| JAN 2024

The Power of Abortion Rights and the ERA in the 2024 Elections: A National Survey
In 2023, the Feminist Majority Foundation and Ms. Magazine commissioned Lake Research Partners to conduct a survey to determine the influence of abortion rights and the Equal Rights Amendment in turning out the vote. The results were inspiring:
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Justice Served: Anti-abortion extremists convicted for conspiring and blockading Tennessee abortion clinic
JANUARY 31
Six anti-abortion extremists associated with the national anti-abortion group Operation Save America were found guilty by a federal jury in Nashville for their obstruction of a local abortion clinic and intimidation of patients and staff. They face potential prison sentences of up to 11 years and fines of $250,000. Their sentencing is scheduled for July 2. Four others will be tried separately.
On March 5, 2021, the group of anti-abortion extremists blockaded the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet, verbally harassing and physically intimidating patients and employees for almost three hours. The extremists were found guilty of conspiring to violate the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which “prohibits violent, threatening, damaging and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain or provide reproductive health services.”
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Pennsylvania Equal Rights Amendment provides win for abortion access
HANNAH IRVINE | JANUARY 30
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released an opinion on abortion rights following a 5 year long legal battle in Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. PA Department of Human Services . The case centered around the state statute that bans Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program from covering abortion services.
The majority opinion, some 219 pages, details arguments why the Medicaid coverage ban for abortion violates the Pennsylvania Equal Rights Amendment as well as the equal protection provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The ERA was ratified in Pennsylvania in 1972 and this case proves how a state ERA can play an influential role in the fight for reproductive justice. The majority opinion clearly outlines how the Medicaid coverage ban is discriminatory on the basis of sex.
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Florida bans DEI from State College System
HANNAH IRVINE | JANUARY 23
On January 17th, 2024, the Florida State Board of Education passed a ruling that will strictly limit public funding towards DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives in the Florida College System. This ruling comes with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ long campaign against "woke" policies in Florida. [[link removed]] The bill details how education should be “free from undue political influence" and therefore DEI values should not be allowed in Florida community or state colleges. The Board of Education believes that individuals should not be categorized based on race or sex. [[link removed]]
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Taliban Leader: Afghan women’s rights “have been fully secured”
ANSELMA ELLINGWOOD | JANUARY 22
Mullah Hibatullah, the Taliban’s leader, said in a recent statement that women’s rights in Afghanistan “have been fully secured.” The Taliban leader who has never been seen in public or by any official except Taliban members, claimed that women have been given their full rights under Sharia.
It is unclear which standards the Taliban is using to assess the status of Afghan girls and women’s rights. The pervasive systemic discrimination against women through the release of over 100 edicts issued nationally and sub-nationally would suggest otherwise. According to Tahira Nasiri, a women’s rights activist, not only are women deprived of their basic rights such as work and education, “but women have also faced forced and early marriages, murder, detention, and suppression for over two years.”
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The 51st Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
GWENDOLYN COMAI | JANUARY 18
January 22nd should be a day to celebrate Roe v. Wade’s landmark ruling and look back on how far abortion rights have come in the United States. Instead, we find ourselves in unprecedented times where the right to an abortion is being challenged across the country. 15 states have now passed extremely restrictive abortion laws with very limited exceptions. These laws have not stopped pro-abortion advocates as they continue the fight against these egregious restrictions on the right to an abortion.
On January 22nd, 1973, the Supreme Court announced their decision in Roe v. Wade, siding with “Jane Roe," the anonymous woman who filed the lawsuit. The court struck down a Texas law that made it a crime to perform an abortion, leading to a federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States. “Jane Roe” was actually a woman named Norma McCorvey, who was denied an abortion in 1969 because her pregnancy didn’t pose any medical risk.
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Together Stronger Coalition: The Taliban Intend to Erase Afghan Women from Society
AREZU FAYYAZI | JANUARY 18
Lately, the Taliban has been punishing women with arrests and physical violence citing claims of what the group calls “bad hijab.” Abdul Ghafar Farooq, the spokesman for the Taliban, has stated that women “violated the Islamic values and rituals, and encouraged society and other respected sisters to go for bad hijab. In every province, those who go without hijab will be arrested.”
