From the Magazine

‘We Can Do Hard Things’: Abortion Providers Fight Back Against Rising Violence [Part 4 of 4]

PUBLISHED 9/19/2025 by

Across the country, abortion providers are installing new security systems, building relationships with local law enforcement, and pushing states to pass their own protections in the absence of federal enforcement. “We really want states to use every tool available to them to pass laws to protect providers and patient communities, and they’re not yet,” says duVergne Gaines of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Clinic Access Project.

Still, advocates refuse to back down. For many, providing abortion is more than a profession—it’s a calling. As Ruth Richardson, who herself was named on the Minnesota assassin’s target list, put it: “We can do hard things. We’ve had to do hard things. This isn’t new.”

In Upcoming Virginia, N.J. and Pennsylvania Elections, Women’s Votes Will Decide the Future of Reproductive Rights and Equality

PUBLISHED 9/18/2025 by

All eyes will be on the elections this fall in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and beyond. These contests are not just bellwethers for next year’s midterms—they’re critical tests of how far Americans will go to defend women’s rights and equality at the state and national levels.

Women’s votes will be decisive. Pollster Celinda Lake told Ms. that women “are our own voters, we make up our own minds.” That independence has shaped elections for decades, with women consistently leaning more Democratic than men. This fall—from Virginia’s history-making two-woman governor’s race, to Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court retention battles—reproductive rights and equality are squarely on the ballot.

The message is clear: State-level elections matter profoundly, especially for women. The Dobbs decision pushed abortion and gender equality battles back to the states, and now voters must decide who will stand up for their rights.

‘Dad Went to War’: The Radical Faith Behind the Minnesota Assassinations [Part 3 of 4]

PUBLISHED 9/18/2025 by

When Minnesota police arrested 57-year-old Vance Boelter after a two-day manhunt, they uncovered notebooks filled with names and addresses of elected officials and abortion providers. The suspect, who authorities say stockpiled 48 firearms, had already gunned down two people and left others gravely wounded. His writings and sermons hint at extremist religious currents, including ties to the New Apostolic Reformation.

“Their vision is violent at the outset,” says Frederick Clarkson, a longtime researcher of Christian extremism.

Advocates warn that rhetoric casting abortion as a holy war is not fringe—it is increasingly mainstream within the movement, fueling both deadly plots and everyday harassment of patients and providers.

The Long Shadow of Dr. George Tiller: Abortion Providers Under Attack [Part 2 of 4]

PUBLISHED 9/17/2025 by

Julie Burkhart has spent decades on the frontlines of abortion care—from witnessing the “Summer of Mercy” blockades in Wichita to reopening a clinic after her mentor, Dr. George Tiller, was assassinated in 2009. In 2022, before she could open a new clinic in Wyoming, an arsonist burned it down. “It’s definitely more of an unsettling time,” Burkhart told Ms.

The threats extend beyond firebombs. In Pennsylvania this summer, antiabortion activists staged a Red Rose Rescue invasion, disrupting care with fake IDs, “holy water,” and “tickets to heaven.” Several participants had been pardoned by Trump months earlier. Advocates say such incidents show a growing pattern: emboldened extremists traveling across state lines to terrorize clinics.

Rest in Power: Robert Redford, an Unlikely but Iconic Ally

PUBLISHED 9/16/2025 by

Robert Redford, who died Sept. 16 at 89, was more than a Hollywood legend—he was also a man unafraid to stand with women.

In October 1975, Redford appeared—back turned, jeans and T-shirt on—with a rolled-up copy of Ms. tucked into his pocket for our “Special Issue on Men.” The image, art-directed by Bea Feitler, became one of the magazine’s most iconic covers, making a simple but bold statement: Women’s rights are a men’s issue too.

That appearance wasn’t a one-off. Redford consistently used his platform to support social justice, environmental causes, LGBTQ+ rights, and women’s voices in film—including through his Sundance Institute, which opened doors for countless underrepresented filmmakers. He welcomed the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements as a long-overdue tipping point, insisting that men’s role was to listen.

Murder, Pardons and Impunity: How Antiabortion Violence Escalated Under Trump [Part 1 of 4]

PUBLISHED 9/16/2025 by | UPDATED 9/25/2026 at 10:07 A.M. PT

Her friend Melissa Hortman, a longtime Minnesota lawmaker, was murdered at home in June—shot by a man posing as a police officer who had also wounded two others and left behind a hit list of dozens of abortion-rights supporters. Among the names was Ruth Richardson, CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. “It was one thing to get a threat; it’s another to have confirmed threats where you have a friend and colleague who is assassinated,” she told Ms.

