[[link removed]] | FEB 2025
WELCOME TO OUR MONTHLY
Feminist Majority Political Report
HERE'S THE BEST FROM THE FEMINIST NEWS WIRE
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FROM THE DESK OF ELLIE SMEAL
Every day brings more shocking and depressing news. Today, rumors swirl that the Trump administration is slashing 65% of the Environmental Protection Agency’s staff. Yesterday, USAID was blocked from combating a rising Ebola outbreak overseas, and reports emerged of a potential measles outbreak in Texas.
Meanwhile, the State Department has ordered the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts to prepare for closure by April 2025—despite the 200,000 Afghan refugees who were promised and approved for asylum from the Taliban.
And in yet another blow, a New York OBGYN has been indicted for sending abortion pills to a patient in Louisiana.
But public opinion polls from Reuters, Gallup, Washington Post/IPSOS, and CNN have kept hope alive. Only 40% of Americans approve of the job he’s doing. A majority—57%—believe he has already exceeded his authority. 59% of Americans oppose the closing of USAID. And only 14% support his most brazen move yet— pardoning the violent offenders of the January 6th insurrection.
We are still the majority. A majority that believes in democracy. That believes in reproductive freedom, the Equal Rights Amendment, voting rights, and a government that serves all of us.
But the majority only wins if we fight back. That means showing up, organizing, and making our voices heard—at the ballot box, in the streets, and in our communities.
We must win elections starting in Virginia in 2025 for governor and the House of Delegates. We must also secure victories in Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court elections, the special elections for the U.S. House of Representatives, and ultimately, the critical 2026 Congressional races.
We can do this.
For equality and with determination,
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Ellie Smeal, President
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Plan to Shut Down Afghan Resettlement Office Leaves Thousands of Afghan Allies in Limbo
MAKHFI AZIZI | FEBRUARY 19
The U.S. State Department has ordered the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) to prepare for closure by April 2025, a decision that has raised significant concern among advocates and Afghans awaiting resettlement.
The decision affects some 200,000 individuals, including family members of Afghan-American U.S. military personnel, minors awaiting reunification with their families, and Afghans who supported the U.S. mission throughout the two-decade engagement in Afghanistan. This includes women-led households, human rights defenders and advocates among the first to face persecution by the Taliban.
If the office shuts down, thousands of Afghan allies will be left vulnerable and in danger – both those who are already in third countries awaiting resettlement and those still inside Afghanistan.
CARE was established in August 2021 during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and was tasked with relocating Afghans at risk of Taliban retaliation because of their association with the U.S. government. The office has facilitated the resettlement of 195,000 individuals from Afghanistan.
Shawn VanDiver, co-founder of #AfghanEvac, a coalition advocating and coordinating resettlements with the U.S. government, stated, “We don’t leave people behind. If they make this decision, it would be a wholesale betrayal of our Afghan allies, our veterans, and America’s word. It’s not too late to stop this – but only if we speak out NOW. These are the most vetted refugees who come to the U.S. It is safe and legal. They were welcomed here. Ninety percent of the American public supports this.”
Opponents of Afghan relocation cite security concerns, but the #AfghanEvac and other allies argue that Afghans are “the most vetted” refugees, arriving in the U.S. through strictly “legal” channels. Hundreds of advocates, organizations, and leaders condemned the move, warning that it reneges on the U.S. commitment to its Afghan allies.
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Trump Labels Discussions of Race, Gender and Sexuality in School as “Radical Indoctrination”
MARISA CONNERS | FEBRUARY 11
In his first month in office, President Trump signed an executive order entitled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” which restricts discussions on race, gender, and LGBTQ+ issues in public schools. Instead, schools are directed to focus on “patriotic education,” which should be grounded in “an accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of America’s founding and foundational principles.”
This order is inherently hypocritical, as an accurate and honest account of American history will not necessarily be ennobling. In short, learning about history does not, and should not, always make students feel good. This order blames schools for indoctrinating children and preventing them from using critical thinking skills. It also bans the teaching of victim and oppressor identities based on skin color and other characteristics, specifying that schools may not teach students to feel responsible for actions committed in the past by members of their identity group.
Trump’s order goes on to name white privilege and unconscious bias as concepts that promote racial discrimination and violate anti-discrimination civil rights law. These concepts fall under the category of “discriminatory equity ideology,” a term used in this executive order to describe the practice of being aware of systems of oppression and the effects of privilege on oneself and others.
By issuing guidelines for conversations around discrimination, Trump is attempting to erase discussions of difference, privilege and power because it benefits the perpetuation of oppressive systems. Certain language in this executive order is designed to cater to parental rights activists, a socially conservative movement aimed at giving parents more oversight in schools, particularly regarding reading material, transgender students and discussion of race, sexuality, and gender identity.
Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” directs various officials to provide an Ending Indoctrination Strategy to the president so he can terminate federal funding to schools that engage in “discriminatory treatment and indoctrination,” including “discriminatory equity ideology.” Typically, 13.7% of public school funding comes from the federal government.
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The SAVE Act: A Voter Suppression Tactic Disguised as Election Integrity
STELLA ADAMS | FEBRUARY 7
Under the guise of “election integrity,” new federal legislation threatens to create unnecessary barriers to voting. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21) introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, H.R. 22 in early January, with a vote expected in the coming weeks. This legislation is yet another attempt to suppress the votes of marginalized communities by imposing burdensome documentation requirements for voter registration. It is important to recognize this bill as a direct attack on the democratic process and the fundamental right of all Americans to participate, especially communities of color.
The SAVE Act seeks to amend the National Voter Registration Act by requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration in federal elections. In practice, this policy creates disproportionate barriers for historically disenfranchised communities. Many U.S. citizens, particularly people of color, low-income individuals, and women, do not possess the required documentation and face significant challenges in obtaining it.
