Donald Trump and the Trump Administration

Gloria Steinem in Her Own Words: On Trump, Roe v. Wade, and the Birth of the Modern Women’s Rights Movement

PUBLISHED 9/4/2026 by and

As we grieve the passing of Gloria Steinem, Ms. founder and feminist visionary, we’re looking back at some of our favorite quotes from Steinem’s 50+ years of speaking and activism across the U.S. and throughout the world. She was sharp, funny and infinitely quotable, and many of her interviews from over the years combine deep feminist insight with some snappy one-liners.

The two most famous quotes attributed to Steinem are possibly, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” and, “If men could get pregnant, then abortion would be a sacrament.” However, while Steinem said and popularized both, she made it clear that neither quote originated with her; the first is attributed to Australian writer and activist Irina Dunn, and the second, according to Steinem, was originally said by her speaking partner Florynce Kennedy.

Steinem still had no end of wise, funny, inspiring sayings of her own that other feminists will keep quoting for years after her death. Below are some of our favorites.

Massachusetts Decriminalized Later Abortion, No Health Emergency Required

PUBLISHED 9/2/2026 by

Massachusetts law no longer imposes a gestational-age limit on abortion—meaning for the first time, a woman in the state can choose to end her pregnancy at any point, without a prosecutor looking over her doctor’s shoulder.

Gov. Maura Healey (D) last month signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, joining nine other states—Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermon, plus D.C.—in trusting patients and medical professionals to make abortion decisions throughout pregnancy, rather than politicians, police and prosecutors.

In Massachusetts, the legislative hearings focused on women who experienced a severe fetal diagnosis or a threat to their own health and had to travel out of state for medical care, which are very sympathetic stories that were able to win over many supporters.

While it’s certainly important that states like Massachusetts have made later abortion more accessible to people experiencing health emergencies, the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act is important for everyone seeking later abortion care, whatever the reason.

War on Women Report: Todd Blanche Is AG, Despite Pledge to Make Dobbs ‘Permanent’; Karen Attiah Is Back at WaPo (With Backpay); Rep. Cory Mills Loses Reelection After Abuse Allegations

PUBLISHED 9/1/2026 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:
—Under mounting pressure from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Scouting America eliminated dedicated community spaces for LGBTQ+ youth, girls and Scouts of color at its annual 2026 National Jamboree in West Virginia.
—An 18-year-old girl in North Carolina is facing criminal charges after allegedly taking abortion pills 31 weeks into her pregnancy, which prompted her to go into early labor.
—After a controversial two-day confirmation hearing in July, Todd Blanche has been confirmed as the new U.S. attorney general.
—In a win for domestic violence survivors, Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) lost his bid for reelection amid accusations of abuse from women he has dated.
—A groundbreaking new report documents dozens of federal immigration agents who have faced administrative disciplinary action or criminal penalties for violent crimes.
—Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) abruptly ended its policy allowing transgender residents to update the gender marker on their driver’s licenses and state IDs to match their gender identity. 
—Chicago mother Keshia Golden, who says she killed her boyfriend in self defense in 2022, accepted a plea deal for involuntary manslaughter, allowing her to avoid jail time.
—Karen Attiah, columnist for The Washington Post, has won her job back, after being fired last year for her comments on race, gender and violence in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death.

… and more.

The Deportation of 5-Year-Old Liam Tadeo Signals a Darker Era for Immigration Policy

PUBLISHED 8/31/2026 by

Five-year-old Liam Tadeo and his dad, Victor Martinez Nieto, planned to spend the last day of summer before kindergarten playing soccer. Instead, on Sunday, Aug. 16, on the way to Liam’s game, ICE agents pulled them over, arrested them and sent both father and son to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas. 

Victor begged ICE to release Liam to his mom, but according to their attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, ICE ignored the request. (ICE did not respond to a request for comment.)

