Ohio

War on Women Report: Rise of ‘Sleep Porn’; Georgia Midwives Sue for Right to Practice; Louisiana Family Massacre Exposes Deadly Intersection of Domestic Violence and Guns

PUBLISHED 4/29/2026 by and

MAGA Republicans are back in the White House, and Project 2025 is their guide: the right-wing plan to turn back the clock on women’s rights, remove abortion access, and force women into roles as wives and mothers in the “ideal, natural family structure.”

We know an empowered female electorate is essential to democracy. That’s why day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

Since our last report:
—Access to mifepristone remains protected for now, after a U.S. district court granted a stay in Louisiana v. FDA.
—A new CNN investigation reveals a sprawling online network where drug-facilitated sexual assault, marketed as “sleep porn, ” is filmed, shared and monetized, drawing millions of viewers. Meanwhile, survivors face steep barriers to reporting and justice.
—The Ohio House passed the Indecent Exposure Modernization Act, an extreme bill that seeks to ban any expression or performance of drag where minors are or may be present. The proposed ban includes even daytime family-oriented events such as drag queen story hours, where performers dress up as storybook characters and read to children at libraries or bookstores.
—In a devastating shooting spree spanning three locations, Shamar Elkins shot and killed eight children, seven of whom were his own, and severely wounded two women: his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, and Christina Snow. Both women are mothers to the deceased victims.
—In Georgia, a group of reproductive healthcare advocates is challenging the state’s restrictions on some forms of maternal healthcare, arguing that Georgia’s current laws give doctors too much control over midwives’ ability to practice.
—Nine women in Tennessee are suing the state over its abortion ban after nearly denying due to being denied abortion care.

… and more.

War on Women Report: Georgia Woman Arrested for Self-Managed Abortion; Idaho Forces Teachers to Out Trans Youth; Ohio Bill to Force Doctors to Report Pregnancies to the State

PUBLISHED 3/31/2026 by and

MAGA Republicans are back in the White House, and Project 2025 is their guide—the right-wing plan to turn back the clock on women’s rights, remove abortion access, and force women into roles as wives and mothers in the “ideal, natural family structure.”

We know an empowered female electorate is essential to democracy. That’s why day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

Since our last report:
—More restrictive abortion laws in a particular area are linked to a higher risk of depression for women residents.
—Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales has dropped his bid for reelection after the House opened an inquiry into his sexual relationship with Regina Santos-Aviles, a subordinate (Gonzales’ Uvalde district director) who died by suicide last year. Texts between Santos-Aviles and Gonzales show her attempting to deter her boss’ advances.
—An Ohio appeals court dealt a final blow to Senate Bill 27, permanently blocking the state’s attempt to mandate the burial or cremation of fetal tissue.
—New Mexico legislators passed a first-of-its-kind bill ensuring fully funded universal childcare for families of all income levels.
—More than 8 million people worldwide took to the streets for the third No Kings protest on March 28, protesting Trump, ICE raids and the war in Iran.
—Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is spearheading a legal offensive to criminalize the mailing of mifepristone and misoprostol into the state. 
—In Georgia, 31-year-old Alexia Moore, an Army veteran and mother of two, has been arrested on murder and drug charges for an alleged abortion in December.
—In Montana, 20-year-old Charles Felix Jones has been charged with planning to shoot and kill a Missoula abortion provider.
—The latest installment of rePROs Fight Back’s annual 50-State Report Card finds that access to sexual and reproductive healthcare in the United States remains deeply unequal and increasingly under threat, with the nation once again earning an overall failing grade.

… and more.

The War on Our Bodies Is a War on Democracy

PUBLISHED 3/27/2026 by

It is essential to zero in on abortion rights and the array of attacks happening in real time throughout this country. The headlines may not always be above the fold, but that doesn’t make the reality any less dire—not for the people whose health and lives are at risk, and not for what it says about and means for the health of our democracy.

After all, the fight for bodily autonomy is one and the same as the fight for the body politic.

Cuts to Lifesaving Hunger Aid Could Impact Millions: ‘Our President and Congress Think Budget Cuts Will Help People Achieve Self-Sufficiency. They Won’t.’

