decision, and at the same time feels like the only decision among a set of horrible decisions. What always remains true is the patient is the one who is the expert of their lives. No one can know what is right for them.”

Nursing Parents Still Have No Place to Pump at Work. Now They’re Suing.

A wave of lawsuits—including against major companies—is coming after the PUMP Act gave employees the right to sue over a lack of workplace accommodations.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for the first year of a child’s life, a standard that is difficult to meet in the United States because postpartum workplace protections are very limited.

Stories From Appalachia: ‘I Was Born in Mexico, but I’m From McDowell. We Grew Up Here, and We’ll Stay Here.’

An oral history project five years in the making, Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia brings together narratives of refugees, migrants and generations-long residents that explore complex journeys of resettlement.

Meet Cindy Sierra Morales: When she was 6 years old, Sierra Morales’ family migrated from Durango, Mexico, to Los Angeles, fleeing gang violence. After a short stay with family friends, Cindy’s family drove to Marion, N.C., where her aunt, uncle, cousins and older siblings already lived. Her parents held a variety of factory jobs, and Cindy started second grade just a few weeks after arriving. After living in the United States for 15 years, Cindy and her siblings were able to secure legal documentation through DACA.

Meet the Coalition of Governors Determined to Protect Abortion Rights for All Americans

The Reproductive Freedom Alliance is a nonpartisan coalition of 23 governors determined to protect abortion rights and reproductive health.

“It shows the alignment of Democratic governors who are very clear about women’s health, public health and the fact that the Dobbs decision is a complete violation of long-held constitutional rights—fundamental rights for women and their families,” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

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

The Abolitionist Aesthetics of Patrisse Cullors, Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter

“Imagine if culturally we understood that protecting Black women meant protecting all of us,” said Patrisse Cullors, renowned for her activist work with Black Lives Matter, a global network she co-founded in 2013 with Alicia Garza and Ayo Tometi. “I think that’s what this show means to me.”

The show referenced here, “dedicated to all Black women and femmes around the world,” is the exhibit Between the Warp and Weft: Weaving Shields of Strength and Spirituality—an introduction to Cullors as an artist wielding her protection spell over Black women. The exhibit opens Saturday, June 15, at the Charlie James Gallery in downtown Los Angeles.

Because We’re ‘Still Working 9 to 5’: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton Win ERA Coalition’s Trailblazer Award at Hollywood Premiere

The ERA Coalition Forward awarded Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton with the Women’s Equality Trailblazer Award for their fearless work to bring the film Still Working 9 to 5 to fruition, as well as Fonda and Tomlin’s steadfast commitment to getting the ERA enshrined in the Constitution. 

As Tomlin told Ms., “The ERA is fundamental to the culture. We’re one of the few industrialized countries that does not have some kind of law… [for] equality between the sexes,” and Fonda leaned in with a message for Congress: “Come on! It’s time! It’s been 100 years!” Then added, “It’s been ratified, so get it published already!”

California’s Gender-Neutral Toy Law Revives a 50-Year Feminist Fight

On Jan. 1, 2024, California began enforcing Assembly Bill 1084, a landmark bill in the movement for a more inclusive toy culture. Reinforcing the traditional gender binary through toys, for the first time in history, will be a civil offense. 

The impetus for the legislation is straight out of 1970s toy campaigns against gender-based marketing—like Ms. magazine’s “Toys for Free Children” and the Ms. Foundation’s “Free to Be … You and Me.”

California Brings First-of-its-Kind Lawsuit Against Anti-Abortion Movement’s ‘Abortion Pill Reversal’ Scheme

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s lawsuit charges RealOptions Obria, a five-site crisis pregnancy center chain in Northern California, and the Ohio-based Heartbeat International with violating California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition law by falsely advertising “abortion pill reversal” as safe and effective.

“Those who are struggling with the complex decision to get an abortion deserve support and trustworthy guidance—not lies and misinformation,” Bonta said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit.

California Becomes the Sixth State to Legally Protect Telehealth Abortion and Gender-Care Providers

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that protects healthcare practitioners located in California who provide telehealth services and dispense medication for abortion, contraception and gender-affirming care to out-of-state patients. California joins five other states with similar telehealth provider shield laws.

“With Gov. Newsom’s signing of SB 345, healthcare providers physically located in California will be able to offer a lifeline to people in states that have cut off access to essential care,” said state Sen. Nancy Skinner.

“We want people to know that unjust abortion bans are not stopping access: In all 50 states, people can receive these safe and effective pills by mail to take in the privacy of their own homes,” said Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C.

California Court Grants Restraining Order Based on Coercive Control

In September 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed one of the country’s first laws explicitly prohibiting coercive control in intimate partner relationships. On Aug. 10, Vanessa A. Zecher—a judge of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County— entered a permanent restraining order against a man for coercive control domestic abuse. With campaigns for similar laws moving forward in several states, the case gives advocates concrete evidence of how coercive control laws are critical for freeing survivors from the grasp of abusive partners.

“This case is one of the first cases in the United States where coercive control was considered domestic violence in the absence of physical abuse,” said Lisa Fontes, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and an expert on coercive control.

“I hope this case gives other victims hope that there is a pathway out,” said the wife’s attorney, Rebekah Frye. “I hope they will recognize that what they may think in their head or heart is normal—that they will realize it’s not. And then hopefully at some point in time, if they choose to leave, there will be a court, an attorney, a professional out there that will help them get out.”