Dear John,

As we wind down the year, we’re looking back at 2023—and it’s clear to me that in our first full year without Roe v. Wade, support for abortion was bigger and more impactful than ever.

Given that it wasn’t a general election year, we saw an inspiring number of major victories for abortion and pro-abortion-rights candidates in the November elections. In the Virginia legislature, voters made sure Democrats regained control of the house, and maintained control of the senate—putting another crucial roadblock in the path of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his anti-abortion, anti-women’s rights agenda. And in the GOP stronghold of Kentucky, voters reelected Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear over his staunchly anti-abortion opponent.

Front of mind, of course, was Ohio—where voters passed Issue 1 by a 56.6 to 43.4 percent margin, enshrining abortion rights in the state’s constitution. This victory came despite a Republican effort to sabotage the amendment—first, by attempting to change the election rules for ballot measures, then through altering the ballot language and running misinformation campaigns, and more. With similar state-level battles brewing for 2024, the Ohio victory bodes well for the future of abortion rights ballot measures.

This year made gravely apparent the cruelty and harm of state-level abortion bans. There was the case of Kate Cox—a Texas woman whose emergency request for an abortion was denied by the state’s Supreme Court, forcing her to travel out of state to end her unviable and potentially life-endangering pregnancy. There was the case of Brittany Watts, a Black Ohio woman who was criminally charged for felony abuse of a corpse after having a miscarriage—despite a report concluding that the fetus was not viable and had died in the womb. And so many more women whose situation did not make headlines across the country, but suffered similar pregnancy complications and roadblocks to securing critical healthcare.

Meanwhile, another crucial challenge to abortion access continued to work its way through the lower courts, and will be heard by the Supreme Court in the new year. The case is a challenge to the FDA regulations governing mifepristone—a drug used in over half the abortions performed in the U.S. The court’s decision could be the most consequential abortion ruling since Roe’s overturn—and you can count on Ms. to keep you updated, every step of the way.

We also await the Court’s decision in U.S. v. Rahimi, which will determine whether domestic abusers who have protective orders against them will be barred from possessing firearms. “If the Supreme Court were to invalidate these essential gun violence prevention laws, untold numbers of people, especially women, will die,” said California state Sen. Nancy Skinner of the case.

We know you were paying attention to all these stories, and more, this past year—our list of most-read stories from the year shows it. You were following the case of Catherine Kassenoff, the New York mother and attorney who lost custody of her daughters after years of bitter legal battles with her ex-husband, and went on to commit suicide earlier this year. You were following the most powerful feminist cultural icons at any given moment—whether she was Beyoncé, or Taylor Swift, or even Barbie. From local governments to the nation’s highest court, you were following the status of women’s rights—because, even if the so-called mainstream media might not reflect it in their coverage, readers and voters care about women’s equality.

Thanks for being a Ms. reader this year—and check in next week to see what we’re looking forward to in the new year.

Onward,

Weekly Digest

Weekly Digest

Letter from an Editor | December 23, 2023

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