Dear John,

On Thursday night, I was glued to the television, watching Biden's State of the Union speech. If you missed it, here are some of the feminist highlights. 

President Biden called on Congress to restore Roe v. Wade. “In the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court wrote the following, and with all due respect, justices, ‘Women are not without electoral or political power.’” Biden continued: “You’re about to realize just how much you were right about that.”

“Clearly, those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women, but they found out… when reproductive freedom was on the ballot, we won in 2022 and… we’ll win again in 2024.”

Biden also condemned the Alabama Supreme Court decision on IVF and urged the Congress to pass a nationwide bill to protect IVF, and warned against Republicans’ attempt to pass a nationwide ban on abortion. 

As the President talked, he drew attention to the First Lady Jill Biden’s SOTU guests Kate Cox and Latorya Beasley. Cox is at the center of a Texas case that emerged after she was denied an emergency abortion; and Beasley’s IVF embryo transfer was abruptly canceled after the Alabama Supreme Court put IVF access on pause. In a press release prior to the speech, the Biden Administration highlighted the actions Republican elected officials are taking to put the lives of even more women like Cox and Beasley in danger. 

In a move to draw attention to what they called the “horrific and cascading consequences of Republicans’ anti-abortion crusade,” Senate Democrats invited as their guests to the speech abortion clinic directors and providers, moms who relied on in-vitro fertilization, and women who were forced to travel out of state to obtain life-saving abortions due to bans in their states. 

“When I was 18 weeks pregnant with my second child, the anatomy scan revealed our son Brooks had several fatal fetal anomalies. With Roe overturned and Idaho’s trigger law going into effect just days before finding out about our son’s condition, we were forced to seek help outside of Idaho,” said Kayla Smith, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)’s guest at a press conference earlier in the day.

Also attending as guests of democratic House members, who wore white to show support for reproductive rights and women’s equality, were Amanda Zurawski, the Texas woman who almost died after being denied an abortion; Dr. Caitlyn Bernarnd, the Ohio OB-GYN who came under fire for providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim; and Brittney Watts, the Ohio woman who was prosecuted for having a miscarriage. Dr. Austin Dennard, a Texas OB-GYN suing Texas after being forced to travel for an abortion; and Dr. Damla Karsan, another Texas OB-GYN who was set to perform Kate Cox’s emergency abortion until a court vacated the order, also attended as guests. 

Yesterday we celebrated International Women’s Day. I encourage you to check out Dr. Sima Samar’s latest report on the situation for women in Afghanistan, in which she warns against the normalization of the Taliban—which she says is deeply dangerous for Afghan women and girls.

At a time when women’s rights are under attack—both in the U.S. and abroad—Ms. is committed to keeping you informed about the many ongoing fights for gender equality and reproductive rights. (And check out a preview of our Spring issue, where we delve into many of the most important topics of the day, below!)

Onward,

Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor

Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on

Apple Podcasts + Spotify.

This week, we’re continuing our series, “The Trump Indictments,” which unpacks the litigation and criminal charges levied at former president Donald Trump. In this episode, Dr. Goodwin brings us up to speed on the Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate the former President on the Colorado ballot. Professor Anthony Michael Kreis also returns to discuss what’s been happening in Washington, D.C. and what comes next in at least one of Trump’s trials.
 

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. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.

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