Ms. x Groundswell

Immigrant and First-Generation Women Are Changing What Leadership Looks Like in America

PUBLISHED 10/29/2025 by | UPDATED 10/31/2025 at 2:18 P.M. PT

Running for office in the United States has never been an even playing field. Women face steep hurdles including misogyny, difficulties raising money and building political networks, and shouldering the demands of family and work. On top of that, immigrant women often face increased barriers, contending with racism, xenophobia and constant doubts about whether they “fit the image” of a politician.

Men are usually assumed to be qualified. Women have to prove it—over and over again.

At New American Leaders, we prepare women to anticipate these double standards and to campaign with confidence and authenticity. NAL is women-led and stands as the only nonprofit, nonpartisan organization in the United States that trains and supports immigrants, children of immigrants and refugees for civic leadership or running for office.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

A Call to the Muslim Community: Fighting for Reproductive Justice Is in Line With Our Faith

PUBLISHED 10/28/2025 by and

The Islamic ethical concepts of communal obligation (fard kifayah) and compassion for others (rahma) call on us to fight back against injustice wherever it arises—whether from within our community, or the cruel attacks on our bodily autonomy and accessibility to safe and affordable reproductive care, including abortion care. 

What Muslims need is nonjudgmental support grounded in compassion (rahma), the ability to consult (shura) experts with medically accurate information, and the agency to make decisions that align with their faith.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

How We Can Turn Away From Medicalized Birth Culture and Reset the U.S. Birth Care System

PUBLISHED 10/24/2025 by

The U.S. has been doing birth backwards for decades, providing highly medicalized, costly care despite poor outcomes, and ignoring data that estimates at least 60 percent of U.S. pregnancies are low-risk and could be safely supported by midwives in a community setting.

Alice Walker writes, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” It is this self-defeating pattern in the face of authoritarianism that the current U.S. federal government is counting on. And sadly, a pattern to which some of our most powerful institutions have succumbed. Fear and chaos are tried and true tools of oppression. Vision and courage, however, are exponentially stronger.

America’s birth care system can be reset, but not by fearfully resisting its collapse or playing in its rubble.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

The Blueprint Reclaimed: Why America Needs More Black Midwives

PUBLISHED 9/29/2025 by

Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. And yet, the very people we know we can rely on to protect us the most—Black midwives—have been nearly erased from the national birth narrative.

We must train more Black midwives and re-educate the public about midwifery practice. We also need funding, mentorship pipelines and community investment. We need our stories told, our legacy restored and our futures protected.

To become a Black midwife in America today is to resist and reclaim what was stolen. It is to plant seeds in soil that tried to bury us and watch them bloom anyway.

Every Black mother deserves someone who sees her. And every Black baby deserves to be welcomed into the world by someone who believes in their right to thrive.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

This Hispanic Heritage Month, We Honor Immigrant Families by Fighting for Healthcare Justice

PUBLISHED 9/29/2025 by

My family immigrated from Mexico to California when I was 3 years old. My brother wasn’t walking and was showing signs of physical delays. Unable to find answers back home, my parents sacrificed everything—our home, their small business, a familiar life—in search of a diagnosis, treatment and hope. This Latine Heritage Month, I’m reminded of the strength of the women in my family in the face of migration and uncertainty, and the extraordinary community in the U.S. that welcomed us. 

Immigrants have long been unable to healthcare because of coverage gaps or restrictions. Immigrant and migrant women have had especially difficult times getting access to abortions.

Healthcare access, including the full spectrum of reproductive care, can make or break lives. Nobody should be denied healthcare, no one should have to choose between paying for healthcare and rent, and no one should fear deportation for going to the doctor.

All of us should have access to care. Period.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

State Courts Hold the Power to Free Us Or Erase Us

PUBLISHED 8/30/2025 by and

While national headlines fixate on the U.S. Supreme Court, state courts shape nearly every part of our lives. From traffic violations and business disputes to child custody and criminal charges, an estimated 95 percent of all legal cases in the United States are handled in state courts. 

State courts decide whether you can access abortion care, whether your protest leads to jail time, whether you keep custody of your child and whether your gender identity is protected or punished.

Despite their vast power, state courts remain one of the most overlooked battlegrounds—and opportunities—in the fight for justice. As organizers, we’ve seen the cost of that neglect. Now we’re calling on progressive movements to treat state courts not as a footnote, but as a headline.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

Birth Control Fear-Mongering Prevents Women From Achieving Informed Bodily Autonomy

PUBLISHED 8/28/2025 by

The Republican attorneys general of Missouri, Kansas and Idaho—recently joined by Florida and Texas—are suing the federal government to restrict access to mifepristone, which is used in combination with misoprostol to terminate an early pregnancy, arguing that the abortion medication has lowered “birth rates for teenaged mothers” and is contributing to a population loss in their states, leading to a loss of political representation and federal funds.

You read that right: They want more teen pregnancies. It would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. 

So where does that leave us? We must continue to fight all of these insidious tentacles as we work to ensure that women and gender non-conforming people of all races, ages, backgrounds and abilities can continue to tear down the systemic barriers that try to keep us from thriving and taking our rightful place in every arena.

Finding the Power in Single Black Motherhood

PUBLISHED 8/24/2025 by

We can say, “We knew this would happen,” and tell Black single mothers, “I told you so,” all day long, but then what? There’s something hollow in the phrase—especially when it follows public documentation of abuse.

If we are people who truly believe that Halle Bailey, Keke Palmer and Skai Jackson deserved better, then we should be extending that same belief to the women we actually know.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

Terrified to Try: The Mental Anguish of Motherhood in South Carolina

PUBLISHED 8/12/2025 by

In a state where abortion bans endanger lives and strip away autonomy, one South Carolina mother shares how fear, grief and rage have made her question whether she can risk motherhood again:

“I had to leave the state, my support system and my young son just to access the healthcare I needed.”

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

What Happens When Doulas Write the Law? New Mexico’s Medicaid Win Shows How to Fight Back 

PUBLISHED 8/8/2025 by

As abortion bans sweep the U.S., clinics shutter and gender-affirming care is criminalized, New Mexico accomplished something radical: It passed a law to pay doulas—because doulas save lives.

In 2025, the state unanimously enacted HB 214, the Doula Credentialing and Access Act, creating the nation’s most comprehensive Medicaid coverage for full-spectrum doula care, including for abortion, miscarriage, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and loss.

This victory was decades in the making, a fight led by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQ+, immigrant, disabled and community-based doulas. These care workers have long provided essential, unpaid labor in a healthcare system that overlooked them. Now, for the first time, their labor is recognized as essential health infrastructure.

Still, as this vision takes root under HB 214, federal funding threats loom, including cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and reproductive health access—all part of a national strategy to defund care and increase control. Believe in this future? Help protect it. Urge your state to follow New Mexico’s lead. Support local doula collectives. Push for policies that center care over control. The path forward is here—let’s walk it together.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)