(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

The post In Norfolk, Va., Parents and Community Members Took Children’s Education and Safety Into Their Own Hands appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

The weight of society’s expectations of working moms on a normal day is crushing. As the mother of two young children, an attorney fighting for due process for immigrants in the second Trump administration and a clinical law professor, I know this firsthand.

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Project 2026 lays out a government redesigned to control women’s bodies, erase LGBTQ+ lives, dismantle civil rights protections and roll back decades of hard-won progress. Wrapped in the language of “family,” “sovereignty” and “restoring America,” it is a direct attempt to impose a narrow, rigid ideology on an entire nation.

Make no mistake: This is a plan for forced motherhood, government-policed gender and the end of women’s equality as we know it.

But Project 2026 is not destiny. It is a warning—and one we must answer with the full force of a movement that has never accepted a future written for us by someone else.

The post Project 2026 Declares Open War on Women’s Rights appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

This week:
—137 women and girls are killed by intimate partners or family members every day.
—Congress votes overhwlemingly to force the Justice Department to release their Epstein files.
—Donald Trump snaps at women journalists: "Quiet, piggy" and "you are an obnoxious—a terrible, actually a terrible reporter."
—Violence against trans women remains high.
—DACA recipients are being targeted and detained under the Trump administration.
—Higher-income college students often receive more financial support than they need, while low-income students struggle.
—Tierra Walker died from preeclampsia in Texas after being repeatedly denied an abortion.
—Viola Ford Fletcher died at age 111. She was the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. 
—North Dakota’s total abortion ban was reinstated after the state’s Supreme Court reversed a temporary injunction from a lower court. There are now 13 states with total bans.

… and more.

The post Keeping Score: 137 Women Are Killed by Partners or Family Per Day; Bipartisan Push for Epstein Files; Trans Day of Remembrance and Native Women’s Equal Pay Day appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

However, here in the U.S., caregiving takes on a very different form, even for families raised on the belief that caring for another is simply what we do.

The post Caregiving Is Extremely Difficult in America. It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way. appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

Before Walmart, Todd, pregnant now with her fourth child, worked for $8.35 an hour at McDonald's. Walmart's $10 hourly wage was better. In the beginning she worked roughly 40 hours a week, but since May her weekly hours have been reduced to between 16 and 28, earning her no more than $900 a month. The loss in income coincided with a cut to the family's monthly food-stamps benefit from $339 down to $239—the lowest she's ever received—because a temporary boost to the program in the stimulus bill was allowed to expire Nov. 1, 2013.

"The food stamps, they help, but it's not enough because I can't feed my family," she says.

[From the Spring 2014 issue of Ms.]

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Together, the early data from this week's elections paints a clear picture: Women voters were the decisive force in the 2025 elections, driving sweeping Democratic victories across key states. Women turned out at higher rates than men and made up a majority of voters. Support for women’s rights, reproductive freedom, gender equality and fair immigration policies powered a Democratic sweep this election season.

Historic gender gaps reshaped the political landscape:
—In Virginia, 65 percent of women voted for Democrat Abigail Spanberger for governor, compared to just 48 percent of men, a 17-point gender gap. 
—In New Jersey, women backed Democrat Mikie Sherrill by 62 percent, compared with 49 percent of men, a 13-point gap that proved decisive in her win. 

The post Election Results: Historic Gender Gaps Shape 2025 Outcomes in Virginia, New Jersey and Beyond appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

This week:
—Doctors push back against Trump's dangerous claims that Tylenol in pregnancy increases the risk of autism.
—The U.S. entered a government shutdown, affecting millions of federal workers.
—Sean "Diddy" Combs was sentenced to four years in prison.
—Zoologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall died at age 91.
—University of California students and faculty are suing the Trump administration for violating free speech rights.
—Student activists are stepping up to get around birth control bans on campus.
—Louisiana admits non-citizens voting is not a systemic problem.
—The ACLU and religious freedom organizations are suing to block 14 more Texas school districts from implementing a law requiring classrooms to display Ten Commandments posters.

… and more.

The post Keeping Score: Trump’s Dangerous Claims About Tylenol; Government Shutdown Begins; Diddy’s Four-Year Sentence appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

Other pending changes that FitzSimons is expecting will take the shape of denying SNAP to the few immigrants who were previously eligible for benefits, such as asylum seekers, refugees and international survivors of domestic violence.

"We are working at the state and federal levels and are collecting stories of different people who will be directly impacted by the cuts—the grandmother who relies on SNAP and helps watch her grandchildren while her daughter is at work; disabled people who use SNAP to support their independence; and older adults who are no longer able to work. We share their stories because we know that the real experiences of real people are critical in helping lawmakers and others understand who benefits from SNAP."

"Every dollar spent on SNAP generates up to $1.80 in economic activity at the community level during economic downturns."

The post Cuts to Lifesaving Hunger Aid Could Impact Millions: ‘Our President and Congress Think Budget Cuts Will Help People Achieve Self-Sufficiency. They Won’t.’ appeared first on Ms. Magazine.