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7 out of every 10 people in Afghanistan are unable to meet their basic life requirements
ANSELMA ELLINGWOOD | JANUARY 17
The United Nations Development Program reports that Afghanistan is in a deepening economic crisis and suffering economic insecurity under the Taliban. The organization stated in a report released recently that 69% of Afghanistan’s population faces a shortage of necessities such as healthcare, essential goods, suitable living conditions and job opportunities, particularly for women.
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Supreme Court set to rule on Mifepristone access
GWENDOLYN COMAI | JANUARY 16
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case regarding the restriction on the use of mifepristone in the United States. Mifepristone — marketed under the name Mifeprex or Korlym and formally known as RU 486 — is a pill that can be taken in order to end a pregnancy that is less than 10 weeks along.
In August 2023, Texas’ ultra-conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that would deny women access to the medication mifepristone. Previously, a federal judge in Amarillo, Texas attempted to completely ban the use of mifepristone by suspending its regulatory approval. However, this decision was remanded back to the lower court by the Supreme Court.
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Supreme Court Allows Enforcement of Idaho’s Abortion Ban, Pending April Hearing
MADELYN AMOS | JANUARY 8
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.
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Ohio woman will not face criminal charges following miscarriage
MADELYN AMOS | JANUARY 4
Brittany Watts, a 34-year-old woman from Ohio, found herself at the center of a controversial legal battle, facing potential indictment for a fifth-degree felony of “abuse of a corpse” after miscarrying a nonviable fetus at home. Watts’ arrest in October 2023 has sent shockwaves through the reproductive rights movement, raising questions about the implications of such charges.
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New Year, New Laws on Gender and Abortion
MADELYN AMOS | JANUARY 2
As we celebrate the beginning of 2024, many states are kicking off the new year with new laws going into effect, many focused on gender and abortion rights. There was a record-breaking number of anti-LGBTQ legislation introduced by Republican state legislators in 2023, with the American Civil Liberties Union recording at least 508 bills targeting LGBTQ healthcare access and inclusion in education. 84 of these were passed into law. Over 20 Republican-led states are now seeing these laws go into effect in the new year.
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Mifepristone and the Feminist Majority Foundation
Do you know about FMF’s Compassion Use Program? Mifepristone’s use as an abortion medication is well known. However, mifepristone also blocks the action of progesterone, so it may be able to inhibit the growth of progesterone-dependent tumors. Mifepristone shows tremendous promise as a treatment for a number of serious diseases and conditions that primarily affect people with uteruses and ovaries.
Because of this, FMF took on the unusual responsibility of administering a “Mifepristone Compassionate Use” program in conjunction with the U.S. FDA when no other scientific or medical professional organization would take on that perceived political risk. Today, we’ve assisted nearly 150 desperately ill patients with various kinds of cancers access this drug that’s been their only hope. We’re thrilled that many patients have found this program to be a literal lifeline – the medication has worked and they’ve been on the program for years, even decades.
To forward mifepristone clinical trials on the myriad conditions that this drug may potentially treat, FMF has put together a team of prestigious clinical researchers, attorneys, and FDA specialists, and has moved ahead with Phase II clinical trials for people with ovarian and uterine cancers.

A blast from the past! FMF’s Rock for Choice
From 1991 until 2004, Feminist Majority Foundation sponsored the Rock for Choice benefit concert series to raise funds for abortion access. Artists such as Bikini Kill, the Foo Fighters, Hole, Joan Jett, and Nirvana were featured in the concerts.
We want to see your best pictures from your advocacy over the years! Send them to us at [email protected] or 1600 Wilson Blvd, Suite 801, Arlington, VA 22209.
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Do you have a young feminist in your life?
Encourage them to register for the National Young Feminist Leadership Conference! Scan the QR Code or go to feministcampus.org/conference/ [[link removed]] for more information!
The National Young Feminist Leadership Conference brings together hundreds of student activists from across the country to build collective power and share strategies of mobilization, grow knowledge about critical domestic and global feminist issues, and learn grassroots organizing tactics.
March 23rd and 24th will be filled with panels, workshops, and trainings covering topics ranging from protecting reproductive rights to passing the Equal Rights Amendment to ending gender apartheid. On Monday, March 25th, students will take their knowledge, power, and voices to Capitol Hill for a Congressional Advocacy Day!
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