It became clear that if Victor—who does not have legal status in the United States—chose to fight his detention or deportation, he risked losing Liam. DHS would likely treat Liam as an “unaccompanied minor” and send him to the Office of Refugee Resettlement for placement in a shelter or foster care, despite the presence of his mother and other family members ready and able to care for him. 

The family decided to accept the deportation order, despite the wrenching consequences of taking Liam from his family and his home. At least, this way, he will be with his dad in Mexico. 

ICE deported Liam and Victor on Aug. 28.

According to Lincoln-Goldfinch, Liam wasn’t able to say goodbye to his mother.

Such cruelty has become the norm in Trump’s immigration regime, but it is carried out quietly and with brutal efficiency. ICE arrested more than 46,000 people in July alone; for the first time, arrests of people without a criminal record surpassed the number of individuals arrested based (however tangentially) on a past criminal arrest or conviction.  

Change didn’t come in time for Liam and his family, but hundreds of thousands of children, regardless of their immigration status, can still be protected. Restoring a fair and just system demands political courage, public outrage, and major policy reform. But it begins by exposing the subtle, despicable tactics that turn children like Liam Tadeo into pawns of immigration policy.

MAGA Is Using Kai Trump and Usha Vance to Soften Trump’s Anti-Woman Image. Don’t Be Fooled.

PUBLISHED 8/31/2026 by

The public image of the MAGA woman is fast changing. Increasingly, the Trump administration is spotlighting women who don’t fit the “Mar-a-Lago face” mold. Women like Kai Trump and Usha Vance—who appear nontraditional and apolitical—are helping soften the administration’s image and make it more approachable to new audiences.

Through social media and personal stories, these women create a sense of intimacy and relatability that belies the administration’s deeply anti-woman agenda. On the surface, there is nothing overtly political about a teenager filming golf videos with her grandfather or a second lady reading stories to children. They may seem harmless—even comforting. But they are doing real political work.

Whether or not it’s a deliberate strategy, the effect is the same: Audiences who say they don’t care about politics still end up trusting the people behind deeply political policies. Don’t be fooled. Democracy depends on evaluating governments by what they do—not by how relatable or comforting we find them.

Too Soft, Too Tough, Never Just Right: The Impossible Standard for Women Leaders

PUBLISHED 8/28/2026 by

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!

This week:
—”My mother started in politics in her early thirties. Over the course of her career, she tried to run multiple times. But for one reason or another, it was never quite her turn. … Whatever regrets, pity or unfairness she’s carried, she has simply accepted in silence, just like lots of other women I have encountered in my life.”
—Wednesday was Women’s Equality Day. Even with every constitutional right guaranteed on paper, would our electoral system actually produce a government where women hold their fair share of power? Right now, the answer is no.
—Already the first Muslim woman and first Afghan American to serve in the California state senate, Wahab is the first Afghan American to serve in Congress.
—Minnesota is among 18 states to never elect a woman as governor. But earlier this month, women swept the nominations for open seats for governor and U.S. Senate in their primaries.
—Tressie McMillan Cottom asks, “Is Ocasio-Cortez ready for the glass cliff?”
—”Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s blocking of promotions for high-ranking women in the military has contributed to the lowest percentage of such nominations for women in at least 25 years,” according to a New York Times analysis.

… and more.

Heidi Overton and the Overton Window

PUBLISHED 8/27/2026 by

Last week, President Trump posted to Truth Social his plan to nominate Dr. Heidi Overton as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (The Contrarian covered the departure of her predecessor, Dr. Marty Makary, when he was pushed out in May.)

This nomination indicates the administration’s further normalization of gutting healthcare and drug safety—yes, its attempt to shift the Overton Window. (Given her last name, how can I resist?) The Overton Window theory reflects the efforts of deft politicians to deliberately mold public perception of a policy or idea—and its eventual support or rejection. Hence, the widening or closing of the Overton Window.

