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Abortion rights activists rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 14, after the Court temporarily preserved access to mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill, in an 11th-hour ruling preventing lower court restrictions on the drug from coming into force. (Probal Rashid / LightRocket via Getty Images)

BY CARRIE N. BAKER | The Texas case on the abortion pill mifepristone was back in court for oral arguments before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Wednesday. The three Republican-appointed judges aggressively questioned and interrupted the attorneys defending access to mifepristone, and asked a wide range of questions indicating basic misunderstandings about abortion medications, the role of the FDA and administrative law.

“They’re going to ask terrible questions and write an awful opinion. But it will have no effect. None whatsoever. Because what the Supreme Court does in this case is what matters. So do yourself a favor and just ignore the Fifth Circuit. They’ve earned it.”

(Click here to read more)

When maternal health suffers, so does newborn health and future child health. (MoMo Productions / Getty Images)

BY JEFFREY D. SHAHIDULLAH | Maternal healthcare in the U.S. is largely not accessible, equitable, affordable or person-centered. When maternal health suffers, so does newborn health and future child health.

For this Mother’s Day, policymakers, administrators, medical practitioners and healthcare providers need to demonstrate to mothers in the U.S. that they are a priority and advocate for legislation that promotes comprehensive maternal healthcare.

(Click here to read more) 

Lynn M. Paltrow, pictured (right) in front of the Supreme Court Appellate Division in Brooklyn, is the founder of Pregnancy Justice. The nonprofit has documented over 1,700 cases of pregnancy-related arrests, detentions and equivalent deprivations of physical liberty from 1973 to 2020. (Ari Mintz)

BY MICHELLE ONELLO | In 1987, Attorney Lynn Paltrow defended Pamela Rae Stewart, a California woman criminally charged for failing to follow medical advice while pregnant. This case was one of the first attempts to criminalize a pregnant person for their actions and argue that fetuses have constitutional rights. In 2000, Paltrow started National Advocates for Pregnant Women, now called Pregnancy Justice, to defend pregnant people against criminalization and other deprivations of their rights.

“With half the population capable of pregnancy, what we have to do is change the conversation so that it is clear we are not just defending abortion, we are defending the personhood of the people who sometimes need abortions, but who always need to be treated as full rights-bearing, constitutional persons.”

(Click here to read more) 

Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on

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Last week, a New York jury ruled that columnist E. Jean Carroll was sexually assaulted and defamed by the former president, and awarded her five million dollars in damages. On the latest On The Issues, we dive into the Carroll verdict, and its implications for the larger case against former president Trump.

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