PUBLISHED 10/8/2025 by

When Crystal FitzSimons became president of the 55-year-old, Washington, D.C.-based Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) in May, she anticipated attacks on federal food and nutrition programs. But she calls what has unfolded unprecedented, and makes clear that unless Congress changes course and passes the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025, millions of U.S. residents will lose some or all of the benefits they’re receiving through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP.  

Other pending changes that FitzSimons is expecting will take the shape of denying SNAP to the few immigrants who were previously eligible for benefits, such as asylum seekers, refugees and international survivors of domestic violence.

“We are working at the state and federal levels and are collecting stories of different people who will be directly impacted by the cuts—the grandmother who relies on SNAP and helps watch her grandchildren while her daughter is at work; disabled people who use SNAP to support their independence; and older adults who are no longer able to work. We share their stories because we know that the real experiences of real people are critical in helping lawmakers and others understand who benefits from SNAP.”

“Every dollar spent on SNAP generates up to $1.80 in economic activity at the community level during economic downturns.”

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.

Coretta Scott King’s Influence on the Civil Rights Movement: An Excerpt From ‘King of the North’

PUBLISHED 3/25/2025 by

An excerpt from King of the North: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life of Struggle Outside the South:

“Women have been the backbone of the whole civil rights movement,” Coretta Scott King stressed in a 1966 interview with New Lady magazine. The national media, like most politicians and pundits of the time, had trained the spotlight on the male leaders like her husband, missing the many women that had envisioned, led and organized the movements burgeoning around the country. They could not conceive of Coretta Scott King as Martin Luther King’s political partner. She later lamented how she was “made to sound like an attachment to a vacuum cleaner, the wife of Martin, then the widow of Martin, all of which I was proud to be. But I was never just a wife, nor a widow. I was always more than a label.”  

Thought-Provoking, Policy-Changing and Narrative-Shifting: Ms. Magazine’s 10 Most Impactful Print Articles of 2024

PUBLISHED 12/20/2024 by

Ms. spurred thought-provoking, policy-changing, narrative-shifting change in 2024—and created new feminist strategies and solutions for the year ahead. In a word: “impact.” Ms. commissioned high profile analysis and investigative journalism by some of feminism’s best journalists and thinkers, focusing on key issues impacting women and girls at a critical moment across the globe. Here are the Ms. editors’ top 10 impact articles in the past year, as seen in the print magazine.

(Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the issues delivered straight to your mailbox.)

What to Know About How Hurricanes and Voter Purges Are Affecting Early Voting

PUBLISHED 10/15/2024 by and | UPDATED 10/24/2024 at 7:17 A.M. PT

In less than a month, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton have caused record storm surge and damage in multiple southeastern states, including Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. With Election Day just weeks away (and early voting starting much sooner), will the storms force voters away from the polls in the South?

Meanwhile, the hurricanes aren’t the only challenge facing would-be voters. Right now, voters in states from Texas to Ohio are facing the additional threat of racist voter purges. In the wake of Donald Trump’s baseless comments about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, third-party groups are attempting to challenge voter registration lists with unfounded claims that non-citizen immigrants are voting illegally.

Ohio Governor Vetoes Gender-Affirming Care Ban—Showing Republicans *Can* Respect Personal Medical Decisions

PUBLISHED 1/5/2024 by

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is the first Republican governor to veto a ban on healthcare for transgender youth.

Politicians are not doctors and have no place intruding on decisions that go against the combined expertise of patient and provider. Laws banning abortion and essential healthcare for transgender people interfere with individual decisions about our health, bodies and our ability to control our futures.

Just When You Thought the Abortion Battle in Ohio Was Settled

PUBLISHED 12/8/2023 by

After a resounding win for abortion rights in Ohio, one would hope that the issue had at last been put to rest in the state. But now, the city of Lebanon, Ohio, is debating whether or not to retain its status as a sanctuary city for the unborn. 

It’s all in service of anti-abortion activist Mark Lee Dickson’s vision: “outlawing abortion, one city at a time.”