‘Comstocked’: How Extremists Are Exploiting a Victorian-Era Law To Deny Abortion Access

In June 2019, the all-male city council in Waskom, Texas, unanimously voted to make the tiny town of just 2,000 residents the nation’s first “sanctuary city for the unborn.” Characterizing fetuses as the “most innocent among us [who] deserve equal protection under the law,” the ordinance expressly bans abortion within its municipal boundaries. The man behind the ban, anti-abortion zealot and pastor Mark Lee Dickson, has since expanded his campaign to outlaw abortion “one city at a time” into at least six other states.

(This article originally appears in the Fall 2023 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox!)

The Supreme Court’s Blindness to Gender Violence

If you thought the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade was the end of the Court’s war on women, think again. Now gender violence laws are under attack. Case in point: last term’s decision in Counterman v. Colorado striking down a stalking conviction as unconstitutional. This upcoming term, the Court is poised to deal another blow to domestic violence laws, in a case about guns: United States v. Rahimi.

The only answer is for women to return to a newly vital project since Dobbs: the Equal Rights Amendment.

(This article originally appears in the Fall 2023 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox!)

All Eyes on Ohio: The Next Abortion Battleground State

Proponents of the ballot measure to amend Ohio’s state constitution to protect the right to abortion always knew they faced an uphill battle. Challenged to both gather enough signatures to make the ballot and defeat a Republican-led measure that would make it more difficult to amend the state constitution—aimed at derailing the amendment—advocates in the Buckeye state are rising to the task.

(This article originally appears in the Fall 2023 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)

In North Carolina, the U.S.’ Youngest Party Chair Has a Plan for Attracting Voters and Winning Elections in the Battleground State

Elected at 25 years old in North Carolina, Anderson Clayton is the youngest chair of a state Democratic party. In February, Clayton ousted Bobbie Richardson—a woman 48 years her senior who was endorsed by the North Carolina Democratic establishment, including Gov. Roy Cooper.

Clayton’s strategy for revitalizing the Democratic Party in North Carolina—a battleground state in the upcoming 2024 elections—is to expand the party’s base by focusing on young voters and rural communities, which she believes the party has ignored for far too long.

(This article originally appears in the Fall 2023 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)

Fall 2023 Issue Sneak Peek: Learning From Our Past, Fighting for Our Future

Fifty years in the making, the new Ms. book finally makes its debut on Sept. 19. We couldn’t be more excited to share it with our readers—and with the entire world. Inside the Fall issue, you’ll find a list of upcoming events on our national tour.

Also in the upcoming issue: the antis’ plan to ban abortion nationwide. The Supreme Court’s blindness to gender violence. Meet the 25-year-old leading North Carolina’s Democrats. And is the Barbie movie an outlier? Or have we finally entered an era of female-driven film?

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