Motherhood

All women should have the right to choose if or when to be mothers, and to have the economic and social support to do so. This choice has been restricted across time and place due to discriminatory legislation against mothers and pregnant people, lackluster social safety nets and anti-abortion/anti-birth control movements.

Trump Is Gutting Healthcare—But Women’s Health Was Already Disastrously Underfunded

PUBLISHED 6/10/2025 by

For the past few decades, women’s healthcare has been under increasing attack across the country. Even states like New York, often perceived as a beacon of women’s healthcare, are backsliding, increasingly unable to address women’s health challenges adequately. Indeed, the lack of funding and legislative support isn’t limited to rural areas or red states; it is everywhere.

As the Trump administration threatens to accelerate this decline even further, we must come to terms with how little our cities, states and federal government have valued and prioritized women’s health for more than 30 years and begin fighting back against this renewed assault.

Pregnant in Power: U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen Confronts a System Built for Men

PUBLISHED 6/10/2025 by | UPDATED 6/13/2025 at 8:15 A.M. PT

In the fight for better policies for mothers and families, Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) has also had to fight to have her own voice heard on Capitol Hill.

Last October, five months pregnant with her second child, Pettersen proposed a change to the House Rules Committee for “a narrow exception to the prohibition on proxy voting” that would allow members of Congress to vote by proxy while on parental leave, a push begun by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) after giving birth to her first child in 2023. This would have ensured, Petterson said in a recent interview with Ms., that as a member of Congress, “you’re able to have your voice, your constituents’ voices represented” during a critical time for your family and health.

‘It’s Always Been Me and the Boys’: How Guaranteed Income Is Helping Black Mothers Build Stronger Families and Futures

PUBLISHED 6/6/2025 by

Now in its fourth year, Front & Center is a groundbreaking Ms. series amplifying the voices of Black women navigating poverty—highlighting their struggles, resilience and dreams as they care for their families, build careers and challenge systems not built for their success.

“Every Friday, my boys and I have a special ritual. We go get snow cones and head to the snow park. We walk around, talk about our week and do affirmations. We discuss what we can do better, with each other and for ourselves. If I messed up, they let me know, and we talk about it. If I feel like they need to improve, we discuss that, too. …

“I dream of going back to school and finishing my criminal justice degree. I fell short because of hard times. But I’m going back this year! I want to make my kids proud. If I can do it, they can do it, too. It’s not easy, but it’s not hard, either. You just have to push. As long as you have that mindset, you’re going to make it.”

‘More Cash, Less Paperwork’: Mothers on the Frontlines of Poverty Are Telling Their Stories. Are We Listening?

PUBLISHED 6/5/2025 by

We are living in challenging times. Fundamental rights are under attack, the economy is teetering on the edge of a recession, and our already-insufficient social safety net’s holes grow larger by the day. It is never easy to live in poverty in America, but the past four-plus months have managed to make a bad situation worse.

As I often say, policy only changes at the speed of narrative. And unless we start truly listening to the real stories of families living in poverty—with all their challenges, joys, complications and layers—we won’t be able to change poverty policy in this country.

Childcare Won’t Be Fixed Until Moms and Dads Join Forces

PUBLISHED 6/5/2025 by and | UPDATED 6/11/2025 at 3:19 P.M. PT

The Trump administration would have you believe they’ll try anything to have more babies. Their proposed list of incentives include medals for mothers who have more than six children, classes to educate women about their menstrual cycles and special seats reserved in the Fulbright program for applicants with children. Anything, that is, except the glaringly obvious solutions: affordable, accessible childcare and paid parental leave.

If we want to secure policies that will benefit all parents, then we need to come together, breaking down the silos between those advocating for men and those advocating for women. After all, we want the same things: affordable childcare, paid leave and a living wage for all families.

This Is Not Just a Budget. It’s a War on Women.

PUBLISHED 5/31/2025 by

They didn’t just vote to gut programs. They voted to gut women’s lives.

