Texas Is Testing a Blueprint for Censoring Gender and Sexuality in Higher Education Nationwide

PUBLISHED 10/30/2026 by

I teach at a major research university in Texas, where higher education has become a testing ground for state censorship. Our censorship regime is led by Brandon Creighton, a former Texas state senator appointed chancellor by the Board of Regents. As a senator, Creighton authored the state’s sweeping anti-DEI law and legislation that increases political oversight of public institutions. He also authored or supported some of the Texas legislature’s most restrictive anti-LGBTQIA+ measures.

Now, as chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, which serves more than 65,000 students, Creighton has made clear that he wants our institution to model a new future for higher education nationally: one in which politically appointed regents exert greater control over what professors teach, and the study of gender and sexuality is sharply restricted.

Faculty, students and staff are the proving ground for that model. But they’re also pushing back: The restrictions are now being challenged in federal court by faculty organizations that argue they violate constitutional protections for free speech and academic freedom.

Georgia, Ohio, Minnesota and Beyond: The Races and Ballot Measures Women’s Rights and Democracy Advocates Are Watching

PUBLISHED 10/29/2026 by and

In the midterm elections, women are poised to celebrate historic firsts, especially when it comes to governor races.

We sit on the precipice of potentially electing the first woman governors in Tennessee, Ohio and Minnesota. If Keisha Lance Bottoms wins her race in Georgia, she would be the first Black woman governor in our nation’s 250 years. In New Mexico, Deb Haaland is poised to become the first Native American woman to serve as a state’s governor.

A Lame-Duck Supreme Court Showdown Could Be Coming

PUBLISHED 10/29/2026 by

If Democrats retake the U.S. Senate after the (ongoing) midterm elections, we should expect any number of drastic reactions from Republicans desperate to cling to power. Among them could be a last-ditch effort to extend their control of the Supreme Court by rushing a lame-duck confirmation process in November or December, should Justices Clarence Thomas and/or Samuel Alito (ages 78 and 76, respectively) see it as their last chance anytime soon to be replaced by another conservative.

As we fight to protect our democracy, we must be ready to hold the line.

There hasn’t been a lame-duck Supreme Court confirmation since the 19th century—well before the 12th Amendment standardized the congressional calendar. Such a move would no doubt be seen by the American people as a desperate and unprecedented effort to manipulate the membership of the Supreme Court by bending the rules when it suits them.

Moreover, Republicans’ success could become largely irrelevant if Democrats follow through on reforming the Supreme Court after retaking power.

Support for Supreme Court reform is higher than ever. A recent Marquette Law School poll found massive endorsements for the three most prominent reforms: 89 percent for a strict ethics code, 79 percent for term limits and 53 percent for increasing the number of justices on the bench. Such support would surely only grow in the face of Republicans blatantly attempting to lock in control before losing power.

‘Fake Clinics Are Spooky!’ and ‘Haunted by Hidden Agendas’: Feminist Halloween Campaign Unmasks CPCs’ Antiabortion Deception

PUBLISHED 10/29/2026 by

The real Halloween horror villains are antiabortion organizations masquerading as legitimate healthcare clinics while working to prevent women from accessing abortion care.

Throughout October, Reproductive Transparency Now and the Southwest Women’s Law Center have joined forces for a Halloween-themed campaign exposing the deceptive practices of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs): antiabortion organizations that seek to reach vulnerable women and girls facing unintended pregnancies to prevent them from accessing abortion and prenatal care.

“Challenging CPCs is about more than identifying deceptive practices. It is about protecting people’s ability to make informed decisions about their bodies, pregnancies and families without coercion or manipulation and ensuring that people can access both comprehensive reproductive healthcare and the support they need,” said Hailey Zock of the Southwest Women’s Law Center.

How Abortion Bans Could Make Your IUD Insertion More Painful (And Other Far-Reaching Consequences)

PUBLISHED 10/29/2026 by

In the fall of 2024, Louisiana implemented the nation’s first-ever law designating mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances. That put the pills in the same category as opioids and anxiety medi­cations that have a high risk of­ dependency and abuse, even though mifepristone and misoprostol have no recreational use, ­aren’t stimulants or sedatives, and are not addictive.

