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(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

By Destiny Lopez, Jamila Perritt and Kirsten Moore | On Jan. 14, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing deceptively titled “Protecting Women: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs.” Rather than offering new evidence or legitimate oversight, the hearing played out exactly as reproductive health experts warned: a partisan exercise in recycling debunked claims, elevating junk science and laying the groundwork for further restrictions on the most commonly used abortion medication in the United States.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a senior member and former chair of the HELP Committee, dismantled the premise of the hearing, calling out Republicans for using the committee to advance a political agenda rather than public health: “We all know this hearing is not about safety—it’s about banning abortion nationwide.”

Murray criticized attempts to weaponize environmental laws to restrict mifepristone, calling the argument that abortion pills contaminate drinking water “insane,” and said antiabortion lawmakers are targeting medication abortion precisely because it remains accessible, despite sweeping abortion bans.

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(Courtesy of the Workers Defense Project)

By Dayana Cruz Estudillo | The hotel had become a place where women endured hellish conditions and were expected to stay silent. They decided to break that silence.

More than 70 percent of hotel housekeepers in the United States are women. Their labor is the backbone of an industry that markets comfort but often denies dignity to those who create it. At Sonesta Select Austin North, the women who knew every hallway, every cart and every stain were treated as if they were disposable. What they experienced is a common issue when those doing the hardest work have the least power.

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

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 (Clockwise from top left: Courtesy of the Barnica family, via ProPublica; courtesy of the Graham family, via ProPublica; Andrea Ellen Reed / ProPublica; Danielle Villasana / ProPublica; Courtesy of Pinnington Funeral Services; Courtesy of the Graham family, via ProPublica)

By Roxanne Szal | When 34-year-old North Carolina police officer Ciji Graham—newly pregnant—went to a cardiologist on Nov. 14, 2023, with a dangerously fast heart rate, doctors declined to provide standard, lifesaving treatment for her atrial fibrillation and sent her home. Despite expert consensus that cardioversion is safe during pregnancy, multiple physicians delayed care—a hesitation specialists say is increasingly shaped by gaps in training and fear surrounding abortion restrictions.

As Graham’s symptoms worsened, she tried to end her pregnancy to protect her health but faced delays and barriers in a state with tightened abortion laws and a fragmented medical system. She died days later from a cardiac arrhythmia—a death multiple experts told ProPublica was preventable and emblematic of how abortion bans and medical uncertainty are costing pregnant women their lives.

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Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin, at MsMagazine.com, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

2025 was a harrowing year for many families. The Trump administration’s budget cuts are giving tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of funding healthy meals for students experiencing food insecurity; legislatures are banning books and attacking LGBTQ+ students; and immigration crackdowns are leaving many students afraid to go to school at all. Families have had a lot to be worried about—more than just tests and grades—this year. What are students, parents, and teachers worried about—and what policies are advocates watching?

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