In a historic victory for feminist policies, the Build Back Better Act passed the House of Representatives Friday morning by a vote of 220-213. The Act will invest billions in helping women, families, and the environment. 

The Taliban intelligence directorate asked school teachers in the Herat province to fill out a form to specify their religious identity, as well as their home address, duty station, and contact information last week.  This religious identification requirement caused panic among the Shia minorities living in the Herat province, some of whom strongly opposed the action.

On Wednesday, November 17, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Robin Kelly, and Rep Katie Porter in the House and Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Patty Murray in the Senate introduced the Access to Birth Control Act to ensure that customers attempting to access birth control at pharmacies cannot be turned away.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that Americans, by a large majority, think that the Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade, and, by a similar margin, oppose SB8, the Texas abortion ban that was implemented in September.

With a lack of Supreme Court action to block the most restrictive abortion ban in history, Texas abortion advocates are looking to a district court for relief.

On Wednesday, a state district judge heard arguments from abortion providers and advocates to block enforcement of Texas Senate Bill 8, the most restrictive abortion ban in the country. For the first time, a judge was tasked to formally rule on the merits of the law and the constitutionality of the ban under both the Texas and U.S. Constitutions. Judge David Peeples of the 98th Judicial District Court in Travis County is expected to rule on the decision soon.

On Monday, November 15th, President Biden will sign the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the long-awaited bipartisan infrastructure bill, into law. 

Last week, bodies of four Afghan women’s activists were discovered in Mazar-i-Sharif, northern Afghanistan. One of the victims was identified as Frozan Safi, a 30-year-old activist and private university economics lecturer. According to Safi’s family, she left her home on October 27 after she received an anonymous call asking her to collect her documents because they would take her abroad. Frozan was expecting a call as she was waiting to leave the country, her request for asylum in Germany was in progress. Her body, along with the bodies of three other women were found in a pit near the Khalid ibn al-Walid town in Mazar-i-Sharif. “

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard two procedural challenges to SB8, Texas’s six-week abortion ban that was enacted on September 1. The Court heard both United States v. Texas and Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, both challenging the law.