“They do not meet the definition or intent of what a controlled substance is, and categorizing them as such can lead to harm,” warned the American College of Medical Toxicology. “Additionally, it sets a dangerous ­precedent of politicizing phar­maceu­ti­cal regulation.”

The state targeted the two drugs ­because they are used in combination in most abortions. But mifepristone and misoprostol have a broad range of other medical uses beyond abortion—from inducing­ labor, to assisting in the removal of uterine polyps.

Dr. Emily Holt, a family medicine physician in New Orleans, had regularly prescribed both drugs to help patients manage miscarriages, and had offered just misoprostol to those with a stenotic cervix, in which the entrance to the uterus closes up. But she most frequently used misoprostol for IUD insertions.

Keeping Score: Early Voting Signals Strong Midterm Turnout; Hundreds of Women Charged With Pregnancy-Related ‘Crimes’; Dems Seek Special Counsel on Trump-Epstein Ties

PUBLISHED 10/29/2026 by

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.

This week:
—As early voting begins, several Texas counties report record-breaking turnout.
—Vivek Ramaswamy sinks to new lows by weaponizing his opponent’s esranged mother and childhood sexual abuse.
—Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated far-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro.
—Protests continue on the Cornell campus after allegations of gang rape by fraternity members.
—Women are much more likely to have their autoimmune conditions dismissed as psychological.
—Over 900 women have been charged with pregnancy-related “crimes” since Roe was overturned.
—More than 500 U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE under Trump.
—ICE also collected over 48 million voter records and investigated hundreds of nonprofits that help people register to vote. ICE may have shared this state voter data with a Palantir surveillance tool used to identify and locate immigration enforcement targets.
—New Mexico’s universal childcare policy led to an increase in labor force participation by lower-income moms.
—The National Women’s History Museum is honoring teachers Kristen Kelly and Serene Williams, who created the first AP U.S. Women’s History class, with the 2026 Meryl Streep Educator Award.
—Four members of antiabortion group Students for Life have been sued under a Texas law they supported.
—House Judiciary Democrats released a 53-page report compiling allegations of sexual misconduct involving President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein and calling for an independent special counsel to investigate.
—UltraViolet and the Trump-Epstein Reading Room held an event highlighting MoMA trustee Leon Black’s references in the Epstein files and his multiple rape accusations.
—Almost 70 percent of voters in the Deep South do not believe the government should ban abortion.
—”The Trump administration’s announcement to pursue a military execution by a manner not used in the military since 1945 demonstrates the federal government’s zeal for brutality at any cost,” says the Legal Defense Fund.
—The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have unionized.

… and more.

The Rise of Pronatalist Horror in an Age of Reproductive Control

PUBLISHED 10/28/2026 by

Alex Goyette’s new psychological horror film Breeder, opening in U.S. theaters Wednesday, Oct. 28, explores the terrifying ambitions of Patti (Dot-Marie Jones), a poodle breeder who lures young men to her remote ranch with promises of research funding. Russell (Daniel Doheny), a cash-strapped researcher working to save endangered bees, however, finds that Patti is keeping men trapped as breeding stock as part of her own eugenics-style program.

“I’m actually moving on from dog breeding,” Patti says in the trailer, “Now, I’m doing something more important: I’m breeding people.” Patti will force Russell to breed with her daughter, and warns that if he fails, he will face a fate like all of the other studs who failed: He will be put down.

Contemporary filmmakers and artists who grew up under the Reagan, Bush and Trump administrations are confronting Americans’ reproductive anxieties through stories about reproductive coercion, bodily autonomy and the consequences of treating human beings as instruments of reproduction.

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, P.D. James’ Children of Men and Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby represent the earliest examples of the subgenre.

Breeder (2026) will likely be another powerful example.

