[[link removed]] Ms. Memo: This Week in Women's Rights
May 15, 2024
From the ongoing fight for abortion rights and access, to elections, to the drive for the Equal Rights Amendment, there are a multitude of battles to keep up with. In this weekly roundup, find the absolute need-to-know news for feminists.
Care Is About Democracy—And It Wins at the Ballot Box [[link removed]]
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A young girl observes as her guardian shows her the voting process on Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (Grant Baldwin / Getty Images)
BY ANNA SHIREEN WADIA | Every night, at kitchen tables around the country, families talk about care. Will their childcare center close when funding runs out? Who can take the day off from work to be with mom in the hospital when she gets her hip replacement? And who will take care of her when she comes home? The answer to these questions is usually women.
In this historically consequential year for our democracy, it is time that we champion the women in our lives—and caregivers of all genders, like the men in my own family—who are dedicated caregivers to loved ones. Because as it turns out, championing care policies not only supports families, it also wins at the ballot box—and advances democracy.
Currently, the United States is one of the only countries in the world without federally paid family and medical leave policy. Most families face limited options for affordable care—especially in rural areas, where two-thirds live in a childcare desert. People with disabilities also suffer from an ineffective system that leaves on average 700,000 on waiting lists each year for Medicaid home and community-based services.
Our country’s inadequate policies on care make it difficult for women to stay in jobs, move up career ladders and save for the future. At the same time, the workers who provide essential care and personal support to children, older adults and people with disabilities are among the lowest paid in our economy. They too are predominantly women, and are disproportionately women of color and immigrants.
To address the gap between the care families need and the dignified jobs care workers deserve, a movement has emerged like never before, building power and political muscle to demand bold public investments. As a long-time funder of this work, I’ve been inspired by the state and federal victories the care movement has achieved over the past three decades because of the organizing power of women—and want to ensure this model is amplified and becomes even stronger.
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So Goes Reproductive Freedom, So Goes Democracy [[link removed]] Abortion Bans Are Empowering Abusive Men—and Prominent ‘Pro-Life’ Activists Are Representing Them [[link removed]]
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The Arizona Abortion Ban Case Shows What ‘Let the States Decide’ Really Means [[link removed]] Texas Supreme Court Considers Taking Up Question of Whether Frozen Embryos Are People [[link removed]]
What we're reading
Because it's hard to keep up with everything going on in the world right now. Here's what we're reading this week:
*
"More
States
Are
Allowing
Child
Support
Payments
to
Reach
Children”
—
ProPublica
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"Don’t
Believe
Fearmongering
Lawsuits:
You
Can
Leave
Your
State
for
an
Abortion”
—
Jezebel
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[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]] .
In this episode, taped in front of a live audience at Georgetown Law in Washington, D.C., a panel of health and legal experts unpack what’s happening around the world—from Gaza, to Afghanistan and beyond. How can governments and NGOs best act to preserve health, enforce legal norms, and protect humanity in times of conflict, and what can we learn from the doctors and human rights advocates who have been on the ground in these situations?
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!
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