Taliban recently revealed a 5-year development plan for Afghanistan with three pillars, including economic and social development, governance and international relations, and security and public order. Fifteen key initiatives under these pillars include sectors such as agriculture, provision of energy, and development of education amongst many more areas targeting the country’s growth in the coming […]
The Afghan People Want Education for Their Girls. The Taliban Says No.
As children all over the world begin a new school year this September, there is a notable population that is missing from classrooms: girls above grade 6 in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban’s return to power over four years ago, their campaign to erase women from public life has deprived almost 2.2 million girls of education. […]
Texas A&M Professor’s Firing Sparks Debate Over Academic Freedom
On September 8th, 2025 Texas State Representative Brian Harrison went on social media to post a viral video of a Texas A&M University student challenging her professor, Melissa McCoul about the legality of her course’s content of her class when discussing gender identity. As a result, Melissa McCoul, a children’s literature teacher, was terminated from […]
Taliban Bans WiFi in Afghanistan, Cutting Off a Lifeline for Women and Students
The Taliban has banned fibre-optic (WiFi) internet in 15 provinces across Afghanistan, one of the most significant steps yet in their effort to control digital access and restrict the flow of information. In Balkh province, a local spokesperson confirmed the order as a “complete ban” issued directly by the group’s leader. Officials claim the move […]
SCOTUS Greenlights Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement
On Monday, September 8th, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo overturned a federal district court ruling that barred immigration officials in Los Angeles from conducting roving patrols that targeted Latino communities without “reasonable suspicion.” The concurring opinion from Justice Kavanaugh states that “apparent ethnicity” can be a “relevant factor” for ICE […]
Medication Abortion Under Siege: New Texas Law Empowers Private Citizens to Challenge Access
On Wednesday, September 3rd, Texas lawmakers approved a bill that would allow private citizens to sue abortion pill manufacturers, doctors, and suppliers. House Bill 7 is likely to be signed into law by anti-abortion Governor Greg Abbot, making Texas the first state in the nation to go after the most common and accessible abortion method. […]
Afghanistan’s Deadly Earthquake Hurt Women and Girls the Most
A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan’s mountainous northeast province of Kunar on August 31st, leaving devastation in its wake. The Taliban has confirmed a death toll of over 2,200 people, although this number is continuing to rise as rescue teams race against time to reach survivors still trapped under rubble. The earthquake has also […]
This Women’s Equality Day, the Fight Continues
105 years ago, on August 26th, 1920, the 19th Amendment was certified, granting women the right to vote – at least on paper. In reality, this victory just benefitted white women, while women of color continued to face systemic disenfranchisement. Since that historic day, women have made tremendous progress in political, economic, and social spheres […]
Mississippi Declares Public Health Emergency as Infant Mortality Soars
Mississippi has declared a public health emergency in response to an alarming surge in infant mortality, a crisis that now claims nearly 10 infants per 1,000 live births in the state, almost double the national average. The declaration marks the first time the state has used its emergency powers to address maternal and infant health, […]
New Study Shows Abortion Bans Are Driving Doctors Out
A new national JAMA study found a 4% drop in OB-GYN practitioners per 100,000 reproductive-age women in the states with the most restrictions on reproductive healthcare, compared to no decline in states without new restrictions. Since the Dobbs ruling in 2022, increasingly restrictive abortion laws have caused alarming rates of OB-GYNs from affected states to […]
Massachusetts Expands Protections for Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Care
Despite rapidly escalating cuts to reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has signed a groundbreaking new act that will expand and add protections to reproductive and transgender healthcare. The bill, S.2538, takes several actions to safeguard patients, providers, insurers, tech companies, and others from federal investigations related to reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare. S.2538, […]
Four Years After the Fall, Afghan Women Are Still Fighting for Their Future
August 15 marks four years since the world watched as the Taliban swept back into Kabul and reclaimed power in Afghanistan. The U.S. withdrawal marked the end of a twenty-year chapter, but for Afghan women and girls, it began an era of relentless rollbacks that has touched every part of their lives. What began as […]
Abortion Rights for Veterans Under Fire
In an abrupt reversal of recent policy, the current administration announced a proposed regulation on August 4, 2025, that would severely restrict veterans’ access to abortion. The bill, which was published in the Federal Register under the heading “Reproductive Health Services,” would forbid abortion coverage in almost all situations and only allow it in cases […]
Every Eight Minutes: The Crisis of Sexual Assault in Uber Rides
Between 2017 and 2022, Uber received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the United States almost every eight minutes. That adds up to 400,181 reports in just five years, far higher than the 12,522 “serious” incidents Uber had publicly disclosed. These findings, revealed by Emily Steel in a New York Times investigation […]
Flogged into Silence: Taliban’s Public Brutality Targets Afghan Women and Society
Today in Afghanistan, public squares and sports stadiums have become sites of fear, humiliation, and state-enforced cruelty. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have revived one of their most archaic and oppressive tools of control– public flogging. Men and women alike are whipped in front of crowds, often accused of “moral crimes” or […]
$9.7 Million in Contraceptives Set for Destruction as Aid Freeze Continues
The U.S. government is preparing to destroy a $9.7 million stockpile of USAID-purchased contraceptives originally intended for global aid. The contraceptives in the stockpile could provide at least one year of coverage to over 650,000 women and longer-term protection for even more. The State Department has confirmed these plans, which would cost $167,000 of taxpayer […]
Funding Delay Disrupts Head Start Access for Low-Income Families
On July 23, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that the current administration violated federal law earlier this year by delaying and withholding nearly $825 million in Head Start funding. This jeopardized access to early childhood education and care for hundreds of thousands of low-income families across the United States. The GAO […]
Judge Blocks Latest Attempts to Defund Planned Parenthood
A federal judge blocked the enforcement of a provision in the current administration’s recent tax and spending bill that would cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and its members, ruling it was likely unconstitutional. This ruling follows a preliminary injunction specifically blocking Medicaid cuts to Planned Parenthood issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani […]
How AI is Fueling a New Wave of Environmental Racism
With the rapid expansion of data centers driven by artificial intelligence, the tech economy is repeating historical patterns of environmental racism. Once again, marginalized communities are left to bear the costs of America’s “progress.” Civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. defines environmental racism as the deliberate targeting of predominantly BIPOC and low-income communities […]
Bipartisan Group of Congresswomen Call for Funding of American Women’s History Museum
Female congresswomen across the aisle came together on Monday, July 21 to strongly urge for the financial support of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. In 2020, the House passed a bill with bipartisan support to establish the museum, but funding has remained stalled for the past five years. Multiple attempts to move new bills […]