October 13, 2021


With so much at stake for women and for equality, Ms. will be reporting on policy initiatives and progress within Congress and the Biden-Harris administration—as well as tracking the backlash to equality. Every Wednesday, we will keep you updated, informed and ready to push forward!


Texas Law Prohibiting Mailing Abortion Pills Won’t Stop Texans Seeking Pills Online [[link removed]]

BY CARRIE BAKER | After Texas enacted a six-week abortion ban on September 1, the number of Texans visiting the website of Plan C—which provides information about how to order abortion pills online—increased over 15 times what it was five months ago.
While 2,220 Texans visited the Plan C website in April of this year, a whopping 34,996 Texans visited the website last month. “Most were from Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Fort Worth. But they were from all over, all over the state,” Plan C’s co-director Elisa Wells told Ms.
On the heels of the state’s newly-enacted abortion ban—blocked by a federal court on Oct. 6, then reinstated on Oct. 8 by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals—Governor Greg Abbott signed into law S.B. 4 making it a felony for doctors to mail abortion pills to a patient. Violating the law is a felony punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of $10,000. The law applies to abortions induced after December 1, 2021. The law applies only to doctors and explicitly exempts pregnant people from criminal penalties for ordering pills online.
Unless Texas is willing to post abortion police at every woman’s mailbox to check and intercept her mail, Texans will still have access to medication abortion online and through the mail, says Wells.
( To read the article, click here. [[link removed]] )


Read More


To Protect Afghan Girls, the Biden Administration Must Take Real Action: “No More Empty Promises” [[link removed]]

Taliban Announces Additional Government Officials—All Male, and All Members of Their Old Guard [[link removed]]

We Must Advance Maternal Health Equity in the Build Back Better Act [[link removed]]

Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk: How to Strengthen U.S. Foreign Policy Commitments for Girls [[link removed]]

Fifth Circuit Reinstates Texas Abortion Ban: “The Fight Is Far From Over” [[link removed]]

Trump’s Title X Gag Rule Reversed by HHS: “Patients Deserve Accurate and Comprehensive Information About Their Health Options” [[link removed]]

What we're reading
We know it's hard to keep up with everything going on in the world right now. That's why going forward, we'll provide a weekly roundup of the stories we think are important that Ms. may not have covered. Here's what we're reading this week:

"The US criminal justice system is failing sexual assault survivors. It needs a feminist overhaul." — The Guardian [[link removed]]
"Sri Yatun’s Escape" — The Washington Post Magazine [[link removed]]
"Here’s What It Actually Means To Cut $1 Trillion From The Democrats’ Big Social Spending Bill" — BuzzFeed News [[link removed]]

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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]] .
Dr. Goodwin is joined by former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards to discuss the dark money underwriting anti-abortion laws like Texas’s near-total abortion ban S.B. 8 and her Abortion Ban Accountability project, which is calling out corporations who fund legislators who stand against abortion rights and LGBTQ rights.
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!



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