Installation view of Alison Saar’s Undone (2012), featured in The Sky’s the Limit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts; Photo by Jennifer Hughes, courtesy of NMWA The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) reopened on October 21 after a two-year renovation. The museum now offers renovated galleries with innovative presentations, […]
A Movement, Not Just a Magazine – 50 Years of Ms.
Photo by Madelyn Amos Last week, D.C. warmly welcomed Ms. to celebrate 50 years of groundbreaking journalism and inspiring generations of women and feminist activists. The Feminist Majority Foundation and Ms. hosted multiple events – a news conference at the National Press Club, a panel at the Women’s Bar Association of D.C., and a reception […]
Coco Gauff thanks Billie Jean King after winning the U.S. Open
Image by Marijana from Pixabay At just 19, Coco Gauff became one of the youngest women to win the U.S. Open, and she made a point to thank the women who came before her. As she accepted her $3 million prize, Gauff turned to tennis icon Billie Jean King and said “Thank you Billie. For […]
Mexico’s Supreme Court just decriminalized abortion nationwide – but the fight’s not over yet
Mexico’s highest court unanimously ruled that previous laws banning abortion were unconstitutional and breached human rights. On Wednesday, the court “resolved that the legal system that criminalizes abortion in the Federal Criminal Code is unconstitutional, as it violates the human rights of women and the capacity to gestate.” In the press release, the Supreme Court […]
Anti-Abortion Extremists Charged With Breaking Federal Law in Historic Justice Department Conviction
Lauren Handy outside the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, the day the Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (Eric Lee / The Washington Post via Getty Images) Emotions ran high over the past few weeks as reproductive rights activists watched United States v. Lauren Handy et al., play out in federal court. On Tuesday, a […]
North Carolina’s GOP controlled state legislature overrides vetoes to pass anti-trans laws
On Wednesday, Republican supermajorities in the North Carolina House and Senate overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto on three anti-trans bills, stripping transgender youth of their rights to access gender-affirming healthcare, to play sports, and to learn about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools. House Bill 808- “Gender Transition Procedures on Minors” The first […]
Ohio’s Abortion Rights Future: Issue 1 Defeat Highlights Voter Commitment
Ohioans Vote for Abortion Rights, Defeating Issue 1 Last week, Ohioans overwhelmingly voted against a ballot measure that would make it harder to amend the state’s constitution. The hotly contested election served as a proxy battle between pro-abortion and anti-abortion forces committed to winning victory in the upcoming November 2023 ballot initiative to add abortion […]
Indiana’s near total abortion ban currently paused
Indiana’s latest extreme abortion ban was set to go into effect today, but remains on hold as the ACLU has filed a petition to the state Supreme Court challenging the law. The ban would outlaw abortions in all cases, except rape and incest, but only in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The health of […]
Ohio’s abortion rights amendment qualifies for November ballot
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash In November, Ohio voters will decide whether to amend the state Constitution to include a right to reproductive freedom. State officials said on Tuesday that the petition had culled 495,938 valid signatures across 55 counties, surpassing the requisite 413,487 signatures across 44 counties. Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio […]
Opill becomes first FDA-approved contraceptive pill for over-the-counter use
In the United States, the path to accessible birth control pills hasn’t always been easy. Although the first FDA-approved birth control pill became available in 1960, the Comstock Act (a 150 year old “chastity law”) has created barriers to accessing it. These barriers were not challenged until Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965, when the Supreme […]
Biden-Harris administration forgives student debt for 804,000 borrowers
When the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student debt relief plan, he remained determined. At a June 30 press conference he told reporters, “We need to find a new way.” Two weeks later, the Department of Education announced the details: it will cancel $39 billion in Federal student loans. On July […]
Though most Iowans support abortion access, legislators pass six-week ban
Last month, the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 on whether the state could reinstate an abortion ban around six weeks. The case centered around a 2018 statute that many people believed had “no chance of taking effect,” Justice Thomas D. Waterman observed. Without Court consensus, abortion remained legal until 20 weeks of pregnancy. That changed […]
Supreme Court lets businesses discriminate against a protected class for the first time in history
Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash In 2017, the Supreme Court heard a case about a bakery owner who refused to create a cake for a gay wedding. The Court ruled that the cake represented free expression, so the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) could not force the owner to sell a cake for the couple’s […]
Democrats reintroduce legislation to expand the Supreme Court, set term limits
AP/J. Scott Applewhite The Supreme Court ended its term with decisions that challenged precedent and rolled back rights for the environment, Black and Latino college applicants, same-sex couples, and student loan borrowers. With a 6-3 conservative majority, the Court is making its highest rate of conservative decisions since 1931.Two of its Justices have violated ethics […]
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has challenged traditional perceptions of gender, while also exacerbating inequalities
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, gender gaps in education, poverty, and gender-based violence have increasingly widened for Ukrainian women. The war has shifted the traditional understanding of gender dynamics in Ukraine as women fill positions left behind by men being drafted into the military. This has greatly expanded women’s role […]
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act goes into effect
Photo by Laura Ohlman on Unsplash Last Tuesday, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which President Biden signed into law last year, went into effect. This new law will expand “long-overdue protections to ensure that workers experiencing pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions have the right to reasonable accommodations in the workplace,” according to the […]
Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action
AP Photo/Gerry Broome In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled against race-conscious admissions programs. In both cases — Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina — college admissions programs considered race as one of many factors in determining an application’s value. The Court ruled that […]
Supreme Court explicitly rejects independent state legislature theory
Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash Voting rights activists around the country are celebrating as the Supreme Court released their decision for the Moore v. Harper case, ruling that state legislatures do not have the authority to set election rules outside the constraints of state constitutions. This is the second time this month we have seen a pro-democracy victory, where the Supreme […]
Will SCOTUS Uphold Domestic Abusers’ Right to Own Guns?
Photo by Claire Anderson on Unsplash It has now been a year since the Supreme Court issued its first major gun decision in over a decade. In New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Court ruled that the constitutionality of gun control laws can no longer be determined solely by state interests. […]
A year after Dobbs, 66,000 people who wanted abortions lived in states that banned them
Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash In the U.S., one in four women will have an abortion by age 45. Yet one in three live in states that ban or severely restrict access. Last year’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade upended reproductive health care infrastructure. Questions about who can provide care, which […]
