Ms. Must-Reads: Oct. 14

It feels like just yesterday that the Supreme Court issued its most recent slate of whiplash-inducing rulings—but ready or not, last week marked the start of a new term for the Court. While the Court isn’t currently slated to deal with any cases on abortion, a number of significant cases are on the docket that we’re keeping our eyes on, including a case contesting the legality of Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. And with a number of consequential abortion-related cases currently in the lower courts that could potentially return to the high court, we’re not letting our guard down.

A six-week abortion ban in Georgia that was previously struck down by a trial court was reinstated last week by the state’s Supreme Court. “Gov. Kemp and Attorney General Carr told the state Supreme Court that reinstating an abortion ban that is literally killing Georgia women would not cause ‘much harm,’ and the state Supreme Court apparently believed that cruel lie,” said Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “Seeing state politicians show such little empathy or respect for Georgians’ health and lives only doubles our resolve to keep fighting.”

Us too.

November’s elections will play a crucial role in determining the shape of abortion access across the country going forward—that much is clear. And as get out the vote efforts kick into high drive over the next few weeks, it’s an issue that is front of mind for many organizers and potential voters. Campaigns seeking to engage young people are particularly attuned to issues like reproductive rights and justice, as Belle Taylor-McGhee reports. Unfortunately, young voters are also some of the most targeted for voter suppression—often because of their support of progressive issues like abortion, climate action and LGBTQ+ rights.

When it comes to the role of gender in this fall’s elections, there’s so much to unpack—far more than I could ever fit in this letter. I’d encourage you to check out the piece we’ve included below on The Man Card: 50 Years of Gender, Power & the American Presidency—a documentary from Ms. contributor Jackson Katz exploring presidential masculinity that provides plenty of “content and context for voters to make sense of the gender politics playing out in the election.”

And speaking of playing the man card, last week in Pennsylvania former president Trump continued to insult and demean his rival Vice President Kamala Harris—and said he has no intentions of stopping, even if it puts off women voters. “I don’t want to be nice,” he said, according to Politico. “You know, somebody said, ‘You should be nicer. Women won’t like it.’ I said, ‘I don’t care.’”

Well, even if he doesn’t care, we do. Women are paying attention—and they’re voting like their lives depend on it.

Onward,

Kathy Spillar

Executive Editor

P.S. — Have questions about the polls, as election day grows closer? Join myself and polling expert Anna Greenberg for an Instagram live event on October 17 at 12:30 pm ET/9:30 am PT. Submit your questions to [email protected] or send them to @ms_magazine on Instagram—then tune in for the answers!

This week's Ms. Must-Reads:

• "Making Calls and Knocking on Doors" — Belle Taylor-McGhee
• "Supreme Court of Georgia Rules to Reinstate the State’s Six-Week Abortion Ban" — Shefali Luthra, The 19th
• "For Most Americans, Election Day Is in October" — Livia Follet
• "Documentary ‘The Man Card’ Illuminates Gender’s Role in Presidential Campaigns and Challenges Men to Get Involved" —?Rob Okun