Overton’s record leaves no doubt this administration aims to smash the window altogether. She currently serves as deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and was part of the first Trump administration as well. Though she trained in surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, there’s been nothing subtle about her resume or affiliations since her residency—including and especially her prominent role at America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a think tank that “exists to advance policies that … prioritize[e] free enterprise, national greatness, American military superiority, foreign-policy engagement in the American interest, and the primacy of American workers, families, and communities.”

A highlight reel of her AFPI tenure: She publicly celebrated when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022, stating that the ruling “will allow Americans to reevaluate the value of the potential of every baby in the womb and choose life through a democratic process.” She has questioned the long-established safety record of mifepristone, indicating her opposition to the FDA’s approval for its availability via telehealth. She has authored research and papers opposing gender-affirming care for minors; in a 2024 Newsweek op-ed, Overton complained that Democrats “won’t even define what a woman is.”

FreeBC Offers Reliable Info on All Kinds of Birth Control *and* Free Contraception to Anyone in Colorado, With Plans to Expand Nationwide

PUBLISHED 8/26/2026 by

In this age of legal attacks on birth control access and shifting Medicaid coverage, a new online resource has emerged to educate people about the birth control methods available to them and provide them for no fee.

The website FreeBC now offers comprehensive information about every effective birth control method—from pills, patches and rings, to IUDs and implants.

After exploring their options, users can then schedule a telehealth appointment with a healthcare professional. After a patient decides which form of birth control they want to start with, FreeBC will either send it in the mail in discreet packaging or help the patient find a nearby clinic if needed for a method like IUD insertion. 

FreeBC is currently available only in Colorado, with plans to expand soon to patients in additional states.

When Washington Won’t, New Jersey Will: Inside the Nation’s Strongest Combined Shield and Safety Law Protecting Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care

PUBLISHED 8/25/2026 by and

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a law Thursday establishing the nation’s strongest physical protections for gender-affirming care patients and providers, while expanding legal safeguards for reproductive healthcare access. The law, which passed both houses of the legislature in June, is a comprehensive shield law and state FACE Act corollary, joining suit with a growing state-led movement to enshrine protections for patients and providers. 

After assuming office in 2025, the Trump administration eviscerated enforcement of the federal FACE Act protecting abortion clinics, staff and patients. Then, the administration launched unprecedented attacks on the transgender community. In response, Democratic-led states are beginning to look at new ways to safeguard abortion and gender affirming healthcare providers and patients. Some states already have FACE laws protecting abortion clinics, providers and patients from threats, obstruction, intimidation and violence. And several states enacted shield laws to protect patients and providers of reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare from criminal, civil and professional prosecutions for providing health care to individuals from states where that healthcare is banned or restricted. 

New Jersey combines both mechanisms of protections. Already a shield state for abortion, New Jersey’s laws protect patients and providers from out-of-state prosecution, extradition and investigations. The new law strengthens these protections and reaffirms the confidentiality of patient-provider relationships while also creating strong safeguards for the physical safety of clinics, providers and patients.

‘Chaos and Uncertainty’: Trump’s Mail-Voting Restrictions Can Now Proceed—But the Legal Fight Is Far From Over

PUBLISHED 8/25/2026 by | UPDATED 8/27/2026 at 8:10 A.M. PT

On Monday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority gave the Trump administration a temporary procedural victory in its effort to interfere with mail-in voting ahead of the November midterms.

Two days later, the practical consequences of that decision became more urgent.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani reluctantly lifted the last remaining injunction blocking the U.S. Postal Service from implementing new restrictions on mail ballots, saying the Supreme Court’s ruling had tied her hands. The decision clears the way for the administration’s plan to proceed—for now—even as multiple new challenges are already underway.

The Postal Service’s final rule requires state and local election officials to submit information about mail-ballot voters through a new federal portal and place unique federal barcodes and markings on ballot envelopes. Mailings that do not satisfy the new requirements could be refused by the Postal Service.

But neither the Supreme Court nor Talwani ruled that President Trump has the constitutional authority to rewrite state election rules. Neither court upheld the legality of the administration’s restrictions. And neither decision ends voting by mail.