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MORE THAN A MAGAZINE, A MOVEMENT
Today at Ms. | March 19, 2025
With Today at Ms. —a daily newsletter from the team here at Ms. magazine—our top stories are delivered straight to your inbox every afternoon, so you’ll be informed and ready to fight back.
Texas Arrests Midwife and Employee for Illegal Abortions Amid State’s Strict Ban [[link removed]]
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(Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images)
By Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune | Texas’ first abortion-related arrests come after a month-long attorney general investigation, marking the first criminal charges under the state’s near-total abortion ban.
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A Challenge to the Health of Pregnant Workers—and the Health of Our Constitutional Democracy [[link removed]]
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(Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)
By Deborah Widiss | The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act enjoyed broad bipartisan support, easily passed the House, and was favorably reported out of committee in the Senate.
It did not take long, however, for attacks to ensue. The state of Texas, represented by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of PWFA because the House of Representatives had allowed members to vote for the omnibus bill by proxy.
A federal trial judge in Texas, however, held that PWFA was unconstitutional because he believed only “in person” votes could count for determining a quorum. The case is now pending before the federal appeals court for the 5th Circuit.
(This essay is a part of Ms. and A Better Balance’s Women & Democracy installment [[link removed]] , all about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act—a groundbreaking civil rights law ensuring pregnant and postpartum workers have the right to reasonable workplace accommodations. Bipartisan, pro-family and boldly feminist, the PWFA is both a lesson in democracy and a battleground for its defense against antidemocratic attacks.)
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Foreign Aid Cuts Will Lead to 34,000 More Pregnancy-Related Deaths in Just One Year [[link removed]]
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(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
By Elizabeth Sully and Amy Friedrich-Karnik | The freeze on U.S. foreign assistance funding and the subsequent stop work order has already taken an irreversible toll on global health programs, including family planning services, causing chaos across public health systems and forcing many sexual and reproductive health providers and programs to close doors permanently. Despite ongoing litigation to challenge these actions in court—including an important court victory that found this attack likely unconstitutional—most USAID partners are still waiting for government payments for work already completed. Adding to the upheaval, the administration gutted USAID staff and cancelled 83 percent of its aid contracts.
Contrary to the Trump administration’s claims, cutting foreign aid for reproductive health is not a fiscal gain, but a significant step backward.
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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]] .
As we reckon with an administration hostile to equal rights, feminists will continue to fight. To help keep hope, we must remember and celebrate recent wins.
One of those wins is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect on June 27, 2023. This is a landmark piece of legislation that prohibits discrimination and ensures workplace accommodations related to pregnancy for workers. But is the PWFA safe, or will it be threatened by the Trump administration’s crusade against reproductive rights and justice?
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