Weekend Reads for February 17

The real cost of abortion bans, how one man's money has warped Texas politics, and why a multipolar world has turned away from democracy

Happy weekend!

So we’ve been hearing from Anat Shenker-Osorio lately about “de-siloing” fights for justice, breaking causes out of the boxes that their opponents want to put them in. Whether we’re talking about the fights for reproductive freedoms or for the rights of transgender Americans, or others, Anat teaches us that it isn’t only the rights of women, or children, or trans kids, that are at stake, but everyone’s basic freedoms.

There may be no better illustration of how abortion bans spiral out to harm children, parents, families, and entire communities than ProPublica’s harrowing report on the reality of Tennessee’s draconian post-Dobbs anti-abortion policies. The story follows Mayron Michelle Hollis, her family, and her community for a year as she negotiates a pregnancy in crisis, struggles to rebuild her life and family, and tries to overcome the countless obstacles put up by the state’s “pro-life” lawmakers. You must read it.

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The real human costs of Tennesee’s abortion ban

“The same state that questioned Mayron’s fitness to care for her four children forced her to continue a pregnancy that risked her life to have a fifth, one that would require more intensive care than any of the others.” [ProPublica]

We really hope this story — and each of the articles we’ve collected below for our subscribers to read over the weekend — challenges you to see the world in new ways. Thanks as always for reading The Ink and continuing to support us (and if you’re not a paid subscriber already, we encourage you to join our community).

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The right-wing megadonor who’s remaking Texas politics

“Throughout its history, Texas has seen plenty of influential men who have shared their message from the pulpit. And a steady march of rich men have opened their wallets to get politicians to do what they want. But we’ve never seen the two archetypes merge in quite this way.“ [Texas Monthly]