More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Roe v. Wade (1973) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case affirming the right to abortion and upholding the right to make personal decisions about their family, relationships and bodily autonomy. In a devastating 2022 decision, the Court reversed Roe v. Wade, abandoning almost 50 years of precedent on the fundamental right to privacy. Overturning Roe v. Wade has had catastrophic consequences for people across America, as over a dozen states issued trigger bans.
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.”
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.”
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.
Will a new bill in Texas stop the shocking number of deaths of pregnant women in the Lone Star State? That’s the hope of both Democratic and Republican supporters of SB 31, also known as the Life of the Mother Act. The bill is headed to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott for signature and there is a strong expectation that he will sign it.
The goal of SB 31, which gathered broad bipartisan support, is to finally respond to the pressure to provide clarity about legal medical exceptions, allowing Texas doctors to perform lifesaving abortions and D&C (dilation and curettage) procedures on pregnant and miscarrying women in need of medical care. Supporters say they believe SB 31 will save the lives of pregnant women—yet many doctors still report uncertainty, and reproductive freedom advocates say the bill does not go far enough to address the loss of bodily autonomy suffered by women in the state.
On the same day the Trump administration revoked guidance ensuring emergency medical care for pregnant women, the Trump administration made moves toward nationwide restrictions on abortion medications.
Millions of women around the world gained safety, dignity and autonomy over their bodies thanks to Étienne-Émile Baulieu. The visionary biochemist, feminist and fearless innovator—best known for developing and championing “RU 486,” now known as mifepristone—died at his Paris home on May 30 at the age of 98.
Mifepristone has saved countless lives and offered millions of women a way to end unwanted pregnancies in the privacy and comfort of their homes. Baulieu and others championed the development of mifepristone for uses beyond abortion—including for treatment of fibroids, endometriosis, postpartum depression and cancer. He supported its use in managing miscarriages and as a way to help to dilate the cervix to reduce the need for Caesarean births. His vision for mifepristone wasn’t just to end pregnancies but to protect women’s health and reduce medical intervention that too often harmed them.
He predicted in 1991: “RU-486 will make its American entrance: science, good sense, and freedom will triumph.”
And here’s his view on why there has been tremendous opposition to abortion pills from the antiabortion movement: “A method that makes the termination of pregnancy less physically traumatic for women and less risky to their health has always been rejected by pro-lifers: What they really seek is to harm and punish women.”
In the whirling, swirling hellscape of illegality and cruelty that is the current American political scene, it’s hard to keep track of all the individuals and groups demonized, deported and derided by an administration seemingly motivated by a Machiavellian desire for power that might make Machiavelli himself blush with shame. In the midst of an apocalyptic news cycle, one targeted segment of the population seems to be fading from view: women.
But let us not, as Abigail Adams wrote so many years ago, forget the ladies. “Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could.”
Three years after Dobbs, the antiabortion movement is escalating efforts to block access to medication abortion, criminalize interstate travel, and impose a nationwide ban—threatening reproductive freedom across all 50 states.
As antiabortion groups continue to push back against access to reproductive care, empowering state protections on abortion is imperative.