‘Where Are We?’: Days Before the Midterms, a Question None of Us Can Afford to Ignore

PUBLISHED 10/28/2026 by

The rights many of us assumed were settled are being rolled back. Institutions we assumed were permanent are being tested. A democracy is only as strong as the people who show up for it. This year showing up has never mattered more.

There are many nonpartisan principles and values foundational to voting for a more just future … and one of them is the principle of equal rights for all.

The Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in 1923 and passed Congress in 1972. When Virginia ratified it in 2020, decades after Congress’ deadline, it became the 38th state to do so. Yet it has still not been certified and its legal status remains unresolved.

Most people don’t realize the Constitution still does not explicitly guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. We do have important protections against sex discrimination. Title IX opened classrooms and playing fields to generations of girls. The Equal Pay Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act made it illegal to pay women less for the same work or push them out of their jobs for being pregnant. But these are laws, not constitutional rights. What one Congress passes, another can weaken or repeal. Their strength depends on whoever holds the majority.

The Equal Rights Amendment would change that. It would place equality between women and men in the Constitution itself, pushing courts to treat sex discrimination with the same seriousness as other fundamental violations of our rights. Our progress would be far harder to roll back. Rights that can be repealed are not yet secure. When the rights of half the population can be rolled back, no one’s rights are secure.

Artist and filmmaker Tiffany Shlain’s latest work—Dendrofemonology: A Feminist History Tree Ring, a 65-inch sculpture of reclaimed cedar with 50,000 years of history hand-burned into its rings—traces the long fight for women’s equality and reminds us that the next chapter of feminist history is ours to write. (The tree ring is on display in downtown Austin, Texas, until Nov. 17; then it heads to New Mexico.)

Rest in Power, Dolores Huerta. She Never Waited for Permission—and Neither Should We

PUBLISHED 10/28/2026 by and

We lost Dolores Huerta on Wednesday, Oct. 28. She died at home in Bakersfield, Calif., surrounded by family. She was 96.

You know the words she left us: “Sí, se puede”—“Yes, it can be done.” People print them on T-shirts now. Dolores never meant them as a slogan; she meant them as an instruction.

Before the strikes, before the boycotts, before the contracts and the awards, she taught school in Stockton, Calif. The children came to her hungry, and some came in clothes too thin for the season. Their parents worked long days in the fields for wages that covered neither.

After watching this for a while, she reached a conclusion most people would have kept to themselves: She could do more for those children by organizing their parents than by teaching them. So she left the classroom. That was the first time she declined to stay where she had been put—but it was not the last.

She helped build what became the United Farm Workers. When she negotiated, growers signed contracts that covered healthcare, retirement and safer working conditions. When she organized the grape boycott, 17 million Americans stopped buying grapes. (Seventeen million!)

We first heard her speak at a convention of the National Organization for Women in the late 1980s. By then, Dolores had spent three decades as the woman nobody had planned for. We asked her to join us in a new venture: a national effort to put more women in elected office. Dolores said yes. She stayed nearly 40 years, becoming an adviser to Ms. magazine after the Feminist Majority Foundation took over publishing it in 2001.

The election is six days away. For 70 years, Dolores knocked on doors to tell people one thing: Democracy works only when you show up. If you want to honor her this week, do what she would have asked. Vote. Then bring someone with you. She would have preferred that to flowers.

From Gaza to SNAP, U.S. Food Policies Are Making Women Hungrier

PUBLISHED 10/28/2026 by

This election, hunger weighs heavily on the ballot—particularly for voters who care about women. From Gaza to Cuba, from USAID to SNAP, current U.S. food policies reveal a troubling pattern of misogyny.

Four prominent examples—Gaza, Cuba, USAID and the grotesque “One Big Beautiful Bill”—illustrate how U.S. food and agricultural policies eliminate or obstruct urgently needed food assistance. These policies deepen food insecurity through deliberate government decisions.

In each case, research documents the compounding burdens these cuts place on women.

Across the country and around the world, women shoulder much of the responsibility for feeding families and communities. Cutting food assistance increases their unpaid care work, compounds existing hardships and undermines their autonomy.