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:

Six anti-abortion extremists 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, Tennessee, verbally harassing and physically intimidating patients and employees for almost three hours. The extremists were found guilty of conspiracy as well as a violation of 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.” 

CONTINUE READING

On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released an opinion on abortion rights following a 5 year long legal battle in Allegheny Reproductive Health Center et al. v. PA Department of Human Services et al. The case, litigated by the Women's Law Project under the leadership of Susan Frietsche, 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 approved by Pennsylvania voters in 1971 and this case illustrates 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. 

CONTINUE READING

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. 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 is anti-affirmative action and believes that individuals should not be categorized based on race or sex.

CONTINUE READING

Mullah Hibatullah, the Taliban’s leader, said in a recent statement that women’s rights in Afghanistan “have been fully secured,” despite the brutal and systematic gender apartheid. 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.”

CONTINUE READING

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 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.

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.” The Taliban have issued over 108 edicts limiting women's access to employment, education, and human rights. 

CONTINUE READING

The United Nations Development Program reports that Afghanistan is in a deepening economic crisis and suffering economic insecurity under the Taliban. The UN 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.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case regarding the restriction on the use of mifepristone in the United States. Mifepristone — taken in conjunction with misoprostol — is a pill that can 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.

CONTINUE READING

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.

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.

CONTINUE READING

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.

CONTINUE READING

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.

Encourage them to register for the National Young Feminist Leadership Conference! Scan the QR Code or go to feministcampus.org/conference/ 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!

Follow us on Instagram @femmajorityfdn