Every year there are 58,000 pregnant people entering jails and prisons, along with the almost 225,000 women and girls held in local jails, juvenile centers, state and federal prisons. For the most part, pregnant people in correctional facilities don’t have access to abortion services. Advocates and government officials must add explicit protections for people seeking abortion services while incarcerated.
Tag: Women in Prison
Publicly Arresting Formerly Incarcerated Voters Is Voter Intimidation—Not ‘Election Integrity’
Under the direction of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in August arrested 20 people with felony records for breaking Florida’s elections laws during the 2020 election—even after several officials had explicitly told them that they could legally cast ballots. Some fear these public arrests will have a chilling effect on voter turnout in future elections. Already, the 2022 midterms were the first election in Florida’s history in which registered Republicans outpaced Democrats at the voting booth.
“It’s jarring to think about a grandfather getting pulled from his house by SWAT team for voting in our state,” said Neil Volz, deputy director of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
Most Girls in the Juvenile System Experience Abuse Prior to Incarceration. Their Stories of Abuse Don’t End There.
Over 80 percent of girls in the juvenile justice system in multiple U.S. states are sexually or physically abused prior to incarceration. But their stories of abuse do not end there. Many young women continue to experience sexual and physical abuse by juvenile justice employees after being placed in juvenile detention.
November 2022 Reads for the Rest of Us
As you settle into eclipse season and any special days you may celebrate, keep an eye on your favorite reading chair and insist upon using it regularly, with one of these 31 titles or a favorite of your own.
Keeping Score: Senators Push to Protect Pregnant Workers; Supreme Court Threatens Affirmative Action; Legal Abortions Down 6 Percent
In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in in this biweekly round-up.
This week: Supreme Court cases threaten the future of affirmative action; senators push legislation to protect incarcerated pregnant women and pregnant workers; Social Security Administration will allow transgender people to indicate their correct gender on documents; Hawaii high school discrimination case puts Title IX to the test; Italy swears in its first woman prime minister; 4.6 million Americans are disenfranchised due to felony convictions; and more.
The War on Women Report: Anti-Abortion Movement Says It’s ‘Pro-Woman’; Kanye West’s Misogynistic Slurs; Brittney Griner’s Appeal Rejected
U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.
This month: The anti-abortion movement frames its tactics as “pro-woman,” Kanye West claims Black women are engaging in genocide, the House Committee votes to subpoena Trump, Brittney Griner’s appeal is rejected and more.
Iconic Book ‘Our Bodies Ourselves’ Goes Digital
In September, Our Bodies, Ourselves went digital as Our Bodies Ourselves Today (OBOS Today)—a definitive knowledge hub for trusted, peer-reviewed information from a feminist perspective, with content by over 100 experts.
“We are living in an era where our civil rights and human rights are being taken away from us—not only the right to abortion in many states but also the right to talk about it,” said Amy Agigian, director of OBOS Today.
Share Ms. Magazine With Women in Prisons and Domestic Violence Shelters
We send Ms. to 5,418 women in federal, state and county prisons through the Ms. magazine Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program—funded by charitable contributions earmarked for this purpose, as well as Ms. community members who buy an extra membership and subscription for a friend they don’t know. Over the 18 years since this program’s birth, we’ve discovered that even this small gesture of recognition, support and information means a lot.
Supreme Court Rulings Last Term Show What to Look for Next
Disregarded precedent. A lack of legal restraint. A runaway right-wing majority.
As the U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term, we look back at last one—where, for the first time, the 6–3 conservative supermajority was truly able to wield power. It frequently did so in radical ways.
Born Under Apartheid, Navi Pillay Has Climbed to Global Heights in Promoting Human Rights Law
Nations of the world have taken giant steps in recent decades to build international structures and strengthen institutions to deal with mass human rights abusers. At almost every stage, Navi Pillay, a South African lawyer, was there, advancing the rights of political detainees and the protection and status of women.