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(L: Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, Facebook. R: Jeff Kowalsky / AFP via Getty Images)

By Livia Follet | In 2017, Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D) decided to run for office in Michigan, largely in response to the 2016 election. Today, she’s an advocate for reproductive freedoms in the state.

In February, Pohutsky spoke to hundreds of her constituents gathered at the steps of the Michigan Capitol as a part of the 50501 Movement, a national organization aiming to coordinate 50 protests in 50 states on the same day against the Trump administration’s attack on democracy. 

“The protest itself was really incredible. I think a lot of us didn’t know what to expect. … It was really cold. It was during a work day, and the turnout was incredible. There were a lot of people here. They were very engaged. They were very involved. And that made me feel really hopeful about where we are as a state going forward,” said Pohutsky. 

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(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

By Emily Callaci | Margaret Prescod, co-founder of Black Women for Wages for Housework, knew that raising children is hard work and that women on welfare are among society’s hardest workers. In a newsletter printed up by Prescod and Wilmette Brown and handed out at the 1977 National Women’s Conference in Houston, they wrote, “We don’t need more work. We need more money to work less.”

And after several days of lobbying, bolstered by support from delegates from several Southern states, the National Plan of Action ratified by the conference included a plank labeled Women, Welfare, and Poverty, which stated: “We support increased federal funding for income transfer programs. And just as with other workers, homemakers receiving payments should be afforded the dignity of having that payment called a wage, not welfare.”

The demand encapsulated in the Women, Welfare, and Poverty plank of the Plan of Action—the result of lobbying and organizing by Black, working-class and poor women—was perhaps the most visionary proposal to come out of the conference.

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(Win McNamee / Getty Images)

By Michelle François | Betrayal would be the simplest way to describe the Trump administration’s open disregard for the Department of Education and its Office for Civil Rights. A betrayal of the department’s initial mission to advance education equity, a betrayal of the vital oversight the department was built to provide, and—perhaps worst of all—a betrayal of the countless students, families, and communities who continue to entrust the department to respect and protect students’ rights and well-being.

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

Apple Podcasts + Spotify.

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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