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Weekly Digest
Letter from an Editor | May 10, 2025
Dear John,
It’s difficult to celebrate Mother’s Day this year without thinking of all the ways mothers and their families in this country are under attack right now. Trump and the Republican-dominated Congress continue to propose massive budget cuts to life-sustaining programs under the guise of “cutting waste and fraud.” As we reported earlier this week, a sweeping budget bill moving quickly through the House threatens to make draconian cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—two of the nation’s most vital lifelines for women and children.
These programs aren’t luxuries—they’re essential supports for millions of people. Medicaid provides healthcare for nearly 87 million people, especially older women in nursing homes, pregnant women (41 percent of all births in the U.S. are covered under the Medicaid insurance program), and children. SNAP provides food assistance to more than 42 million people, primarily women and their children—funding school breakfasts and lunches, groceries and emergency food aid.
A silver lining to all this is that these attacks aren’t going unnoticed—and they’re hurting Trump’s standing in public opinion. Voters in battleground states and districts are concerned about the proposed cuts to Medicaid, according to a new report from the Republican polling firm Meeting Street Insights. Voters across parties and demographic lines are all more likely to believe that cutting Medicaid is a bad idea, including nearly three-quarters of women respondents (compared to 60 percent of men). Members of Congress who back Trump’s cuts should take heed—over half of battleground voters say they would be less likely to vote for a Congressperson who supports the cuts.
All this just goes to show that Trump’s proposals for supporting women are superficial. His “baby bonus” would offer $5,000 cash incentives for families who have children—but the proposal says nothing about covering the costs of prenatal care and delivery, much less supporting those families once the babies are born.
If the Administration wants to give cash incentives, there’s an effective way to do that: guaranteed income programs like the Magnolia Mothers Trust give low-income moms the breathing room they need to support their kids and achieve their goals. “With the year I’m getting support from the Trust, I want to be able to supply my kids with what they need as they grow,” writes Jasmine, one of the mothers receiving money from MMT, in Ms .’s Front and Center series. “I want to plan family trips and do things together that we haven’t been able to do because of a lack of funds. Most of all, I want to build up savings.”
If you care for the mothers in your life—whether you call her mother, or she’s an aunt, a grandmother, a family friend, a teacher or mentor, a neighbor—here’s one gift you can give this year: speak out against the policies that will hurt them. Join the voices of millions of women who are taking to the streets in protest, calling their representatives, showing up to town halls and speaking out in whatever way they can. Our voices are louder when we join them together.
For equality, for every mother,
[[link removed]]
Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor
P.S. — Looking for a last-minute Mother’s Day gift for the women who’ve been instrumental in your life? Give the gift of Ms.— For a limited time, you can give her a year of Ms. for just 20 dollars—43 percent off normal price. [[link removed]] Is your mom already a Ms. member? Give her the gift of a feminist statement—check out our new additions to the Ms. Store [[link removed]] .
This Week's Must-Reads from Ms.
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Critical Programs for Women and Families Face Deep Cuts in House Budget Bill [[link removed]] Yes, America Should Make It Easier to Have Kids—But Trump Wants to Punish Childless and Single Women [[link removed]]
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I’m a Single Mom Raising Three Kids. A Year of Guaranteed Income Gave Us Breathing Room. [[link removed]] Motherhood’s Dirty Secret? Sometimes It Feels Like Hate. [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on
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Despite persistent obstacles—from intergenerational pay inequity and earning just 63.7 cents for every dollar made by a white guy for the same work, to constant surveillance and doubt—Black women consistently excel in their chosen fields and rise to leadership positions. In this episode, we’re joined by powerful Black women in leadership to discuss the glass ceilings, glass cliffs, pink ghettos, and other obstacles they’ve faced—and the strategies they’ve used to triumph against the odds.
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!
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