Category: Health

The War on Women Report: Republicans Blame Unmarried Women for Midterm Results; 80% of Pregnancy-Related Deaths Can Be Prevented

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: Brittney Griner is released from a racist and homophobic penal colony; abortion access is still in shambles despite midterm victories; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to step down; three high-profile mass shootings in a matter of weeks; and more.

Keeping Score: Brittney Griner Is Freed; Iranian Women Actors Arrested for Supporting Protests; Oregon Pardons Thousands for Marijuana Charges

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: Associated Press tells writers not to use harmful term “later-term abortion,” instead “abortion later in pregnancy”; advocates condemn the announcement of Trump’s 2024 presidential bid; Georgia’s six-week abortion ban is back; Iranian security arrested two women actors for supporting national protests; Oregon governor pardons 45,000 convicted on marijuana charges; VP Kamala Harris to swear in Los Angeles mayor-elect Karen Bass; and more.

Midterms and ‘Mid-Cycle Spotting’: Getting Real About Women’s Health

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We have been left all alone, our bodies overlooked by the law and undermined by the courts. We’re left, quite literally, to save our own lives. But perhaps one silver lining of the overturning of Roe v. Wade has been creating space for women to openly and deliberately trace the arc of their reproductive lives—in public—from menstruation to menopause.

As advocates, scholars and providers now work to reimagine and rebuild what meaningful reproductive care looks like in this country, we have an opportunity to be more holistic in addressing the full continuum of women’s reproductive lives. Private sector interventions and public policy solutions must reflect those intersections. Period. Full stop. 

Trump-Appointed EEOC Commissioner Goes After Employers’ Abortion Travel Benefit Policies

Employers around the country announced that they would assist their employees to travel out of state to access abortion healthcare. But a Trump-appointed member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is working from inside the civil rights agency to attack these employer benefits, claiming they are favoring workers seeking abortions while discriminating against pregnant workers and disabled workers.

This attempt to redirect the government’s limited civil rights resources to attacking women’s rights is evidence of the continuing harms caused by the Trump administration to women.

Teaching the Deep Roots of Abortion in America

Having honest conversations about our nation’s history in and outside the classroom is as urgent as ever. Despite Alito’s protestations, abortion has been and will continue to be an integral part of our nation’s past, present and future.

A closer look at American women’s past and present—where nearly one in four women obtain an abortion by the age of 45—illustrates that abortion has deep roots, which began centuries before Roe v. Wade and will continue long after Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

U.S. Overturn of Roe Will Embolden Anti-Abortion Movements Abroad

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ruled that there is no U.S. constitutional right to abortion, will have ripple effects around the world. It will embolden anti-abortion movements abroad, contribute to global stigmatization of abortion, cause confusion for policy implementation and open the door for new restrictions—all of which will negatively impact the health, economic resources and well-being of women throughout the world.