MS. MAGAZINE COLLABORATION
By Katie Fleischer for Ms. Magazine
Broadcast version by Lily Böhlke for North Carolina News Service/Public News Service

While the pandemic didn't start economic inequalities in the United States, it's certainly responsible for exacerbating them, including race and gender disparities in unemployment, working conditions and poverty levels. Almost two-thirds of Americans have been living paycheck to paycheck during the pandemic, and women have been forced to bear the brunt of additional challenges like child care and other domestic work that limit their ability to work outside the home.

In order to help Americans recover from the pandemic's economic fallout, feminists are calling for new federal policies that would help working moms, low-income women and women of color in particular. By offering the flexibility and efficiency that come with unrestricted cash, policies like the child tax credit and guaranteed income seek to create an economy that works for everyone, including marginalized communities.

President Joe Biden has already taken an important step towards making a more equitable economy a reality: His American Rescue Plan includes a child tax credit (CTC) that now provides monthly payments of up to $250 per child ages 6-17 and $300 per child under 6 for the 88% of families with kids that qualify. Already, struggling families say these payments have been life-changing.

"To get the child tax credit payments that started coming last month has been a huge help," wrote one mom, I'esha (last name withheld), in an essay for Ms. "I was able to use the first payment in July to get prepared and buy my children their school things-there's so much to get. The clothes, the shoes, the school supplies. I swear that list gets longer every year."

However, Biden's expansion of the CTC is not permanent (although a majority of voters want it to continue): The monthly payments started in July and will end in December, and parents will get the other half of their annual amount when they file their 2021 taxes. In response, moms across the country are calling for Biden to push for a more permanent policy to support all low-income families.

"If I could talk to President Biden, I would tell him that he should make the child tax credit permanent, because so many people are still unemployed and the pandemic is not over," wrote I'esha. "And people need help even without a pandemic going on."

Following a similar strategy, economic justice organizations like the Magnolia Mother's Trust (MMT) say another policy would help low-income mothers, particularly women of color: guaranteed income. Guaranteed income involves payments directed to specific groups, like women living in poverty, in order to address economic inequities. By focusing on marginalized communities, guaranteed income can help address economic issues caused by systemic racism and sexism, and can give struggling Americans a way to meet their basic needs.

MMT is one example of how federal economic policies could have a huge impact on marginalized people. By providing Black mothers living in extreme poverty $1,000 per month for a year, MMT demonstrates that unrestricted financial benefits can have extremely powerful effects. For example:

In the final days of the legislative session, Kentucky Senate lawmakers could consider the "Momnibus" bill, which would increase access to critical prenatal and post-birth care for new moms and babies.

House Bill 10 would extend the state's voluntary home-visitation program for expectant parents to when a child reachs age three, and would include lactation assistance and telehealth.

Bonnie Logsdon, a board-certified lactation consultant and birth doula, said many women have to return to work a few weeks after giving birth and often lack the tools or knowledge to have a positive lactation experience.

"They need access to those quality supplies," she stressed, "and they need someone who can teach them how to use the pump, which is again where that lactation support would come into play."

The Momnibus bill would add pregnancy to the list of qualifying life events, so pregnant people could get health-insurance coverage and begin prenatal care visits.

Kentucky has the second-highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bill would also expand mental-health counseling through the Lifeline for Moms Psychiatry Access Program.

In Letcher County, Courtney Rhoades said she's had a complex pregnancy, and has struggled to cope with stress and maintaining her physical health. She noted it's critical that first-time moms like herself have a place to turn for support, where they don't feel judged.

"Then to be finding out we're having twins," Rhoades said, "I am really excited to know that there's these programs available that otherwise I didn't know about."

Renee Basham, executive director of Hope's Embrace, said communities increasingly are aware of the role doulas can play in pre- and post-natal care. She added many of her clients need assistance.

"A lot of the clients that we work with, some of them have support, a lot of them don't," said Basham. "Doulas are extra important in that role, because if we weren't there, they wouldn't have anybody with them as they gave birth."

House Bill 10 would open the door to more research on the role of doulas in the birth experience, and how their expertise is being used for care and to reduce disparities in the Commonwealth.


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Advocates for women veterans, who've experienced sexual trauma while serving in the military, are asking state lawmakers for much-needed funding.

Previous legislation backed the creation of two sexual trauma liaisons at community-based organizations in the state, but funding never came to fruition.

Executive Director of the Augusta-based Sisters-in-Arms Center, Rebecca Cornell du Houx, said lawmakers have a chance to help veteran survivors rebuild their lives.

"To have a consistent clinician there to provide that trauma treatment to the woman veteran in a place that they're safe," said Cornell du Houx, "I think, can really, really support their recovery."

Cornell du Houx said one in three women soldiers experience some form of sexual trauma while in the military but many incidents go unreported.

There are more than 10,000 women veterans currently living in Maine.

Women veterans are one of the fastest-growing sectors of the homeless population, and are four times more likely to become homeless than their male peers.

Researchers also now identify military sexual trauma as the biggest factor driving a more than 60% increase in suicide rates among women veterans since 2001.

Cornell du Houx said while group therapy is available to these veterans, state funding would provide for more formalized treatment - especially for those coming off active-duty.

"I think if people knew the stories of what had happened to these women while they were in the service, just really disheartening stories of assault," said Cornell du Houx, "I think that they wouldn't hesitate to fund a position so that they could get help."

Cornell du Houx said sexual trauma is most prevalent among lower-ranking seventeen and eighteen-year-olds, who are influenced to think that reporting an incident is a betrayal of a fellow soldier.

She said it's important to support those who have come forward, to advocate for themselves and others, and who took an oath to serve their country.





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New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is sounding the alarm over the Supreme Court's decision to hear a case that could restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

It is the first major case related to women's reproductive rights since the Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

On Tuesday, after hearing oral arguments, the Court seemed likely to preserve access to the medication.

Cortez Masto said the country has witnessed what she calls "the tragic consequences of abortion restrictions," which started with the country's highest court.

"This just goes to show you," said Cortez Masto, "far-right extremists are going to stop at nothing to restrict women's rights when it comes to their reproductive freedom - that is why we can't give up."

Cortez Masto contended mifepristone is safe and effective and is also critical for miscarriage care.

But the case presented to the Supreme Court by anti-abortion doctors claim the Food and Drug Administration acted too quickly in removing restrictions on the drug.

If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, mifepristone access could stop immediately in all states - including those where abortion is legal such as Nevada.

Critics of the drug say it carries significant side effects, include bacterial infections and prolonged, heavy menstrual bleeding.

While mifepristone may not be prohibited all together, restrictions on the pill could be reinstated.

Cortez Masto argued conservative groups never planned to stop with just repealing Roe v. Wade, but adds they are aiming to roll back women's rights all together.

"That is why we can't give up," said Cortez Masto. "We have to continue to use our voices and be advocates to fight for women's rights."

The Supreme Court could make a decision on the case in June.

In the Silver State, a coalition is working to get an amendment on the ballot this November to enshrine abortion rights in the Silver State's constitution.