[[link removed]] Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest
Letter from an Editor | February 24, 2024
Dear John,
An Alabama court has opened the door to a new realm of legal jeopardy by ruling that embryos kept in freezers for in-vitro fertilization are considered to be people under the law, and protected by the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.
In Ms., Jill Fillipovic calls it a “shocking and jarring decision that radically extends the bounds of legal personhood, tosses any claims to originalism aside, and seems primed to make a variety of fertility treatments either extremely costly for patients, or extremely legally risky for clinicians.” The decision, she notes, puts the anti-abortion movement one step closer to their ultimate goal of having full control over reproduction—and women’s autonomy.
And what’s more, the theocrats in the Alabama state Supreme Court aren’t even trying to hide the religious beliefs behind the decision: in a concurring opinion, Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote that the decision was grounded in the "theologically based view of the sanctity of life."
“Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself,” he wrote. I don’t think I need to say any more to convey how alarming it is to see these words openly expressed in a judicial ruling.
In the face of rulings like this one, as well as the ever-mounting damages caused by state-level abortion bans, I’m certain of the crucial role that the Equal Rights Amendment could play in securing the full range of reproductive rights, including abortion access—if only Congress would act to place the already-ratified ERA into the U.S. Constitution. “If equality and the Equal Rights Amendment, in particular, weren’t so important, they wouldn’t be fighting so hard to keep it from us,” said Zakiya Thomas, president and CEO of the ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women’s Equality at the Radical Optimism Conference late last month. I urge you to join the movement, and sign the national ERA petition at Sign4ERA.org [[link removed]] .
Discriminatory legislation has real-world impacts—from the women across the country who have died or come near death after being denied medically necessary abortions, to the case of the nonbinary Oklahoma teenager who died after being beaten by classmates in a bathroom at their high school. Just last year, Oklahoma passed a bill forbidding public school students from using any bathroom other than the one associated with the gender they were assigned at birth.
We must remain in this fight—because the stakes are life-or-death.
Onward,
[[link removed]]
Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor
This Week's Must-Reads from Ms.
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The Anti-Abortion Movement Is Coming for Fertility Treatments [[link removed]] The Pathway to Recognizing the Equal Rights Amendment [[link removed]]
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This OB-GYN Was Terrified For Her Patients Who Needed Abortions. Then She Became One. [[link removed]] Biden’s 2023 Judicial Appointees Mark New Era for Diversity in Courts [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on
Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] + Spotify [[link removed]] .
This week, we’re continuing our series unpacking the litigation and criminal charges levied at former president Donald Trump: The Trump Indictments. In this episode, Dr. Goodwin is joined by Professor Anthony Michael Kreis as they discuss the status of the Georgia criminal prosecution against Trump and the allegations facing Fulton County DA Fani Willis.
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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