[[link removed]] Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest
Letter from an Editor | January 13, 2024
Dear John,
“[For] 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it. And I’m proud to have done it.”
These words were uttered by former President Trump at a Fox News town hall Wednesday. Since the Dobbs decision that he so proudly takes credit for, we have seen the horrific and sometimes deadly results of abortion bans play out.
The consequences include the recently uncovered case of Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick, a 29 year-old woman in Texas who died from pregnancy complications including hypertension and suspected preeclampsia just weeks after the overturn of Roe . As reported by the New Yorker, If the Catholic hospital she went to had allowed her to have an abortion, the piece makes clear, she could still be alive today. But she was not.
The fall of Roe is not solely to blame for Glick’s death. Texas’s draconian abortion ban—and the abortion deserts it has created—is also to blame, as is our country’s dependence on healthcare facilities operated by religious institutions. And in the wake of last week’s federal court ruling that emergency rooms are not required to provide life-saving abortions if the decision would run up against state laws like Texas’s, far more cases like Glick’s are sure to come.
We now live in a country where women also are being criminalized for their pregnancy outcomes—and where lawmakers would sooner let them die than have an abortion. This is evident in the case of Brittany Watts, the Ohio woman who was recently charged with felony abuse of a corpse after she miscarried at her home. Thankfully, a grand jury declined to indict Watts this week, and the charges against her will be dismissed. But as cases like these continue to mount, and women continue to lose their lives, there is no excuse for any of us to remain complacent.
As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day this Monday, we are remembering his legacy as a firm supporter of reproductive rights. As Ms.’s Dr. Michele Goodwin reported, King noted a “striking kinship” between the fights for reproductive rights and civil rights, and saw the movements for each as “natural allies.”
“Dr. King would likely be horrified by the state’s oversized role in determining how and when women can control their reproductive health,” Dr. Goodwin writes. “He highlighted the urgency and necessity to pay close attention to the dignity of poor women, especially poor women of color. He recognized the profound cruelty and indignity associated with the stigmatization of poor mothers.”
We’re also remembering how the MLK day holiday wouldn't exist without the advocacy and determination of one very important feminist activist: Coretta Scott King—a woman whose “vision of ‘the beloved community’ was bolder and more revolutionary than her husband Martin’s,” as Beverly Guy-Sheftall wrote in Ms.
Scott King was deeply devoted to issues of racial and economic justice, and was an advocate for women’s rights (including the Equal Rights Amendment) and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as advocating for issues like universal health care, world peace, gun control, and other social issues that “situated her outside the mainstream of American politics and the civil rights establishment.”
“She believed that the U.S. would be better served if resources [devoted to war] were expended for improved schools, college tuition support and training programs for at-risk youth,” Guy-Sheftall wrote. “Speaking to the Antioch College graduating class of 1982, she asked, ‘Isn’t it strange how the leaders of nations can talk so eloquently about peace while they prepare for war? … There is no way to make peace while preparing for war.’”
Far too often women like Scott King are overlooked in the American historical narrative. But they have always been at the vanguard—when it comes to abortion and reproductive rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and ongoing fights for justice. This MLK day, let’s recommit to honoring their legacy too.
For equality,
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Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor
This Week's Must-Reads from Ms.
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Right-Wing Hubris Puts Ideology Over Medical Expertise—And Women Suffer [[link removed]] A Young Woman Almost Died Due to Texas’ Abortion Bans. Now She’s Battling to Save Other Women. [[link removed]]
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Coretta Scott King, a Revolutionary Woman (January 2006) [[link removed]] The Forgotten Reproductive Justice Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King [[link removed]]
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An Open Letter to Women’s Magazine Editors: It’s Time to Save Reproductive Rights [[link removed]] Calling All Feminist Students: Join the Young Feminist Leadership Conference in D.C. March 23-25 [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Listen to United Bodies—a new podcast about the lived experience of health, from Ms. Studios, on Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] + Spotify [[link removed]] .
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!
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms . has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you [[link removed]] . We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity .
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