What The Hell America!

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

Lest We Forget

“Tonight, I rise with the intention of getting in some ‘good trouble.’ I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able … because I believe, sincerely, that our country is in crisis.

“In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people. From our highest offices: a sense of common decency. These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent. And we all must do more.”

—Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) opening his record-breaking 25-hour speech on the Senate floor.

“‘If it is to be, it is up to me.’ All of us have to think of those 10 words—10 two-letter words: ‘If it is to be, it is up to me.’ Because I believe generations from now will look back at this moment and have a single question: ‘Where were you? Where were you when our country was in crisis and when American people were asking for help? Help me. Help me.’ Did we speak up?

“I don’t know how to solve this. I don’t know how to stop us from going down this road. I am sorry. But I know who does have the power: the people of the United States of America. The power of the people is greater than the people in power.”

—Sen. Booker on the Senate floor.

“House Republicans’ so-called SAVE Act is nothing more than a shameful attempt to silence the voices of millions of Americans. To be clear, it is already illegal under federal law for noncitizens to cast a ballot. This legislation is not about safeguarding elections; it is a blatant assault on the constitutional rights of millions of Americans.”

—Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus chair Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) and CAPAC Civil Rights and Voting Rights Task Force chair Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.)

“I never could have imagined that I would be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin. And we won. Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court. Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, our courts are not for sale.”

—Susan Crawford won her election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court over Trump-endorsed Brad Schimel. Elon Musk spent millions trying to defeat Crawford, but her election will now maintain a 4-3 liberal majority on the Court until at least 2028.

“I have been the witness of two collapses and two times of Taliban power, but still I’m standing to fight and do advocacy for women’s rights in Afghanistan. [The Taliban] were hiding or turning their face … and didn’t want to look at us directly. … It was a really tough time. But, we were accepting that because we wanted to be at the table. We wanted to challenge them that the future of Afghanistan is women.”

—Dr. Habiba Sarabi, former governor of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, and minister of women’s affairs, spoke at the 2025 Young Feminist Leadership Conference.

“In 2020 when everyone was worried about youth turnout, [young women] showed up: 55 percent of young women voted, compared to just 44 percent of young men. That’s not a gap, that’s a chasm.”

“The world will try and convince you that you’re too much and not enough all at the same time. When you speak up, they’ll call you angry. When you organize, they’ll say you’re being manipulated, and when you win, they’ll call it luck. But here’s the truth: Your discomfort is your compass. The voice saying, ‘This isn’t right,’ that’s your power waking up. Yes, this work will break your heart. Some days, it will exhaust you, and still, you must continue, because here’s what the research ultimately shows, when younger people lead, democracy doesn’t just survive, it thrives.”

—Leela Strong, director, Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, at the Young Feminist Leadership Conference

“This is not just an immigrant issue—it’s an American issue. This disastrous ‘administrative error’ is a stark example of the Trump administration’s dangerous mass deportation policies, which have already torn too many families apart. The consequences are devastating—lives are shattered, families are separated, and the very rights and protections we hold dear are at risk.

“Kilmar’s family is not alone—22 million people live in households with at least one undocumented family member. The use of heavy-handed tactics only exacerbates the pain and harm to American families. We need solutions rooted in fairness and the protection of legal rights, not fear and political agendas.”

—Voto Latino called for modernizing immigration policies, not mass deportations, as Kilmar Abrego Garcia is unjustly imprisoned in El Salvador despite multiple court orders preventing his deportation.

“The average Texan doesn’t realize that so-called ‘medical exceptions’ don’t work until someone they love ends up in an impossible situation. If Texas politicians want our trust, they need to trust those who have experienced these situations and know what this legislation would mean for us and our loved ones. Texas can do better.”

—Ashley Brandt, a plaintiff in Zurawski v. Texas, who was forced to travel out-of-state for abortion care when one of her unborn twins was diagnosed with a fatal condition. The plaintiffs sent a letter to the Texas state legislature warning of the dangers of bills that punish patients and providers for abortion care. 

“Texas has become a dangerous place for pregnant women and the people who love them. Lawmakers have heard our stories and seen our tears, and still they have nothing. Our pain is being met with silence. No family should be pushed to the brink or threatened with prosecution because lawmakers refuse to act.”

—Hollie Cunningham, a plaintiff in Zurawski v. Texas who had to leave the state during two non-viable pregnancies.

“Despite harsh conditions that have included several stays in solitary, Reza remains strong and committed to his principles. … During my long years of imprisonment, Reza never complained, and he always tried to make me happy by giving me good news. I remember when he told me about our daughter Mehraveh’s ranking 15th out of several million participants in the national college entrance exam. My heart filled with joy and hope that lasted for days.

“Once, when Nima was no more than 5 years old and had just started music class, Reza with great effort brought him to the prison meeting room with a xylophone. Nima had to play from behind a glass barrier, but even now the scene is so vivid to me that it seems like it happened yesterday. For weeks after that meeting, the sound of Nima’s music echoed in my mind. I would fall asleep and wake up to that sound. It was as if a new world had opened for me.

