North Carolina

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.

Gerrymandering 101: How the System Is Stacked Against Voters

PUBLISHED 7/22/2025 by and

Here are six things to know about partisan gerrymandering and how it impacts our democracy:

1. Gerrymandering is deeply undemocratic.
2. There are multiple ways to gerrymander.
3. Gerrymandering has a real impact on the balance of power in Congress and many state legislatures.
4. Gerrymandering affects all Americans, but its most significant costs are borne by communities of color.
5. Gerrymandering is getting worse.
6. Federal reform can help counter gerrymandering—so Congress needs to act.

‘This Will Delay Care’: N.C. Doctor Warns of Harm After Trump’s Rollback on Emergency Abortion Rule

PUBLISHED 6/24/2025 by

Earlier this month, the Trump administration canceled a 2022 directive issued under the Biden administration that said hospitals had to provide abortion care if it was needed to save a patient’s life or prevent serious harm. The rule was based on a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA, which requires emergency rooms to treat and stabilize all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

While North Carolina law allows abortions in cases where a patient’s life or health is in danger, the previous federal guidance offered clearer protections. Without it, doctors may be less sure about what’s allowed, and hesitate to act quickly in emergencies.

Working People Build Food Solutions, While Congress Slashes SNAP

PUBLISHED 6/24/2025 by

On Thursday nights, I walk a few blocks along my neighborhood’s cracked sidewalks to The People’s Market. SNAP is the glue that holds The People’s Market together, where most of the vendors are recipients selling at the market to supplement their incomes.

We’ve long known that the U.S. food system is upside-down. Instead of trying to fix this broken system, Congress is punishing the victims of its malfunctioning and is slashing SNAP to enact tax cuts for the rich. 

Defunding and Refunding the Women’s Health Initiative: Why States Must Focus on Menopausal Women’s Health

PUBLISHED 5/13/2025 by

The ongoing decimation of the federal funding landscape brings some good(ish) news for women: the role of state legislatures in stepping up to help improve and advance the health of menopausal women.

Thus far, 13 states—a record one in four—have introduced more than 20 bills focused on menopause care, proposing changes that could permanently reshape insurance coverage and educational and health care resources. Public officials in Michigan, Illinois and West Virginia announced support for menopause reforms. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently hosted a roundtable for leaders and a statewide listening tour. The latest slate of bills—introduced in red and blue states alike—would bolster workplace supports and dedicate resources to public education. The bills are being proposed at such a fast clip that menopause was named on a “Ones To Watch: Legislation Landscape for 2025” list.

Republican Representatives Are Refusing to Meet With Their Constituents, So Democrats Are Doing it For Them

PUBLISHED 5/1/2025 by

As voters in all 50 states feel the effects of federal layoffs, rising prices and cuts to social services—part of a far-right agenda that no one voted for—clips of constituents confronting their representatives are going viral. In response, the National Republican Congressional Committee, chaired by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), has advised Republicans in Congress to stop holding in-person town halls with constituents.

Now Democrats are heading to Republican districts where the representative is conspicuously absent—including Hudson’s district in Alamance County, N.C., which in 2024 swung for Trump over Kamala Harris 53-47.

“If you’re here, and you voted for Trump in the past, my message is simple: I’m sorry you were lied to, but welcome to the team,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.).

North Carolina Is Asking People to Vote According to Rules the State Hasn’t Set

PUBLISHED 4/9/2025 by

Five months out, chaos continues in a state Supreme Court race that was counted, recounted and audited.

On Friday, a state appeals court reopened Pandora’s Box by calling into question more than 60,000 votes cast in North Carolina’s Nov. 5 general election. This gives the Republican candidate, Jefferson Griffin, new hope to close his 734-vote deficit, out of 5,540,090 total votes, against Democratic candidate Allison Riggs.

In North Carolina, an Attempt to Overturn a State Supreme Court Election

PUBLISHED 1/29/2025 by

The losing candidate for a seat on the high court is trying to have more than 60,000 valid votes thrown out.

In a dispute that is attracting national attention, Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court and judge on the state intermediate court, is seeking to invalidate more than 60,000 votes and overturn the electoral win of his opponent, Justice Allison Riggs.

The dispute stems from November’s state supreme court election, which Griffin lost by just 734 votes. The crux of Griffin’s argument is a claim that the state board of elections has been breaking state election law for decades by following an incorrect process for registering voters, including failing to require voters to provide a driver’s license or social security information and wrongfully allowing certain overseas and absentee ballots to be submitted without photo identification.

‘Critical as We Move Forward’: Reproductive Rights and Voter Advocacy Leaders Reckon With 2024 Election

PUBLISHED 11/8/2024 by

Dr. Lauren Beene was still processing the election outcome when she spoke with Ms. magazine the morning after Donald Trump had been declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election. Dr. Beene, co-founder and Vice President of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, had successfully led the fight a year ago to pass an amendment that enshrined the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. Yet Dr. Beene now worried that under Trump, a national abortion ban may be in the not-so-distant future, and Ohio’s win to protect abortion rights could be in jeopardy.