Last week, in the dark of night, House Republicans passed a budget bill that slashes billions in federal spending on Medicaid, SNAP (food assistance), childcare, home energy assistance and disability support. The budget bill will cut direct support to tens of millions of working-class families—and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, millions more will lose their health insurance through changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. This is not just cruel. It’s calculated. And it will hit women hardest.

We have one month to stop these devastating cuts.

Four Concrete Ways Business Leaders Can Ease the Burden on Working Parents

PUBLISHED 5/30/2025 by

As a mom of two, an executive and someone who’s worked to elect pro-family leaders, I know firsthand how broken our system is for working parents—especially as the Trump administration pushes for higher birth rates while cutting support. In my new book When We’re in Charge, I offer four key ways business leaders can help fill the gap and ease the burden on working parents:

Paid family leave: It’s a win-win—good for families and for companies. But leaders need to actually take the leave to normalize it.

Four-day workweeks: Working parents are doing multiple jobs. Giving people time back improves mental health, productivity and balance.

Remote and hybrid work: Return-to-office mandates don’t work for most, especially parents. Flexible work is not only doable—it’s better long term.

People-first cultures: Go beyond policy. Model compassion. Make it okay to be a full person at work—not just an employee.

If we build more humane workplaces, we’ll support parents and improve outcomes for everyone.

Outperforming Men, Undervalued Anyway: How Conservative Myths Undermine Women in Medicine

PUBLISHED 5/29/2025 by | UPDATED 9/15/2025 at 10:00 A.M. PT

Medical literature extensively documents differences in practice by a physician’s gender. Women are more likely to practice evidence-based medicine and adhere to clinical guidelines. Nationally, women outpace men in both college and medical school enrollment. In medical training, women outperform their male peers on clinical assessments and are more likely to attain an honors degree.

Therefore, the merit-based hiring practices that the Trump administration vociferously demands should logically reflect these data. Yet, in 2022, women accounted for 38 percent of active physicians in the U.S., up from 26 percent in 2004. 

Might this indicate that men, not women, are the “diversity hires” of medicine? 

As Reproductive Rights Collapse, Funders Are Disappearing. Why?

PUBLISHED 5/29/2025 by | UPDATED 6/30/2025 at 7:25 A.M. PT

Grassroots organizations are on the frontlines of defending human rights at this moment. Yet, it’s alarming that major funders are leaving the field right when groups working to defend bodily autonomy and democracy need them most. 

In the 2024 presidential election, we saw the consequences of what happens when donors abandon grassroots organizations—where a billion dollars were raised for the Harris campaign at the expense of movement organizations in key battleground states. In a presidential election lost to low voter turnout, the decision to underfund grassroots groups—those best equipped to knock on doors and mobilize voters—proved dangerously short-sighted.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund.)

‘What About Me?’: Bringing Women’s Well-Being to the Forefront of Motherhood

PUBLISHED 5/20/2025 by

Earlier this month, I attended a “power breakfast” hosted by the Chamber of Mothers, an organization and movement driving national support for mothers. I was shocked and frankly disillusioned by how much basic maternal healthcare was emphasized as an area of desperate need.  

The way the U.S. understands, or refuses to understand, maternal health makes even asking for care a baffling proposition. Dawn Huckelbridge, founder of Paid Leave for All, recounted the moment she truly became “fired up and fed up” after giving birth to her first child. Huckelbridge was prepared in every sense: She had a supportive partner, health insurance and parents who could help her out. Upon delivering her baby, what she recalls as a traumatic experience for her mind and body, she was given even more resources for the baby: diapers, blankets, instructive care literature. 

And when she asked her doctor, “Well, what about me? What do I have to do to take care of my body?” he replied, “Things just have a way of healing.” That was the official prescription for a mother who had been carrying a baby for 40 weeks and had only given birth a moment ago.

“I’d hate to believe that it’s because we don’t care about mothers and that we don’t want to see them in power,” said Erin Erenberg, co-founder and CEO of the Chamber of Mothers.