UPenn's Vote for Equality team getting out the vote on campus!

Vote for Equality is a student-led project of the Feminist Majority focused on ensuring college students in targeted states turn out in record numbers to vote. This year, Vote for Equality is organizing in two critical states: Virginia and Pennsylvania. We have teams on 13 campuses in Virginia and 14 in Pennsylvania working tirelessly to get students to the poll!

What happens on campuses in these states won't just decide local elections, it will shape the national landscape for reproductive rights and the future of our democracy. Young voters have the power to make all the difference in these races; we just need to get them to the polls. When we activate the student vote, we win.

If you are interested in getting involved in the campaign, email Madelyn Amos at [email protected] and share the job description with students you know in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

This year, we're voting as if our lives depend on it.

Photo by Thomas Reaubourg on Unsplash

On September 23rd, during the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump slammed global efforts to address environmental crises and championed the use of fossil fuels, continuing a long pattern of dismissing scientific consensus on climate change. 

In his speech, Trump attacked renewable energy sources, calling “windmills… pathetic” and labeling the concept of a carbon footprint “a hoax.” He warned, “If you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail,” while blaming energy and immigration policies for “destroying” Europe.

Despite consensus among climate scientists, Trump declared that climate change is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” Trump blasted the U.N.’s climate efforts, saying he withdrew America from the “fake” Paris climate accord because “America was paying so much more than every country, others weren’t paying.” 

The 2015 Paris Agreement asked each country to set its own goals to lower nationwide emissions and contribute financially to countries most vulnerable to climate change. However, Trump made it clear he had no interest in supporting alternative forms of energy to decrease emissions. “I have a little standing order in the White House,” Trump said. “Never use the word ‘coal.’ Only use the words ‘clean, beautiful coal.’ Sounds much better, doesn’t it?”

Trump used his remarks to spread misinformation surrounding climate change and environmentalism, while strongly offering a marketing pitch for American fossil fuels. In dismissing climate science, Trump risked other countries following his lead and abandoning their own emission goals. Ideally, the rest of the world will seize this moment to double down on their climate pledges and sustainability plans, building momentum towards a cleaner, more resilient, and carbon-neutral future.

Photo by Getty Images

Afghanistan has been plunged into a sweeping Internet blackout once again. The Taliban first restricted internet access in mid-September 2025, banning fiber-optic (WiFi/wired) connections in some provinces, citing the need to “prevent immorality.” Local Taliban officials said the order was decreed by the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and enforced across government offices, businesses, institutions, and private homes.

Since then, connectivity has been sporadic. Today, however, the blackout is being enforced nationwide. Though the initial directives targeted only a handful of provinces, connectivity across the country collapsed dramatically, with national internet availability dropping to just 14% of ordinary levels, according to NetBlocks, a global internet monitoring organization.

“Physically pulling the plug on fibre internet would therefore also shut down mobile and fixed-line telephone services. It may turn out that disconnecting internet access while keeping phone service available will take some trial and error,” NetBlocks reported.

The shutdown has had devastating consequences for women and girls. Already barred from classrooms, many relied on online platforms as their only access to education, empowerment, and a sense of hope. As of Monday, many students who pursue online education could not be reached.

“The Internet was the only thing we had left. They took schools, universities, parks, gyms, and everything from us. Now they are taking the internet as well. I don’t know how to feel hopeful anymore,” said Beheshta, a young Afghan woman attending online classes. Another explained, “I already feel suffocated just thinking about not having the option to study and connect with my family, who are all outside the country.”

Small businesses are also suffering. Artisans, tailors, and digital entrepreneurs who relied on a stable internet for orders, marketing, and communication face skyrocketing costs for mobile data, which remains patchy and unaffordable for many. The disruption extends far beyond households, affecting banking systems, customs operations, and other essential services that rely on digital infrastructure.

Afghans fear this blackout may signal the beginning of a total internet shutdown, with mobile data next in line for surveillance and further restrictions. Speaking with Afghans, they warn that the policy will deepen inequality, block reporting on human rights violations, and entrench restrictions on women’s rights, education, and the free flow of information.

As an Afghan woman put it when speaking to us: “The Taliban has taken our schools, our jobs, our freedoms. Now they are taking the Internet, the last way we had to learn and to connect with the world.”

Afghan women call for clarity and the restoration of their basic rights, but the Taliban continues to erode them. Afghan women say it is up to the international community to exert real pressure on the regime to reverse its increasingly repressive rules.

