Right now, we face critical challenges to women's equality, both in the U.S. and around the world—but it can be hard to keep up. In this weekly roundup, find the absolute need-to-know news for feminists.

BY KATHY SPILLAR | In a few short months, we face the likelihood the Supreme Court will overturn Roe. Already, 2021 was the worst year for abortion rights in half a century. In Texas, abortion has already been virtually outlawed for almost five months. And now the Supreme Court has issued yet another decision that will ensure S.B. 8 will remain the law in Texas for months to come.

 

The silver lining of this fraught era for reproductive rights seems to be that a large swath of Americans who oppose overturning Roe v. Wade will be motivated to vote in the midterm elections this fall. Polls show that abortion is increasingly becoming a decisive factor for voters—particularly young women voters.

 

Abortion bans have been labeled “the new Jane Crow,” for they “[ensure] a permanent underclass for pregnant women,” according to Lynn Paltrow of National Advocates for Pregnant Women. But we must not forget the original Jim Crow—the series of discriminatory laws that relegated Black Americans to second-class status—nor can we stop reckoning with its legacy. The Senate attempted to do exactly that last week, in an effort to advance the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act and revamp the filibuster. But ultimately, an anti-democracy bloc of Republican senators, joined by two Democrats, blocked both measures.

 

Of course, the way to truly protect reproductive freedom is twofold: Increase voter power and mobilization, and  secure women’s full legal equality under the Constitution with the Equal Rights Amendment.

 

I know you’re frustrated. Me too. But we must remember the words of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “Don’t agonize. Organize. (And you can start by adding your name to the “We Have Had Abortions” petition.) 

 

(Click here to read more)

In its 1972 preview issue, Ms. magazine ran a bold petition in which 53 well-known U.S. women declared that they had undergone abortions—despite laws in most states rendering the procedure illegal. We know it is time again.

 

Today in Texas, abortion has been outlawed for the vast majority of women and girls. And in a few short months, the Supreme Court is likely to rule in a case that is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and will impact abortion access nationwide.

 

Add your name to the petition.

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