Studies have shown that approximately 11% of Americans of color lack ready access to citizenship documents, compared to about 8% of white Americans. Additionally, research has found that nearly 9% of voting-age African Americans lack access to birth certificates and passports, compared to 5.5% of white Americans. Women who have changed their names often encounter bureaucratic hurdles when updating identification documents, making the registration process even more difficult.
This legislation is part of a broader strategy that exploits fear and misinformation to justify restrictive voting laws. Despite repeated studies debunking the myth of widespread non-citizen voting, supporters of the SAVE Act continue to push false claims to justify disenfranchising millions of Americans. The consequences of similar laws in states like Kansas demonstrate the harm that would be replicated nationwide. When Kansas implemented a proof-of-citizenship requirement, more than 31,000 otherwise eligible voters were blocked from registering, with the burden falling disproportionately on people of color and the elderly. If enacted at the federal level, the SAVE Act could prevent millions of eligible voters from participating in elections.
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Pennsylvania State ERA Could Reshape the State's Medicaid Abortion Coverage
MARISA CONNERS | FEBRUARY 6
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania re-heard a civil case against the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. The case, Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services , represents a decades-long fight by reproductive health organizations to remove Medicaid restrictions on abortion funding.
Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides coverage for low income individuals and families who meet certain eligibility requirements. Medicaid helps ensure access to essential healthcare services for those who might not otherwise afford them -- especially reproductive healthcare as low-income individuals experience higher rates of unintended pregnancies and abortion than those with higher incomes. Additionally, research shows that those who are denied abortions are more likely to experience poverty than people who receive them.
The Abortion Control Act was enacted in Pennsylvania in 1982, which banned Medicaid from covering abortion care except in the cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother. That same year, appellants filed Fischer v. Department of Public Welfare , challenging the constitutionality of the Medicaid ban because it violated the Pennsylvania Equal Rights Amendment. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld the Medicaid Ban in 1985.
34 years later, Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services was filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Their arguments stated that there is precedent for allowing state Medicaid funds to cover abortion beyond the three exceptions, that there is no “parallel exclusion of coverage” for men” and that pregnancy and childbirth expenses are covered under this program even though they are more expensive than an abortion.
Regardless, the court upheld the Medicaid ban, leading the various healthcare providers to file the case with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court determined that providers had standing to pursue claims. It also provided new standards for evaluating discrimination claims. Finally, it sent the case back to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania so the appropriate standards could be applied.
In its January 2024 verdict, the PA Supreme Court established that the ERA applies to abortion restrictions, a major win for the feminist movement. A particularly important line of the decision reads, “the right to reproductive autonomy, like other privacy rights, is fundamental.”
The PA Supreme Court declared that the Medicaid coverage exclusion “treats the fundamental right to reproductive autonomy non-neutrally” because pregnant people seeking an abortion are not provided with funding, in contrast to pregnant people who are planning to carry their pregnancy to term. This implies that the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania will rule in favor of Allegheny Reproductive Health Center and the other providers. However, it could take months for the judges to publish a decision.
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Louisiana Indicts New York Doctor For Mailing Abortion Pills
AVA SLOCUM | FEBURARY 3
In the first case of its kind since the removal of Roe v. Wade , a Louisiana grand jury has indicted Dr. Maggie Carpenter, the New York OB-GYN who mailed abortion pills to a Louisiana patient. Carpenter was also previously sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for prescribing abortion pills via telehealth to a Texas woman.
On Jan. 31, Louisiana indicted Dr. Carpenter and issued an arrest warrant on charges of “criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs,” a felony punishable in Louisiana by up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 of fines and the loss of a medical license.
New York, Dr. Carpenter’s home state, has shield laws in place to protect telehealth abortion providers who send medication abortion to out-of-state patients. According to a statement from Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, “The criminalization of abortion care is a direct and brazen attack on Americans’ bodily autonomy and their right to reproductive freedom.”
The Louisiana jury indicted Dr. Carpenter for mailing medication abortion to a teenage girl in the state. District attorney Tony Clayton has claimed that the girl’s mother “coerced” her into the abortion, even though the indictment includes no mention of “coerced abortion,” Clayton said that the mother has been taken into custody.
Since Dobbs , Louisiana has had a near-total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. State Attorney General Liz Murrill stated on social media: “It is illegal to send abortion pills into this state and it’s illegal to coerce another into having an abortion,” she said. “I have said it before and I will say it again: We will hold individuals accountable for breaking the law.”
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STUDENT ACTIVIST PROFILE: MARISA CONNERS
[[link removed]] School: Gettysburg College
Major: Public Policy and Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies double major
What has been a standout moment for you in your feminist activism?
A standout moment for me was attending the People's March in January, where I saw people advocating for many causes in solidarity with each other, regardless of their primary reason for attending. It reinforced the idea that feminist progress must involve progress on related issues, including queer rights, climate action, immigrants' rights, anti-militarism, and economic equity.
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Join us at the 2025 National Young Feminist Leadership Conference!
Hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation [[link removed]] , the 2025 National Young Feminist Leadership Conference brings together student activists to build collective power and share strategies of resistance, grow knowledge about critical domestic and global feminist issues, learn hands-on grassroots organizing tactics, and mobilize for political gain. Every day, the threats to our basic human rights intensify. Now more than ever, it is so important for us to connect and strategize with other feminist activists and strengthen our community. Our collective power is unstoppable.
Being at a conference with hundreds of other young activists is an indescribable feeling. It’s the recognition that we are a part of something big, a community of dedicated students working for justice across the country and the world. It’s a reminder that young people are powerful beyond measure. And it’s the energy we need to carry our movement forward.
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