Happy Friday! Welcome to our Media Round Up. Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Here’s what caught our eye this week:

 

Not just the Supreme Court: Biden poised to triple number of Black women on federal appeals courts

John Fritze, USA Today

As President Joe Biden announces his historic Supreme Court Nominee pick, he has already made a major impact on Black women’s representation in federal judgeships. If the Senate confirms all of President Biden’s nominations in the coming weeks, Black women will sit on nine of thirteen federal appeals courts. This would mean that the number of Black women appellate judges would rise from four to at least thirteen.

Read the full story here.

 

The 19th Explains: 15-week abortion bans are on the verge of passing in three states. What does that mean?

Shefali Luthra, The 19^th*

Florida, West Virginia, and Arizona are the latest states poised to pass legislation banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Although the passage of this legislation is not currently allowed under Roe v. Wade, it could soon become legal if the Supreme Court overturns the case. If passed, none of the legislation would have an immediate impact due to how each state legislature works and potential legal challenges; however, the bills themselves show how states could regulate abortion access.

Read the full story here.

 

Gloria Steinem shocked that Equal Rights Amendment isn’t law

Associated Press via Washington Post

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem is shocked that the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment has not been ratified. The Equal Rights Amendment affirms, “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” The amendment was first proposed to Congress almost a century ago in 1923, but did not pass both houses of Congress until 1972. Steinem’s stance stems from the state of Virginia recently withdrawing from a “federal lawsuit seeking to certify the Equal Rights Amendment into the U.S. Constitution.”

Read the full story here.

 

The Unsung Heroes Who Ended a Deadly Plague

Richard Conniff, Smithsonian Magazine

Up until the mid-20^th century, there were no preventions for whooping cough, an illness that mostly affects infants and young children. Whooping cough, or pertussis, killed 7,500 Americans per year in the early 1930s, and some survivors of the ailment suffered permanent physical and cognitive damage. Bacteriologists Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering, began researching whooping cough in 1932 during their shifts at the Michigan Department of Health Laboratory and developed the first successful vaccine for the illness, a major accomplishment for women scientists.

Read the full story here.