The Biden administration’s 2023 judicial appointments were some of the most diverse in a presidential history, marking a historic win for representation in the courts.
The momentum continues in 2024.
Tag: Congress
The U.S. Congress is the country’s legislative body and is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Read stories here about elections to these bodies, the laws they introduce and the ways lawmakers shape peoples’ lives.
What Will Be the Cost of the First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill?
Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill, is set to hit drugstores, grocery stores and online shelves in the first quarter of 2024. But the real challenge lies ahead: Will it be affordable and truly accessible to all?
Opill is a progestin-only oral contraceptive pill, boasting a success rate as high as 98 percent in preventing pregnancies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hailed the approval of Opill as a breakthrough that could “reduce barriers to access” for those seeking contraception.
However, the promise of accessibility hinges on the crucial factor of affordability.
Has Life Improved for Transgender Americans in the Last 10 Years? Not Really.
The 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey shows that trans people face steep economic and health disparities while anti-trans state laws have caused thousands to flee their homes.
Will Men Organize to End Gun Violence?
It’s been six years since the Valentine’s Day massacre of 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and gun violence remains as virulent a disease as ever, with regular new outbreaks in states across the country.
Like many debates about social conditions in the U.S., too many men remain silent, rarely weighing in, whether the issue is mass shootings, women’s reproductive rights or the climate emergency. What if, in this critically important election year, men organized themselves as men to speak out?
Who Runs the World? Women Mayors.
As St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones told Ms., “Men run for office to be somebody; women run to do something.”
More and more, women serving as mayors are part of the feminist frontline for advancing equal rights and are leaders on issues of concern to women voters.
As seen throughout history, women mayors focus on feminist issues that many tend to overlook. Let’s bring intersectional issues to the forefront, and elect more women mayors to push forward our agenda.
The U.S. Can Create True Wealth by Giving Cash to Parents Who Need It
In 2018, we launched the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, the United States’ first modern-day guaranteed income program and the first in the world to focus solely on low-income Black mothers.
Our goal is simple: Provide the financial capital necessary for these mothers to dream a little bigger and breathe a little easier. We can give everyone that kind of wealth. And yes, I will play on the word here—we can guarantee it. If we are willing to understand, a little financial investment can change someone’s life, and allow them the flexibility, heart, and mind to build and define true wealth—equity, delight, honor and love.
Keeping Score: E. Jean Carroll Wins Defamation Case; 64K Pregnancies from Rape in Abortion Ban States; U.S. Congress Members Urge SCOTUS to Protect Abortion Pill
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: E. Jean Carroll wins defamation case; over 64,000 pregnancies from rape in abortion ban states; Taylor Swift targeted by deepfake attack; House passes CTC expansion; states implement anti-trans laws; abortion rates have risen since 2020; Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed the first anti-LGBTQ bill of the year into law; more than three in five Americans support Congress passing a law guaranteeing the right to an abortion; and more.
The Tools Trump Could Use to Curb Abortion Access if He’s Elected
Donald Trump was one of the anti-abortion movement’s most dependable presidents. If reelected, the former president would have tools to quickly curtail access to the procedure, without the aid of Congress—and the pressure on him to wield them has already started.
Compassion, Not Rejection, Will Do Something About the Border
For months now, the words “we must do something about the border” have been thrown about in the United States—as though the border were a leaky roof or broken window that could be quickly repaired and made new again. Listen closely, however, and it becomes apparent that many politicians mean something different altogether. To them, “doing something about the border” means preventing people from accessing border crossings and preventing them from obtaining asylum or other legal means of entry.
The impact on those real people easily gets lost in budget talks and political squabbling. Understanding who is coming to the border can help us make better decisions about what actually needs to be done to create a functioning migration system.
The Anti-Abortion Movement Is in Crisis Communications Mode
The anti-choice movement’s decision to focus their messaging on crisis pregnancy centers—both in the streets of Washington and the halls of Congress—in response to mounting evidence that abortion bans cause women severe harms reflects the movement’s longtime public relations strategy for navigating political obstacles and bad publicity. With daily reports of horrific abortion-ban injuries, polls repeatedly showing that most Americans oppose abortion bans, and the political reality that abortion rights have won in every state where they’ve been on the ballot, anti-abortion strategists are not eager to remind the public of their plans to criminalize all abortion, or of the consequences.