Read the reviews from the best documentaries like Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print and Zurawski v Texas from the past year.
Zurawski v. Texas
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed Zurawski v. Texas, a groundbreaking lawsuit asking the state of Texas to clarify the scope of the “medical emergency” exceptions under its abortion bans.
The case, filed in state court in Austin, is the first lawsuit brought on behalf of women denied abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022.
Dobbs Has Triggered Widespread Discrimination in Non-Reproductive Healthcare
In the years since Roe was overturned, physicians across a wide range of medical specialties have described how abortion bans are undermining their ability to follow evidence-based standards of care. Dermatologists, oncologists, neurologists, cardiologists and others told Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) that they are regularly forced to alter treatment plans, delay urgent care or avoid prescribing the most effective medications simply because those treatments could harm a pregnancy. These constraints are creating a chilling effect that reaches far beyond reproductive health and into the everyday practice of medicine.
As PHR’s Michele Heisler and Payal Shah explained, abortion bans are also fueling discriminatory care. Reproductive-age women are routinely denied the best available treatments, while men with the same conditions face no such barriers. Even within the group of reproductive-age women, clinicians are making decisions based on subjective judgments about a patient’s “contraceptive reliability”—a practice that opens the door to bias and disproportionately harms marginalized patients.
This two-tiered system of care is not hypothetical: It is already shaping medical decision-making in ban states, with dangerous consequences for patients’ health and lives.
‘Worse Than War’: A Texas Couple Was Forced to Flee the State for Essential Care—Twice
Hollie Cunningham’s family suffered incredible loss during two pregnancies. The mother of two was forced to flee Texas to get the care she needed, as she explains below in an interview with Courier Texas writer Bonnie Fuller.
“I didn’t really know about Texas’ abortion bans. I had always figured that if something were to go wrong with my pregnancy, my doctor would be able to do what she needed to take care of me.
Texas’ SB 31 Could Loosen the State’s Abortion Ban in Life-Threatening Cases. Doctors Say It’s Still Not Enough.
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.
Blueprint for Nationwide Abortion Pill Crackdown Falters in Texas
In Texas, the state Senate just opened yet another door to women being criminally prosecuted for obtaining an abortion … even in a different state. Authored by Sen. Bryan Hughes, Senate Bill 2880—titled the “Women and Child Protection Act”—just passed in the Senate. It ushers in a currently dormant 1925 abortion ban and would be the first law in the country to allow pregnant women to be prosecuted for receiving abortion care.
“The most egregious point of SB 2880 is that it quietly revives Texas’ pre-Roe abortion ban by explicitly incorporating the 1925 law into the bill’s definition of criminal abortion law,” said Sen. Carol Alvarado, a Houston Democrat.
Olivia Rodrigo Wins Planned Parenthood Award for Repro Rights Activism
Planned Parenthood honored Rodrigo with the 2025 Catalyst of Change award, recognizing her for using her platform to speak out about reproductive justice and launching the program Fund 4 Good to send proceeds from her Guts tour to local abortion funds.
‘I Thought Only First Pregnancies Could Go Bad’: When Allie Phillips’ Lawmaker Dismissed Her, She Decided to Run for His Seat
“I decided to meet with my district representative in the state legislature,” said Allie Phillips. Her idea was a bill she’d called “Miley’s Law”—named after the child she’d lost—which would create an exception in Tennessee’s abortion ban allowing for the termination of pregnancies when the fetus has a fatal diagnosis.
She said the meeting with her lawmaker, Republican Rep. Jeff Burkhart, was disturbing. “I quickly learned that these [Republican] lawmakers don’t know anything about reproductive care. He was confused because I had had a healthy first pregnancy, and then lost my second one. He told me, ‘I thought only first pregnancies could go bad.’”
Burkhart, a 63-year-old father, told Allie he’d set up a meeting for her with the state’s attorney general—but never followed through.
“After that, my mom said, ‘Maybe you should run against him,’” Allie said. “And then my TikTok followers started to say the same thing.”
These Women Couldn’t Get Life-Saving Care. Now They’re Changing the Law.
A group of Texas women denied life-saving healthcare during their wanted pregnancies are feeling “cautiously optimistic” and “hopeful” after meeting with state legislators and urging changes to an abortion-related bill currently working its way through the legislature.
These women have been telling their devastating stories of life and loss for years. So why are they just starting to break through and spur legislative action from Republican lawmakers now?
“You have to keep repeating it. And so as painful as it is for me to relive those days and to relive my story, I will continue to do it for my daughter.”
The War on Women Report: Women Jailed for Miscarriages, Dragged from Town Halls, and Denied Healthcare
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:
—At a town hall in Idaho, men from a private security firm grabbed Teresa Borrenpohl and forcibly dragged her from the room.
—Georgia relaunched a new maternal mortality committee, but will not reveal who the new members are.
—In a win for Montana, a district court permanently blocked multiple restrictions that would have effectively eliminated abortion access for most patients on Medicaid.
… and more.
Amid Support from Doctors Group, Bill to Clarify Texas’ Abortion Ban Does Little to Save Lives, Critics Say
A bipartisan bill to clarify exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban garnered widespread support Thursday from healthcare professionals and abortion opponents who said the bill would remove any hesitation doctors might have to save a pregnant woman’s life.
Critics, meanwhile, told lawmakers that Senate Bill 31 doesn’t go far enough to protect women facing pregnancy-related medical emergencies and even quietly resurrects 160-year-old laws that could be used to criminalize those who have undergone an abortion or have helped those who receive an out-of-state abortion.