Dear John,

Less than two weeks out from the election, at a Friday rally in Houston, Texas centered on abortion rights, Beyoncé appeared alongside Kamala Harris. Why Houston? Well, if you’re a frequent reader of these letters, you probably know that Texas is the site of the most severe abortion ban in the country. The Texas abortion ban starts at the moment of fertilization and has no exceptions for rape, incest, or health of the woman. As a result, in Texas, women have died and many have come close to death as a result of these bans—and it’s still happening today. 

Colin Allred, who’s hoping to upset Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz in the Senate race, also joined Harris on stage, helping highlight Cruz’s role with Trump in the dismantling of abortion rights. 

One group that will be a decisive force on election day is young voters. In the last three elections, young voters played a pivotal role—and they stand to do so again in 2024, with more than 40 million Gen Zers eligible to vote, 20 percent of whom are first-time voters. In the latest installment of our “Women & Democracy” platform, “The Youth Vote is Essential to Democracy,” we explore their ideas and perspectives—in their own words. (Explore the essays, videos and more here.) And I encourage you to listen to our latest Ms. Studios podcast The Z Factor—where in the first episode, our Gen Z correspondent Anoushka Chander is joined by Harvard Youth Poll chair Anil Cacodcar to delve into the question: What do young voters want?

The results of the latest Harvard Youth Poll, which came out Friday, show overwhelming support for Harris among youth—she leads Trump by 28 points across gender lines, with the lead jumping to 30 points among women voters. But whether or not young voters actually cast their ballot could depend more on their friends than their politics: per the poll, 79 percent “plan to vote when they believe their friends will, compared to just 35 percent when they think their peers won't participate.”

In this election year, while the presidential contest may be dominating the news, ballot measures and down-ballot races also have a massive impact on abortion access. I’d encourage you to look into your state and local candidates, measures and propositions, including state supreme court races.

And finally, on Friday, President Biden issued a formal apology for the U.S. government’s role in running hundreds of residential schools that were designed to systematically assimilate Native children and strip them of their language and culture, and that killed hundreds of children from 1819 up until 1969. This marks the first time a U.S. president has apologized for this horrific period of U.S. history. “I believe it is important that we do know there were generations of native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know, with people they never met, who spoke a language they had never heard,” Biden said, adding that “no apology can or will make up for what was lost during the darkness of the federal boarding school policy.”

And just a reminder — if you haven’t yet, make a voting plan!

Onward,

Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor

Listen to the latest Ms. Studios podcast The Z Factor: Gen Z's Voice & Vote — now on Apple Podcasts + Spotify.

In the opening episode of The Z Factor, host Anoushka Chander—a student at Harvard, a Ms. Studios intern and a Gen Zer herself—wants to level-set by learning a bit about Generation Z as a whole. What are they thinking about? What do they care about? She dives into some good old-fashioned polling—with help from guest Anil Cacodcar, student chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project, which has been conducting the leading biannual poll of young Americans in the country for over two decades.

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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