Women in Politics

Ms. spotlights stories of women making political change by holding office and pioneering legislation all over the world, from the local to the federal level—despite the sex discrimination they often face in their positions.

Federal Court Considers Removing Medically Unnecessary FDA Restrictions on Abortion Pills

PUBLISHED 5/20/2025 by

The FDA maintains burdensome, medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone, which is used in combination with another medication—misoprostol—for early pregnancy termination. This combination of medications is safer than Viagra and Tylenol and is now used in approximately two-thirds of all abortions in the United States.

Over the last decade, the FDA has removed some of the restrictions on mifepristone, including a requirement that the medication be dispensed in person by doctors, but the agency still requires prescribers and pharmacies to register with the drug maker and requires patients to sign a counseling form with redundant, inaccurate and confusing information, all of which has decreased access to the medication.

To remove these requirements, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit in May 2023, Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, asking a federal district court in Charlottesville, Va., to order the FDA to lift these restrictions on mifepristone.

On Monday, May 19, 2025, the court heard oral arguments on cross motions for summary judgment in the case. “The Trump administration has made it clear that they do not care about science, or our health and safety,” said CRR on social media. “They only care about taking away our rights. But we refuse to let that happen. We’re ALL IN on this fight.”

Republican Efforts to Defund Planned Parenthood Would Increase Budget Deficit $300 Million

PUBLISHED 5/20/2025 by | UPDATED 5/22/2025 at 10:20 A.M. PT

The House Rules Committee is set to meet at 1 a.m. ET on May 21 to discuss Medicaid funding cuts that would essentially defund Planned Parenthood. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that blocking patients from using their Medicaid insurance plan to obtain sexual and reproductive healthcare at Planned Parenthood clinics would increase the deficit by $300 million.

“The fact of the matter is, if Republicans get their way—if they succeed in shutting the doors of Planned Parenthood clinics across the country—millions of women will have nowhere else to turn,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). “After all, two-thirds of Planned Parenthood health centers are in rural and medically underserved areas—places where there’s already a shortage of clinics and healthcare professionals. And for a lot of these patients, Planned Parenthood is literally the only provider in reach and in budget. They literally can’t afford to lose this care.”

Profiles in Courage: Jocelyn Samuels and the Fight to Save the EEOC

PUBLISHED 5/19/2025 by and

Ms.‘ Profiles in Courage spotlights women in the Department of Justice, federal agencies and the military whose careers have been defined by integrity, resilience and reform. Their quiet heroism—often at personal cost—reaffirms the enduring role of public servants who choose justice over self-interest. Through their stories, Ms. pays tribute to a tradition of service that safeguards democracy and inspires the next generation to lead with courage.

As a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Jocelyn Samuels spent a lifetime defending democracy and workers’ rights. Now she’s fighting to protect the agency she helped lead.

Worldwide, Many Women Relied on the U.S. for Financial Support. This Afghan Woman Dares to Speak Out.

PUBLISHED 5/17/2025 by

I’ve been writing for decades about America’s on-again-off-again support for the reproductive healthcare of women around the world, focusing on the Republican presidents who have slashed funding and jeopardized women’s lives.

When I spoke by phone to Seema Ghani in February, there was something more. Unlike many women I had reached out to this year in countries that have relied on the United States for financial support, Ghani was not afraid to speak to me—even though her homeland, Afghanistan, is the world’s most oppressive for women.

How the Take It Down Act Tackles Nonconsensual Deepfake Porn—And How it Falls Short

PUBLISHED 5/16/2025 by | UPDATED 5/20/2025 at 12:51 P.M. PT

President Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law, a bipartisan bill that makes it a federal offense to share both real and digitally altered sexually explicit images of individuals online without their consent.

While the Take It Down Act offers a lifeline to victims of deepfake and revenge porn, critical blind spots, burdensome procedures, loopholes for offenders and a reactive framework threaten to undercut its promise.

Profiles in Courage: Who Holds Power to Account? Inspectors General Challenge Trump’s Unlawful Dismissals

PUBLISHED 5/16/2025 by and | UPDATED 5/20/2025 at 12:07 P.M. PT

Ms.‘ Profiles in Courage honors the extraordinary women and men who have transformed American institutions through principled public service. At a time when trust in government is fragile, these stories offer a powerful reminder of what ethical leadership looks like—from those who litigate for civil rights and resign on principle, to those who break military barriers and defend democracy on the front lines.

On Jan. 24, 2025, President Donald Trump dismissed inspectors general (IGs) from 17 key federal agencies in an unprecedented move that has raised serious questions about government accountability. These IGs serve as independent watchdogs tasked with overseeing federal operations, ensuring transparency, and protecting taxpayer dollars from fraud, waste and mismanagement. Critics argue that the IGs’ removal weakens a critical safeguard against waste, fraud and abuse.

Eight of the dismissed IGs have filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., arguing that their terminations were unlawful.

My German Family History Makes U.S. Current Events Excruciating to Watch

PUBLISHED 5/15/2025 by

My great-grandfather Prof. Dr. Max Flesch, a German doctor, author and academic of Jewish descent who lived in and near Frankfurt, was stripped of the right to practice medicine, teach and publish. These assaults were enabled by academic and medical institutions which voluntarily, and sometimes enthusiastically, complied with Nazi mandates. 

I see terrifying echoes of my family’s past in the Trump administration’s assault on civil institutions, academic freedom and human rights.

The Woman Behind the Fair Pay Act Comes to Life in ‘Lilly’ Film

PUBLISHED 5/13/2025 by

It’s tempting these dark days to dismiss the idea that any one person can make a difference.

And yet, every day ordinary people fight injustice. And some days, those people persist long enough, resist long enough, that their fights rise to national prominence. One such fight is chronicled in the new film Lilly, in theaters beginning May 9. The brainchild of director Rachel Feldman, Lilly tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, “an ordinary woman who became extraordinary,” in the words of actor Patricia Clarkson, who portrays her in the film.

Unfortunately, Ledbetter didn’t live to see the film arrive in theaters. She died in October 2024 at age 86. “She was so profoundly happy to know that her legacy would extend in entertainment form,” Feldman says, “particularly so that young women would absorb the story.”

Texas Lawmakers Propose Abortion Pill Bill That Can’t Be Challenged in State Courts

PUBLISHED 5/13/2025 by

In 2021, when Texas passed an abortion ban enforced through private lawsuits, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan sarcastically derided the architects of the law as “some geniuses” who’d found the “chink in the armor” to sidestep Roe v. Wade. Four years later, those same folks are back with a new play to restrict the flow of abortion-inducing drugs into the state and a fresh set of never-before-seen legal tools that experts say would undermine the balance of power in the state.

Senate Bill 2880, which passed the Senate last week, allows anyone who manufactures, distributes, mails, prescribes or provides an abortion-inducing drug to be sued for up to $100,000. It expands the wrongful death statute to encourage family members, especially men who believe their partner had an abortion, to sue up to six years after the event, and empowers the Texas attorney general to bring lawsuits on behalf of “unborn children of residents of this state.”

That the Texas Senate passed a bill to crack down on abortion pills isn’t surprising. But the protections written into this bill, which says the law cannot be challenged as unconstitutional in state court, could have ripple effects far beyond the question of abortion access.