Tag: Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is the 49th U.S. vice president, serving as part of the Biden administration. She made history as the first woman, the first Black American and the first South Asian American to be elected to this position. She declared her candidacy for the 2024 presidential election following Biden’s exit from the race and is endorsed by numerous Democratic leaders, including Biden. Previously, she served as the district attorney of San Francisco, attorney general of California and a U.S. senator.

Keeping Score: Childcare Costs Top Pre-Pandemic Levels; Sharp Rise in Texas Maternal Mortality; Oct. 3 Marks Latina Equal Pay Day

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: a Georgia judge strikes down the state’s six-week abortion ban; JD Vance and Tim Walz debate; childcare costs rise after pandemic-era grants expire; Senate Republicans again block IVF protections; school superintendants are overwhelmingly male; Kentucky governor bans conversion therapy; nonbinary adults face violence and discrimination at work; Aisha Nyandoro, founding CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, is on the TIME 100 Next list; University of Pennsylvania professor Dorothy Roberts (host of the Ms. podcast Torn Apart) has won a prestigious MacArthur Foundation “genius” award; and more.

There Can Be No Debate Over Asylum

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Tuesday’s vice presidential debate brought exchanges over the question of asylum and border security, with Sen. JD Vance lying—without real-time fact-checking—about the ease of obtaining asylum. He offered a baseless assertion that people can be “granted legal status at the wave of a Kamala Harris open border wand.”

Winning asylum is extremely difficult, and the horrific conditions forcing women to seek protection from gender-based violence in Central America and Mexico show no signs of abating.

Survivors Know Donald Trump’s Type

As advocates and activists around the globe hold events to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, it’s worth acknowledging what we have recognized since 2016. Just like Vice President Harris, we know Donald Trump’s type. 

In abusive relationships, the abusive partner is often initially charismatic and attentive, seducing partners with professions of love and protection that demand loyalty and obedience in return. When you are good, you are in a wonderful romance. (“Women love me.”) When you step out of line, you are crazy and no one will believe anything you say. (“Kamala Harris is mentally disabled.”) If you leave, you’ll be sorry. (“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole—that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”)

From Springfield, Ohio, to the Debate Stage: The Fight Against Anti-Black Rhetoric

From the presidential debate stage, Trump falsely claimed that immigrants were killing and eating pets, further fueling the anti-Black frenzy. Since then, he’s vowed to enact large-scale deportations of Haitian immigrants in an effort to cleanse the city of its supposed threats. Meanwhile, the real threat was not the Haitian immigrants but the Neo-Nazi hate group that marched through Springfield, hurling insults and curses at residents enjoying a blues music festival.

I fear that no matter the outcome of the election, the real winner will be anti-Blackness.

As President, Harris Could Not Easily Make Roe v. Wade Federal Law—But She Could Still Make It Easier to Get an Abortion

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There is much that a potential Harris administration and Congress could do to offset the impact of the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs ruling.

Congress could amend existing federal laws—starting with repealing the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal money from being used to fund abortions, or the Comstock Act, a Victorian law which some judges have interpreted as prohibiting the mailing of abortion pills. Congress could also enact legislation that protects the right to interstate abortion travel. Or Harris could ask Congress to pass a law that would guarantee the same kind of access to mifepristone that the FDA currently allows.

Abortion *Is* an Economic Issue. Pundits, Please Take Note.

Why is it that pundit after pundit has argued that the economy will be the dominant issue this election? In doing so, they are ignoring the fact that abortion is an economic issue for women and their families.

How many times do we have to remind them about the impact of having a child on parents’ earning abilities, and the economic harm to women who do not have paid pregnancy/family or medical leave? Not to mention the cost of raising a child—which can go well over a quarter of a million dollars, between food, medical expenses, clothing, and education. 

Will Taylor Swift’s Endorsement Swing the Election?: The Ms. Q&A With Scholar Janell Hobson

Since Taylor Swift announced her endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris on the night of the debate with former President Donald Trump, publications from NBC to Fox have been debating what it might mean for Harris’ campaign and the outcome of November’s election.

An Instagram post from Sept. 10 shows the pop star posing with a fluffy cat in her arms—a direct reference to JD Vance’s quip deriding single and childless women. Before signing the post, “With love and hope, Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” Swift told followers that she plans to vote for Harris “because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

Ms. spoke with contributing editor and scholar Dr. Janell Hobson about about what the endorsement might mean.

A Conservative Blueprint Calls for More Abortion Surveillance

Dr. Nisha Verma wants her patients to know that they don’t have to tell any doctor that they have ever had an abortion. She wants them to know that no doctor can tell the difference between a natural miscarriage and one caused by medication, and she wants her patients to know that they don’t have to report what’s causing their bleeding if, for some reason, they visit an emergency room for care.

Verma, of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe has made women scared to seek reproductive care. November’s election results could make matters profoundly more serious. So it’s OK for women to protect their medical information from a threat of increased government surveillance, she said in an interview.

Will Young Women Be Her Superpower? Harris Energizes Young Voters, Who Support National Abortion Rights

During her short campaign for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris has reinvigorated the nation’s youngest voters—particularly women under 30, who support her by a massive 3:1 margin, according to a new national poll released Tuesday by the Institute of Politics at Harvard.

A longtime advocate for abortion rights, Harris appears to be benefiting from Americans’ overwhelming support for restoring the protections lost after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Abortion has been a motivating factor in elections the past two years and is likely to be so again, especially in states where abortion initiatives are on the ballot. The key issue already has been at the center of the presidential campaign, with Trump taking credit for the Court’s ruling and Harris laying blame for the resulting abortion bans at his feet.

Women, Your Vote Is a Secret, Says New Guerrilla Post-It Campaign

In a world where the political gender gap is growing as women move left, a clever grassroots campaign is reminding women of a fundamental truth: Their vote is private. This guerrilla movement uses a simple yet powerful tool—Post-It notes—to reach women whose partners may disagree with their political choices.

The premise is simple: small, brightly colored notes discreetly placed in public spaces, like bathroom stalls, libraries, cafes, dorm buildings, workplace lounges, doctors’ offices and community boards. Each note carries the message that every woman has the right to cast her vote freely and privately.