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A protest in support of abortion rights in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on Aug. 25, 2022—the day Idaho’s trigger law went in to effect, making most abortions illegal in the state. (Natalie Behring / Getty Images)

BY MADELYN AMOS | The U.S. Supreme Court released a brief order late last week that allows Idaho to continue to enforce its near-total abortion ban, even in medical emergencies. The ruling is a response to an effort from the Biden administration to ensure additional abortion access in hospitals located in states with bans. The Court also agreed to hear the dispute between the state and the Biden administration over the constitutionality of the law in its April session.

“Today’s Supreme Court order … denies women critical emergency abortion care required by federal law,” said President Joe Biden in response to the ruling. “The overturning of Roe v. Wade has enabled Republican elected officials to pursue dangerous abortion bans like this one that continue to jeopardize women’s health, force them to travel out of state for care, and make it harder for doctors to provide care, including in an emergency. These bans are also forcing doctors to leave Idaho and other states because of laws that interfere with their ability to care for their patients. This should never happen in America.”

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Dr. Claudine Gay of Harvard University testifies before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Dec. 5, 2023. The committee held a hearing to investigate antisemitism on college campuses. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

BY ERRIN HAINES | Much of the criticism of Harvard’s Claudine Gay wasn’t about legitimate concerns about academic integrity or campus antisemitism. It was about who is in power.

But who’s surprised, really, that things went this way for Gay? Against Black women specifically, the conservative agenda is clear: Minimize their excellence and exaggerate their mistakes. Their identities and leadership become weaponized and politicized. There is no room for error. 

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Bill Baird and Jada Portillo in Yours in Freedom, Bill Baird.

BY ELEANOR J. BADER | Bill Baird, the man who successfully challenged the U.S. law banning the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried people, is the subject of Rebecca Cammisa’s powerful documentary, Yours in Freedom, Bill Baird. The film sounds a loud and dire warning about the need for reproductive justice advocates to remain vigilant and active if we want to keep the rights we currently have. This, Baird cautions, requires us to pay attention to politics at the local, state and federal levels. 

“The world is on fire,” Baird says in the film’s final frame. “Freedom is on fire.” Nonetheless, he makes clear that he has already done what he could. It’s now our job to drown the flames and continue the fight for bodily autonomy, human rights and liberation.

(Click here to read more) 

Listen to United Bodies—a new podcast about the lived experience of health, from Ms. Studios, on Apple Podcasts + Spotify. 

One of the most present themes in our lived experience of health in the past few years is the war on bodily autonomy, whether it’s the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the loss of legal abortion for millions, or the repeated pernicious efforts to ban gender affirming care for trans and nonbinary people. But the origins of the ideology driving these attacks is not new. It lies in the history of eugenics, racism, and ableism. And in many ways, it’s experienced in the everyday lives of disabled people. Think of us as canaries in the coalmine. Disability activist and creator Imani Barbarin says none of this is surprising. We’ve been dealing with this for a long time.

We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!

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