The Week in Women

Indiana abortion ban, Malta eases abortion restriction, Supreme Court issues a blow to LGBTQ rights

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!

The Indiana Supreme Court upheld a total, criminal abortion ban, ruling that the law did not violate the state constitution. Indiana is now the 14th state enforcing a total ban.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Christian website designer who refused to create wedding websites for same-sex couples. The decision is a major setback for LGBTQ protections, and its “symbolic effect is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status,” as the dissent notes.

Lawmakers in Malta passed a law slightly easing their abortion restrictions, allowing the procedure in cases where the pregnant person is at risk of death. However, pro-choice advocates were not in support of the legislation, arguing that it was unworkable. 

A new federal law requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant and postpartum workers went into effect this week. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act passed with bipartisan support in December 2022 and strengthens protections for pregnant workers across the country.

President Biden stated this week that he is “not big on abortion” as a “practicing Catholic,” but that Roe v. Wade “got it right.” The President’s comments conflict with reports that he plans to use abortion as a driving issue for his reelection campaign.

A federal judge allowed nearly all of North Carolina’s 12-week abortion ban to go into effect. The judge temporarily blocked one rule that might put doctors at risk of criminal penalties.

A woman in Massachusetts is suing a crisis pregnancy center after they failed to diagnose her ectopic pregnancy, which caused a life-threatening emergency. 

New York Democrats pledged to dedicate $20 million to a 2024 ballot initiative that would codify abortion protections, LGBTQ rights, racial equality measures, and disability rights in the state constitution. 

A recent graduate of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada was charged with assault after stabbing a professor and two students in a gender studies class in a “hate-motivated incident.”

Disney has been accused of systematically paying women less than men in California. The lawsuit alleges that women employees were paid $150 million less than men over an 8 year period.

…and that’s it for now. Have a great week ahead!

xx Tamar + Jill

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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.