“Now, my task is to try to bring this kind of relief to my husband.“

—Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian human rights attorney, speaking against Iran’s imprisonment of her husband, Reza, who was arrested for his efforts supporting women’s rights in the country.

“Freedom of expression, freedom of belief, freedom of dress, and other such freedoms are among the most fundamental human rights that have been emphasized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I demand the freedom of all political prisoners, and I continue to protest against the mandatory hijab.“

—Reza Khandan, who was arrested in his home in December 2024 for his efforts on behalf of the rights of Iranian women. You can sign the petition supporting his release here.

Milestones

+ Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) set a record for the longest floor speech in Senate history. His 25 hour and 5 minute speech broke Strom Thurmong’s attempted filibuster of the Civil Rights Act. Booker spoke almost nonstop about current dangers to democracy, healthcare, education, the economy and more, without being able to sit, eat or leave the floor. Hundreds of thousands of people watched livestreams on social media, and he received more than 350 million likes on TikTok alone.

+ The House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act, which would create extremely strict ID requirements to vote and end online and mail voter registration. The barriers to voting would be significant for low-income people, rural communities, and 69 million women who changed their last name after marriage. The Trump administration previously announced a similar policy through an executive order.

The Democratic Women’s Caucus chairs spoke out: “We’ve raised the alarm about how this bill harms women voters over and over. We’ve shared our concerns with Republican colleagues just as hundreds of their own constituents have. It is clear Republicans aren’t interested in fixing this bill and this decision will haunt them in the voting booth.”

The bill now heads to the Senate.

+ Congress passed a budget resolution that sets the stage for Republicans to cut over a trillion dollars from Medicaid, SNAP and other critical programs Americans rely on. 

+ Kilmar Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported and imprisoned in a maximum security prison in El Salvador. The Trump Administration has refused to facilitate his return even after the Supreme Court ruled his deportation was illegal. Sen. Van Hollen (D-Md.) traveled to El Salvador, and other senators have written to the administration.

+ Trump also threatened to imprison American citizens in El Salvador: “Homegrown criminals next.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) warned, “Now is the time for my Republican colleagues to step up. You can no longer stay silent in the face of a constitutional crisis. You must join Democrats in responding to this madness and demanding that Mr. Abrego Garcia is returned to the United States immediately. If not, you will bow down to Donald Trump’s refusal to stand up to President Bukele—a self-styled dictator—and Donald Trump’s chilling remarks about potentially—and illegally—sending American citizens to the notoriously inhumane maximum-security prison in El Salvador.”

+ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued San Antonio for a fund helping city residents travel out of state for abortion care. He previously sued Austin for a similar policy.

+ An Idaho court expanded medical exceptions in the state’s abortion ban, allowing patients to get an abortion if they have a condition or complication that has a risk of death. It can now be interpreted more broadly by doctors, instead of forcing them to delay care until an abortion is urgently needed to prevent imminent death. 

+ DOGE has canceled most National Endowment for the Humanities grants and put employees on leave. Grant recipients were told that the agency would instead be “repurposing” funding to support the president’s agenda.

+ The Senate confirmed antiabortion TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz as the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicaid provides health coverage to 17 million women of reproductive age and more than 40 percent of births in the U.S. Dr. Oz could limit access to prenatal and postpartum care, birth control, gender affirming care and emergency abortion care. 

+ Democratic Women’s Caucus leaders and over 150 House members urged RFK Jr. to restore frozen Title X funding. Title X health centers provided family planning and reproductive health care to 2.8 million people in fiscal year 2023, but the Administration stopped funding after claiming it supports DEI. 

“This is another way of saying that this program is used to help people of color access care,” they wrote. “Nearly half of the people served each year by Title X are people of color, the vast majority are people with low-incomes and most Title X users are women. A federal program’s ability to provide care to people from historically marginalized and underserved communities does not make it wrong or illegal.”

+ The Supreme Court heard arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor this week. Six Maryland parents want to remove their children from lessons involving books with LGBTQ stories, because of their religious beliefs. The school district found that the opt-outs are impractical and stigmatize other students and their families.

PEN America’s chief legal officer Eileen Hershenov explained: “An opt-out would chill freedom of speech for students, teachers and authors. … This would deny students access to diverse literature that spurs empathy, understanding and prepares them for lives in a pluralistic society. … A ruling requiring this opt-out is likely to turbocharge the already dire state of book bans and educational censorship around the country.”

+ More than 4,300 lawyers signed a bipartisan letter urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to push back against political attacks on attorneys and law firms rooted in Project 2025. They warned that the Trump administration is attacking the integrity of the legal system to prevent Americans from exercising their rights.

+ Actor Russell Brand was charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault in the U.K. The charges come from offenses between 1999 and 2005, involving four women.

