The Week in Women
Supreme Court rules mifepristone can stay available (for now), anti-trans bills, Veteran Affairs abortion rule protected
Hi readers, and welcome to The Week in Women, a rundown of this week’s major women’s rights stories from around the world. Here we go!
On Friday night, the US Supreme Court ruled to keep mifepristone widely available, at least for now. The Court blocked an unprecedented order from a right-wing judge in Texas seeking to revoke the FDA’s approval of the medication abortion drug. However, the threat to medication abortion is far from over, as the Supreme Court did not permanently protect FDA approval of the drug.
The US Senate rejected an effort to reverse a Veterans Affairs rule expanding access to abortion. The rule, which was instituted last year, lifts the VA’s long-standing ban on abortion, allowing veterans to access care in cases of rape, incest, and to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.
A Washington Post investigation found that Matthew Kacsmaryk — the federal judge in Texas who ordered the FDA revoke its approval of a medication abortion pill — failed to disclose to the Senate during his nomination process his involvement with an article criticizing protections for those seeking abortion care and for transgender communities. This calls into questions the ethics around his nomination.
UN officials announced they made the “devastating” decision to leave Afghanistan in May if the Taliban does not allow Afghan women to work for local UN agencies. Officials have been in negotiations with the Taliban to create an exception to a mandate barring women from working for aid organizations. This is only the latest in a series of horrible setbacks for women’s rights in the country since the Taliban retook power.
The Republican led US House of Representatives passed a ban prohibiting transgender athletes who were assigned male at birth from participating on women and girls sports teams. The bill is unlikely to move any further forward because the Democratic majority Senate will not support it. The move comes after almost 20 state legislatures have passed similar restrictions on trans athletes at the school and college levels.
Ahead of the women’s World Cup this summer, Canada’s women’s soccer team and former players are demanding pay equity and greater support from the country’s soccer federation. The team is calling out the disparity in resources between the men and women’s teams, including funding for training and staffing.
LGBTQ Ugandans have begun to flee the country after the Parliament passed anti-LGBTQ legislation that criminalizes same-sex relations with punishments including life in prison and as severe as death in some cases. While gay rights activists are planning to challenge the bill in court, many people in the LGBTQ community in Uganda are already fleeing their homes to safe houses and out of the country for fear of persecution.
An analysis revealed that there was a drop in doctors applying to medical residency programs in states with abortion bans in the past year. The study also found that states with near-total abortion bans saw a 10.5% decrease in OB-GYN applicants from medical school seniors. Experts warn that this could worsen the already dire maternal healthcare crisis across the US, particularly in the south.
…and that’s it for now. Have a great week ahead!
xx Tamar + Jill
The Week in Women comes to you thanks to research from Tamar Eisen (she/her/hers), an advocate for reproductive justice and gender equity. She lives in New York City where she works for the Center for Reproductive Rights and teaches yoga.