Dear John,
As the midterms grow closer with each passing week, we’re feeling the growing urgency that undergirds this year’s elections. The issues and fundamental freedoms that are at stake are ones crucial to the bedrock of our democracy itself.
The outcome of this fall’s midterms will play a decisive role in determining whether the right to abortion remains the law of the land, or not. As we anticipate the Supreme Court will overturn Roe, our focus is on the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) — a crucial piece of federal legislation that could secure the right to abortion in the absence of Roe. The midterm elections will determine whether it has the votes to do so.
In the coming months, you can count on us to bring you the latest updates on these crucial election battles. We’re closely following key races in the states that will determine whether the WHPA can pass the Senate, whether voting rights will be restored, and whether the Equal Rights Amendment will finally be declared ratified. Along with our sister organization, the Feminist Majority Foundation, we’re here to provide resources, and make sure you know what you can do to mobilize feminists to the ballot box this November.
This week, we’re also celebrating 50 years of Title IX — the landmark federal legislation that transformed the landscape of gender equality in public education. In honor of this momentous occasion, we are celebrating its chief proponent: Patsy Takemoto Mink, who made history in so many ways as the first woman of color in congress. To learn more about Mink’s legacy — in the words of her own daughter Wendy Mink — check out the latest episode of our “On the Issues” podcast, at msmagazine.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
Finally, this past week a Department of Homeland Security report revealed elevated threats of terrorist violence in advance of the House Committee hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection, as well as two impending Court decisions on abortion rights and gun laws. We know all too well the impact that this kind of violence has had on providers of reproductive health care: we’ve seen doctors murdered, clinics torched, staff gravely injured, and countless patients in need of care turned away due to the resulting clinic closures. We cannot let this violence intimidate us.
We’re going to keep reporting — and rebelling — in the face of these threats to our democracy.