Photo by Unsplash

EMARI PAM | SEPT 22

On September 8th, 2025 Texas State Representative Brian Harrison went on social media to post a viral video of a Texas A&M University student challenging her professor, Melissa McCoul about the legality of her course’s content of her class when discussing gender identity. As a result, Melissa McCoul, a children’s literature teacher, was terminated from Texas A&M and the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences and the head of the English department were both removed from administrative duties. 

In the viral video, the professor is heard mentioning “gender and sexuality” during a class lecture. A student interrupts, questioning whether the material is legal to teach. The student refers to a Trump executive order that recognizes only two fixed sexes and restricts the use of federal funds to “promote gender ideology.”

State Rep. Brian Harrison accused the professor of spreading “DEI and LGBTQ indoctrination,” and demanded Governor Greg Abbott to intervene. After the video went viral, the university’s president Mark Welsh decided to have all 12 colleges’ material audited. 

Rep. Brian Harrison released further previously unpublished audio from a meeting between Welsh and the student who confronted McCoul. Allegedly, in the recording, Welsh defended both the professor and the material being taught. According to NBC News, the student proposed to Welsh that the professor should be dismissed and Welsh responded, “Well, that’s not happening.”

However, as calls to terminate McCoul increased, Welsh succumbed. He removed the dean of College of Arts and Sciences and the English department head from their positions, citing their approval of material that he said violated the official course description.

The nature of the university’s firing of Professor McCoul sparked an uproar from its students, organizations, and faculty. Jonathan Friedman from PEN America stated, “the precipitous firing of this professor on top of the removal of academic leaders makes clear that academic freedom in Texas is under direct attack.” 

Gov. Greg Abbott posted on X calling for the professor’s dismissal and claimed she had acted “in contrary to Texas law.” Yet it remains unclear what law he was citing, as Texas does not currently have a statute prohibiting the teaching of LGBTQ topics in higher education.

Professor McCoul has decided to appeal her termination and pursue further legal action. McCoul’s attorney, Amanda Reichek argued that the material was fully consistent within the guidelines and that McCoul was never directed to make changes. She added that McCoul had successfully taught the course for years without issue.

The controversy surrounding McCoul’s firing has sparked broader questions about academic freedom and the role of political pressure in shaping classroom content. For many students and faculty, the case underscores what higher education is meant to be. 

One student said “We go to college to learn about new things and to engage with people and ideas that we might not necessarily have experienced or met growing up, or thought about. That’s why we’re here. Why are you at college if you don’t want to learn new things and engage with topics that are different from what you agree with normally?”

Afghan women protesting. Photo by Getty Images

As children all over the world begin a new school year this September, there is a notable population that is missing from classrooms: girls above grade 6 in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban’s return to power over four years ago, their campaign to erase women from public life has deprived almost 2.2 million girls of education. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are forbidden from accessing secondary or higher education, and safety concerns, funding cuts, and a worsening socioeconomic crisis has meant that nearly 30% of Afghan girls never even start primary school.

It is important to note that the Taliban’s policy is not reflective of public sentiment – a new UN Women report found that 92% of Afghans, including men and women in both rural and urban areas, strongly support education for girls. This is a reminder that the Taliban is exercising authoritarian control, and the gender apartheid that women and girls in Afghanistan suffer under is a result of the regime’s tyranny, not a cultural and or religious consensus as the Taliban often claims. 

The consequences of this education denial has already affected Afghan society and the impact will remain for generations to come if not corrected. The Taliban has strategically dismantled 20 years of progress in women’s rights and education, contributing to rising economic instability in the country. Unemployment has been at record highs and the systemic erasure of women from public life and in the economy has only deepened the crisis. Without an education, girls are even more vulnerable to violence, child marriage, exploitative labor, and poverty, contributing to “shorter, less healthy lives” as maternal mortality rises and women are pushed out of the formal workforce. 

Literacy is a powerful tool that empowers and enfranchises women, and the increasing illiteracy among Afghans, especially girls, will exacerbate poverty and inequality for decades to come. The Taliban’s education policies hurt both girls and boys. With quality learning replaced by narrow religious teaching and female teachers banned from teaching boys, Afghanistan’s future is being stripped away. Beyond the human toll, the education restrictions are also devastating Afghanistan’s economy, causing a $500 million loss in just 12 months after the Taliban’s takeover. 

