A Post-Mortem of the Youth Vote in 2024

This article is a follow-up to an earlier Berkeley Political Review article entitled “Blue Generation: Gen Z and the Democratic Party.” In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris underperformed President Joe Biden’s vote share in 2020 nationally by three percentage points. Harris’ underperformance is more striking when looking at individual states, even states […]

The Future of Alabama’s Reproductive Healthcare

Sitting in her daughter’s room, Alabama resident 35-year-old Kimberly expressed fears that time was running out for her to complete her family. In an ABC News interview, she lined up all of her medications and explained it was her fourth and final IVF treatment. Yet she was told to wait – a reality that many […]

France Constitutionally Protects Abortion in Monumental Vote by Legislators

In an era where reproductive rights are a hot-button issue in many countries, France has managed to explicitly codify abortion within its constitution—the most extensive protection of abortion and assertion of reproductive rights a nation has enacted in history. In response to an amalgamation of tension elsewhere over abortion, as well as persistent activism within […]

Data Collection in a Post-Roe World: A Need for National Security 

Since the repeal of Roe v Wade in June of 2022, women seeking to maintain their bodily autonomy have had targets placed on their backs by regional and federal governments. As of September 2023, twenty-four states have banned and/or plan to ban abortion. These states have begun a witch-hunt persecution, incentivizing individuals to report women […]

In Defense of SCOTUS

Biden vs. Nebraska, 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis, and, of course, Dobbs vs. Jackson are just a few of the new Supreme Court’s landmark decisions that have fundamentally changed the nation’s political landscape. To the dismay of progressives, SCOTUS has demonstrated an increasing willingness to strike down prior decisions rooted in judicial activism, in the […]

Following the Green Road of the Marea Verde: Colombia Decriminalizes Abortion

The Court Case ​​On Feb. 21, Colombia’s Constitutional Court delivered a groundbreaking decision for reproductive rights. The country’s top court voted in a 5-4 ruling to decriminalize abortion for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, delivering another victory for the Marea Verde, or Green Wave in Latin America—a movement that has caused landmark reforms that […]

Gilead May Not Be Far From Reality: The Case of Hungary

Katalin Novak, the newly elected Hungarian President, is all for women’s rights. In a manner of speaking. In a propaganda video shared in December 2020, back when she was Minister for Families, Novak encouraged women to have children and “bear the burdens of others.” She added that other women should not “believe that women have […]

Colombia’s Back-Breaking Battle for Reproductive Rights

Vibrant green banners ripple through the air, joined by cheers, chants and triumphant fists. Crowds of women publicly rejoice, embracing each other and jumping with joy. Some shed tears, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment.  Over the past year, advocates for legal abortion in Latin America have greeted several success stories with emotion and […]

Unisex Contraception and a Pathway Towards Reproductive Equity

Back in the 60s, the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle helped to develop the first hormonal contraceptive, Enovid, amidst a climate of scientific hesitance. While the complexities of reproductive physiology provided significant challenges to the conception of “the pill”, the Catholic Church, popular resentment and widespread cultural conservatism arguably provided a greater hurdle to the drug’s […]