+ Defense Secretary Pete Hesgeth eliminated gender-specific fitness standards for military combat jobs, which will likely significantly reduce the number of women in those roles. Hesgeth has long opposed women in combat jobs, writing that “women cannot physically meet the same standards as men.” 

+ A federal judge ruled that Alabama can’t prosecute people for helping Alabama residents travel to receive abortion care in other states. He found it interferes with patients’ constitutional right to travel and the free speech of doctors or organizations.

+ Amid mass layoffs in the Department of Health and Human Services, all Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) staff were put on administrative leave. The annual PRAMS survey collected detailed data to analyze maternal health and mortality in the U.S.

+ Washington state became the first state to pass a bill increasing access to hormone therapy. Now, health care providers who cover hormones must allow a 12-month refill for prescriptions unless it is a controlled substance (like Testosterone).

“This bill is especially critical for our rural neighbors, those without transportation, people working multiple jobs, communities with low incomes or without wealth, and those who have long faced systemic discrimination,” explained Courtney Normand, Washington State Director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.

+ Former Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) won the Oakland mayoral election in a ranked-choice voting battle against Loren Taylor.

“Working together, we’re going to make Oakland safer by investing in comprehensive public safety that includes violence prevention programs,” Mayor-Elect Lee said this week. We’re going to root out corruption and usher in a new era of ethics, transparency and accountability. We are going to provide the beginning of providing more housing, education and economic development in historically under resourced and underrepresented communities downtown and our business corridors.”

+ After an executive order directing the Smithsonian Institute to eliminate DEI and “divisive narratives,” the National Park Service website has been edited to remove many references to race, slavery and heroic Americans of color. Harriet Tubman’s role in the Underground Railroad was deemphasized, for example, while white abolitionists are now highlighted. 

+ If passed, a Florida bill would make it the first state to deny minors the right to STI treatment without parental consent.

+ The Trump administration has withheld almost $1 billion in federal grants to Head Start centers, and plans to shut down the program entirely.

“As he works to give more tax breaks to billionaires like himself, Donald Trump is doing everything he can to destroy Head Start—without a care in the world for the hundreds of thousands of working families across the country who depend on it,” rebuked Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). “We are beginning to see the devastating consequences: centers closing, kids kicked out of the classroom, teachers losing their jobs, and entire communities losing out.”

+ Georgia dropped charges against Selena Chandler-Scott, who was arrested after being found unconscious and bleeding after a miscarriage.

How We’re Doing

+ April 7 was Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Equal Pay Day, when women finally caught up to what their white male counterparts earned last year. On average, AANHPI women are paid only 83 cents for every dollar earned by white men. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women face even greater disparities. Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Burmese women earn only around 50 cents per dollar, making them some of the lowest paid people in the U.S.

+ Only 34 percent of single women are looking for a relationship, compared to 54 percent of single men. In addition to practical concerns like disproportionate housework responsibilities and avoiding pregnancy in states with abortion bans, more than half of single women believe they’re happier than married women. One expert noted, “They would rather be alone than with a man who holds them back.”

+ Last year, just 49 of the 533 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures became law. Advocates and community organizers were successful in defeating all anti-LGBTQ bills in Georgia and Missouri, despite the states’ Republican majorities. In many cases, community outreach amplifying the stories of trans people helped combat disinformation and transphobia. 

+ 2023 data from U.S. city and county jails shows that nine out of the ten most common charges are nonviolent offenses. Misdemeanors cause over a third of admissions to jails every year, and 8 percent of people in jail are there for violating probation or parole rules, not new criminal charges. In Southern states, 16 percent of people in jail are held for drug offenses, compared to 8 percent in the Northeast.

+ If Title X funds remain frozen, at least 30 percent of patients (834,000 people) would lose access to care within the year. Seven states have lost access to all Title X funding and another 15 have lost some funding.

+ Even before Trump’s severe tariffs were announced, U.S. small business confidence dropped for a third straight month in March. Thirty percent of owners plan to raise prices in the next three months, the highest share in a year, and just 12 percent of businesses plan to increase hiring. Just 3 percent of businesses expect higher sales in the next three months, the lowest since before the 2024 election.

+ Tariffs tax women’s clothing more than men’s, meaning women pay an average of $1 more per garment, adding up to $2 billion a year. As Trump threatens tariffs with most of our trading partners, the “pink tariff” cost could increase.

+ Thirty-one states received failing grades for harmful reproductive health policies from rePROs Fight Back annual report card. Just 16 states got a “B” or higher. 

+ In 2024, seven states did pass ballot measures protecting abortion rights. However, in more than half those states, Republicans continue to introduce bills restricting abortion access. They also want to make it more difficult to put reproductive rights amendments on the ballot in the future.

+ Thirteen states have recently introduced bills to improve menopause care. Illinois and Louisiana already require insurance coverage for menopause treatment, and California includes menopausal health coursework for medical practitioners.