More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Reproductive justice is a framework created by Black women and women of color in the 1990s. It refers to the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy and have children, not have children, and/or parent children in safe and sustainable environments
In its Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic ruling last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a devastating blow to reproductive health clinics across the nation. A substantial slate of decisions issued by the Court Friday dealt several more severe blows to the rule of law and our constitutional rights—though a silver lining was the Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act’s preventive-care mandate.
We’ve been here before—and our shared histories can illuminate the feminist fight forward.
Looking Back, Moving Forward, a new podcast from Ms. Studios hosted by Carmen Rios, explores what we can learn from the last 50-plus years of Ms. to inform where we go next.
It has been exactly three years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and sent abortion rights back to the states. Amid myriad reflective headlines this week—what the ruling has meant for real people’s lives, for the trajectory of the Court and other established liberty rights and for our democracy—are numerous reports detailing in stark numbers the nationwide impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling.
The number of abortion patients who traveled out of state for care is nearly twice the pre-Dobbs baseline. New data released by the Guttmacher Institute shows that in 2024 the number dropped from the prior year—155,000 patients versus 170,000 in 2023—but still reflects a massive jump from 2020, when 81,000 abortion patients traveled out of state.
Medication abortion has become the most popular form of abortion in the U.S. post-Dobbs, providing potentially lifesaving access to people residing in states with abortion bans in place. Because of this, the antiabortion right-wing machine’s dogged attacks on mifepristone should be seen for what they are: an attempt at a backdoor national abortion ban.
Revoking access to mifepristone is key in the antiabortion machine’s fight to maintain control over pregnant women’s bodies and lives.
Autumn Breon is using performance and mixed media art to both celebrate Black women’s achievements and honor their struggles. Her latest performance, Dignity Denied, shines a light on the case of Adriana Smith.
“I wanted to show what lack of autonomy, what surveillance looks like, and durational performance felt like the best way to highlight her situation.”
“You might have a six-week abortion ban. You might have whatever other oppressive policies in place. We have always found ways to aid and abet each other, and we always will.”
We’re in the midst of an incredible surge in antiabortion extremism and clinic violence, with this weekend’s tragic shooting of pro-abortion Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband providing a grim example of the threats facing abortion advocates. Meanwhile, in the wake of state-level attacks on abortion rights, it’s hard to ignore the mental health implications for abortion patients and providers alike. In January, the Trump administration announced that it no longer plans to enforce the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act—the 1994 law that protects patients and staff at reproductive healthcare clinics from harassment and violent attacks from antiabortion demonstrators. Just this month, the House has been discussing repealing the FACE Act entirely, despite the rising rates of clinic attacks in the last three years since Dobbs.
Most news coverage of abortion rights in the United States focuses on the legal battles, and this coverage is extremely important. But the initiative Write and Rights—started last year by college student Iha Rastogi—is working to boost the mental health of abortion patients and providers in the midst of these attacks on their rights by organizing her fellow students to write and send supportive letters to clinics.
In a post-Roe America, where reproductive freedom depends not just on where you live but who your prosecutor is, New Orleans District Attorney represents a growing number of local officials refusing to criminalize care. His goal: to protect bodily autonomy and keep women out of prison.
As one of the few progressive prosecutors in the Deep South, Williams operates under intense pressure—from conservative lawmakers, a hostile state government and a legal landscape increasingly tilted against reproductive rights. But he’s doing so with clear priorities: decriminalize pregnancy outcomes, defend healthcare providers and prioritize the health and dignity of Black and low-income women in his parish.
Mom Abby Blum tells why she was forced her to end her much-wanted pregnancy. She warns that an unexpected tragic event can happen to any woman—even if they think they’ll never need an abortion.
“It felt like an impossible choice, but I decided to go ahead and have the abortion to end my pregnancy so I could start the treatment I needed to save my life. … For me, the abortion was a medical necessity. And, in hindsight, I realize that in the post-Roe v. Wade era, I was lucky to be in a state where I had access to an abortion and to all the healthcare that I needed. ….
“If I had lived in a state like Texas, which bans abortion in nearly all cases, my story would have had a very different ending. I didn’t choose to get cancer and to have to make the decision to end my pregnancy, but that’s what can sometimes happen in life.”
In a year full of losses for reproductive rights, last month brought some good news out of Michigan: On May 13, a Michigan court sided with the Northland Family Planning Centers clinic, which sued the state, arguing that Michigan’s abortion restrictions made it unnecessarily cumbersome for patients to access care.
The Michigan Court of Claims struck down three major abortion restrictions in May’s decision… but left a fourth requirement forcing abortion providers to screen patients for abortion “coercion,” which creates another delay before a patient can receive care. On Tuesday, June 3, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a motion challenging the court’s decision to retain this final abortion restriction even after getting rid of the others.
A new survey reveals that a majority of likely voters oppose policies that grant legal rights to fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses. They also oppose the criminalization of pregnancy loss, denial of emergency medical care and broader threats to reproductive freedom.
Yet here we are, with bills to codify those rights brewing in a quarter of U.S. states this year.
Even when they do not succeed, we cannot simply ignore them or hope their proponents call it quits. Rather, this is a prime opportunity to double down on educating people and harnessing public opinion.