The California state Legislature is expected to vote, as early as today, to place a measure on the November ballot to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution.
The move is a reaction to the decision Friday by the Supreme Court to reverse Roe v. Wade and lift federal abortion protections. Nearly half the states are expected to make abortion illegal.
Rob Bonta, the state's Attorney General, however, slammed the ruling.
"This decision is an attack on privacy, on freedom, on self-determination, on equality," Bonta asserted. "This decision is an attack on women."
Abortion opponents cite religious and moral objections. Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1666, which protects California abortion providers from civil liability based on laws in other states, which may prohibit people from traveling to get abortion care.
Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, Senate President Pro-tem, vowed to help abortion seekers from other states.
"Those inhumane laws will not cross California borders," Atkins stressed. "We will not leave women and families impacted by the fall of Roe v. Wade and the backward, reckless policies of other states without options. We will not do that. We are here to further rights, not take them away. "
In May, when the Supreme Court decision leaked, Newsom proposed a $125 million package to bolster the state's ability to handle an influx of patients from other states. His wife, first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, spoke out strongly against the court's rollback of women's rights.
"This is toxic masculinities at work in the highest court in the country," Siebel Newsom emphasized. "Domination and control of women's bodily autonomy is so deeply ingrained in the patriarchy that unfortunately still rules our country."
A package of other bills designed to increase access is expected to cross the governor's desk in the next few weeks. People looking for help to pay for an abortion or traveling to get one can find information at abortionfunds.org.
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Women in rural areas struggle more with menopause than their urban counterparts, according to a study from the University of Washington.
Rural women reported more symptoms like joint pain and mood swings in one of the first studies to look at menopausal rural-urban discrepancies.
Dr. Susan Reed, program director at the University of Washington Women's Reproductive Health Research Center and an author of the report, said she's not surprised by the results. She stressed the study is a signal medical providers need to do better for the rural population.
"If people transition through this period in a healthy fashion, they live longer," Reed outlined. "They have fewer cardiovascular problems and perhaps better brain aging."
Reed noted other studies have shown women in rural areas are struggling with higher mortality rates and other health issues like higher suicide rates and obesity. She added there is decreased access in rural places because of the long distances people often have to travel to receive care.
"People providing menopause health care in rural areas, many of them are really passionate and do a good job," Reed observed. "There just aren't enough of them."
Reed emphasized there are other factors contributing to poor menopausal care, not just for women in rural areas but urban and suburban areas too. She argued hormonal therapy is a safe and effective treatment and there should be a higher prevalence of its use.
"The challenges there are due to misinformation on the internet, fear of patients," Reed explained. "And then providers not being skilled enough to help people understand risks and benefits of menopausal hormone therapy."
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The gender gap in Ohio politics persists, and President Donald Trump's new executive order eliminating federal diversity programs is expected to create more challenges for women and other underrepresented groups in public service.
Ohio Women in Government is among the organizations working to bridge this gap by offering scholarships to students who take unpaid internships in state government. The group's vice president-elect, Andrea Harless, said the $1,500 awards are designed to alleviate financial burdens, especially for those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.
"There are young women that just do not have the financial means to come to Columbus for a summer and pay to have an unpaid internship, and that does create barriers," she said. "It's very real for a lot of people."
Applications for the current round of scholarships will close today with another round planned for later in the year. More information on the scholarships is online at OhioWomenInGovernment.com.
The elimination of diversity programs has drawn criticism from organizations advocating for equitable representation. Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, argued that women continue to face systemic obstacles in entering and advancing in government, including disparities in campaign funding and policy influence.
"Diversity doesn't mean that we're not inviting people who are very qualified to the table," she said. "It means we're trying to have a diversity of opinions so that, in fact, we can create good public policy that we can address the needs for all the people in the country."
She added that eliminating these initiatives weakens government institutions by limiting diverse perspectives in policymaking.
Ohio Women in Government president-elect Julia Wynn encouraged young women to pursue public service.
"It starts with making sure that young women have faith in themselves to be the decisionmaker for their communities," she said.
Wynn said the more women who rise up and understand the legislative process, the more that can be accomplished.
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A long-time New Mexico community organizer is one of several women who have put the state on the map this year for having the largest percentage of women serving as lawmakers.
State Rep. Sarah Silva, a Democrat who represents Doña Ana County and a portion of Otero County, wants lawmakers to address infrastructure in Chaparral, the state's largest unincorporated community, where she said there are long waits for an ambulance, limited fire fighting capabilities and no animal control agency.
"It has anywhere between 20,000 and 26,000 people, it's been growing significantly since 2020 and there's no local government," she said. "So, I've been working with local officials to try and secure $10 million for a public safety facility."
Chaparral is officially part of the Las Cruces metro area, but the 60-square mile region is primarily a bedroom community for the neighboring city of El Paso, Texas.
During President Donald Trump's first term, Silva said, he expressed an appetite for going after immigrants - and she thinks he now has more tools to make that happen. She said she thinks New Mexico's advocacy groups are doing a good job of educating immigrants about their rights, but added that more people need to resist what she called "obeying in advance."
"We need more school administrators, we need more sheriffs, we need more neighbors, we need more churches and congregations standing up for the immigrant community," she said. "Many, many more of us need to start caring and then putting that care into action."
Silva also wants lawmakers to update New Mexico's shield law that protects news reporters - which she said hasn't been revised since 1978.
"So, the definition of a journalist is very outdated," she said, "as is the definition of mediums of communication - that doesn't include anything involving the internet or electronic communication."
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