Education access for all girls is the 4th UN Sustainable Development Goal, hoping to achieve “inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all” by 2030. Afghanistan’s status is a major setback on an issue that has seen significant global progress otherwise. Investing in girls’ education has far-reaching positive impacts, from helping address climate change to building stronger, more equitable democracies, and Afghanistan’s regression is a threat to regional and international stability and security. 

Women’s education is not only a matter of equal rights – it is a critical element of social and economic progress and is necessary for a stable, resilient society. Education is a human right that the Afghan people want for their daughters, a desire that the world has a moral and social responsibility to support.

SIGN OUR PETITION TO THE UNITED NATIONS.

Sign below to add your name to this urgent call — we're delivering this petition directly to the United Nations Secretary-General and to the President of the General Assembly to make sure our voices are heard at the highest level. Every signature shows the growing public demand for action. The more names we gather, the stronger our message will be.

António Guterres, Secretary-General,

Annalena Baerbock, President, General Assembly,

I, the undersigned, urge the United Nations to take immediate and historic action to stand with the women and girls of Afghanistan, who are living under a system of gender apartheid instituted by the Taliban regime.

Specifically, I call on the United Nations to:

1. Formally recognize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity in international law and include it in the new Crimes Against Humanity Convention.

2. Refuse recognition and prevent the Taliban from occupying Afghanistan's UN seat, as this would confer legitimacy on a regime engaged in crimes against humanity.

3. Increase humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, with priority given to women and girls as both distributors and recipients of aid.

4. Ensure Afghan women are meaningfully included in all international discussions on Afghanistan's future—political, economic, social, and humanitarian.

The Taliban has issued nearly 150 edicts systematically erasing women and girls from public life. And preventing girls and women from education, work, and taking away their freedom of movement is not only unjust—it violates their fundamental human rights under international law. 

These actions constitute systematic oppression and domination of women and girls, committed with the intention of maintaining the dominant regime, and therefore amounting to apartheid and persecution under international law.

The United Nations must act with moral clarity and legal resolve.

The eyes of the world—and the hopes of Afghan women—are upon you.

Sincerely,

Photo by Madelyn Amos

On Wednesday, September 3rd, Texas lawmakers approved a bill that would allow private citizens to sue abortion pill manufacturers, doctors, and suppliers. House Bill 7 is likely to be signed into law by anti-abortion Governor Greg Abbot, making Texas the first state in the nation to go after the most common and accessible abortion method.  

Texas already has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, prohibiting the procedure even in cases of rape or incest – a ban which has been accompanied by a 56% increase in maternal mortality and delays in care which have contributed to more dangerous miscarriages. The new law would make it incredibly difficult and risky for people in Texas to access abortion, as it empowers Texas residents to sue those who provide abortion pills to anyone in the state for up to $100,000. Although only those directly ‘injured’ by the abortion, such as the biological father, pregnant woman, and close relatives, are eligible for the whole amount, nearly anyone can sue and receive $10,000, with the rest going to charity.

Over a year after the Supreme Court ruling on Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA upheld access to abortion pills through telemedicine and pharmacies, this bill becoming law would be a major victory for anti-abortion advocates who have been attempting to crack down on medication abortion. Abortion pills have been used in the vast majority of abortions across the country, which has enabled the increase in abortion rates post-Dobbs.

Medication abortion involves taking two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, in succession, and has been approved by the FDA to end pregnancies through 10 weeks gestation. Unlike what misinformation campaigns against abortion pills have claimed, this method has proven to be safe and highly effective, with a meta-analysis of 87 clinical trials showing serious complications in less than 0.3% of patients and ongoing pregnancy in just 1.1% of patients. 

This law encourages the public to participate in a form of vigilantism against someone for their private medical decisions and poses an enormous safety risk for women during a time when they are especially vulnerable. The bill includes a statute establishing that “any person who impregnated a woman through conduct constituting sexual assault” is not eligible to sue. However, almost 98% of perpetrators of sexual violence are never held legally accountable, leading to questions about what basis will be used to determine whether or not a potential abuser can use this law to their advantage. 

This law is also threatening shield laws, which have been critical tools that states with abortion access have used to protect their providers and patients as cross-state travel to receive abortion care has increased drastically since Dobbs. While legislators in abortion access states are strengthening their shield laws, attorneys general in states with abortion restrictions are banding together to attack them.

Texas lawmakers’ approval of HB7 marks an unprecedented expansion of the state’s abortion restrictions into a tool of public enforcement, threatening the privacy, safety, and autonomy of pregnant women who already face a hostile reproductive healthcare environment. 

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