This tragedy unfolded against a backdrop of federal retreat: Trump pardoned extremists convicted of clinic blockades and violence, and his Justice Department declared it would largely stop enforcing the FACE Act, the law meant to protect providers. Advocates warn these decisions have emboldened extremists, leaving abortion providers more vulnerable than at any time in decades.

In the Fall Issue of Ms. Magazine: Abortion’s Foes Turn Deadly

PUBLISHED 8/19/2025 by | UPDATED 9/25/2026 at 10:07 A.M. PT

The work of advocating for abortion rights has always been dangerous. But under the second Trump administration, which has enabled antiabortion lawmakers and vigilantes through policies and rhetoric, that danger has escalated dramatically, as state Rep. Melissa Hortman’s murder proves.

In our Fall issue, we delve into the motivations behind the shootings, and talk to the people who are trying to prevent further violence.

Here’s what else you’ll find in the Fall issue:

—a deep dive into how the Trump administration’s immigration policies are impacting families across the country—and advocates’ visions for a more just future.
—a visit to Syria’s “village of women,” which offers Kurdish women a refuge—one they’ll fight to protect.
—investigating how the Medicaid and SNAP cuts in the Republican budget bill will impact women and children.

‘Care Is Baked Into a Healthy, Functioning Economy’: Economists Lenore Palladino and Rakeen Mabud on How to Advance Economic Justice

PUBLISHED 8/12/2025 by

The experts and Ms. contributors assessed the state of the U.S. care crisis and women’s economic inequality in the latest episode of the Ms. podcast Looking Back, Moving Forward—and broke down why investing in women and care workers is good policy. 

Rakeen Mabud: “We’re at a really pivotal moment and a really complicated moment. We have conservative, pronatalist voices, with more institutional power than they have ever had, at least in modern times. They are advancing an agenda of deep progressive patriarchy, whiteness—and wealth, frankly, is the third prong of that. And they are co-opting progressive policy ideas to do it.”

Lenore Palladino: “There are schools, and there are childcare centers, and there are hospitals being shut down right now. Investing in those would be a really important way to move this whole conversation forward. … Within economic policy, there’s such bifurcation. There’s tax policy over here. There’s care over here. It’s still a women’s issue.”

“Economics is still seen as a man’s game. Women actually make most financial decisions in households, but men are the ones who are seen as the experts, and our financial system is shaped around their life cycles.”

Listen to the latest episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward, “Women Can’t Afford to Wait for a Feminist Economic Future (with Premilla Nadasen, Rakeen Mabud and Lenore Palladino, Aisha Nyandoro, Gaylynn Burroughs, and Dolores Huerta)” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

What About the Men? Analyzing the Public Health Crisis Affecting Men and Boys

PUBLISHED 8/6/2025 by

We can’t talk about the health crisis among men and boys without asking deeper, more uncomfortable questions—ones that go beyond the usual grievance-driven narratives.

During a visit to the Franklin County coroner’s office, I was struck by the fact that over 70 percent of the bodies they investigate are male—victims of overdose, suicide, homicide and accidents. This data doesn’t just signal a crisis; it reflects a profound societal failure to understand men’s suffering through a critical, feminist lens.

Feminist scholars have long argued that the way men are socialized—into silence, risk-taking and emotional suppression—contributes directly to their declining health outcomes. And the burden of this crisis doesn’t fall on men alone: Women, particularly women of color, are often left to carry the emotional and financial weight of caring for the struggling men in their lives.

Healing men is not about restoring old hierarchies, but imagining new, more just forms of connection, care and masculinity.

From Limbaugh to Rogan: The Rise of the Conservative ‘Brocast’

PUBLISHED 7/30/2025 by

In the wake of Trump’s reelection—America’s first “podcast election”—commentators pointed to his surprising success with young male voters, driven in part by appearances on popular “brocasts” like The Joe Rogan Experience and Bussin’ With the Boys. These shows, often focused on comedy, sports and self-improvement, gave Trump a platform to project masculine authenticity and connect with disaffected young men. As UFC CEO Dana White put it, podcasters like the Nelk Boys and Adin Ross played a pivotal role in Trump’s victory.

Conservative media has created a space where right-wing ideas feel rebellious and “real men” vote Republican. These podcasts offer not just political messaging but a sense of belonging during a “loneliness epidemic.” Unless Democrats figure out how to enter these spaces and shift the narrative, they risk losing another generation of young male voters.