Author
Barbara Rodriguez
Barbara Rodriguez is our statehouses reporter. She most recently worked at the Des Moines Register, where she covered health care, politics and state government. Before that, Barbara was the Iowa statehouse reporter for The Associated Press, where she worked for a decade.
The Latest
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Swimmer didn't bring her nursing baby to the Olympics, citing impractical rules
Spanish synchronized swimmer Ona Carbonell called out the Japanese government for rules she felt are incompatible with being an athlete and having a family.
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Ahead of Olympics, women athletes challenge perceptions about sports and parenthood
They're talking more openly about the realities of child care needs, outdated industry expectations and unfair rules for nursing parents.
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Women are poised to have historic representation on New York City council. Experts credit ranked-choice voting
Election results show at least 30 women candidates — most of them women of color — are leading in their primary races for the city's 51-member council.
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Extreme heat further complicates the lives of homeless women and LGBTQ+ people
The staff of a Portland, Oregon, day center for people experiencing homelessness has worked through a heat wave this week.
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Three states have killed the ‘tampon tax,' but advocates want more
Bans on taxing menstrual products are growing around the country. Advocates are cheering the victories, but they want legislatures to take faster action because of the ongoing effects of the pandemic.
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Meet some of the women behind the walkout over Texas voting bill
Two women lawmakers share what happened behind the scenes when they helped lead Democrats off the floor of the Texas House.
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Britney Spears lost her reproductive freedom. Tragically, her case is not unique.
From the founding of this nation through the modern day, women and members of marginalized communities have faced forced sterilization and other reproductive coercion.
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'We stand in solidarity': Reproductive justice and disability rights advocates react to Britney Spears' forced IUD
In a 24-minute statement, Spears said that under conservatorship she was forced to keep an IUD in despite wanting to have another child.
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How ranked-choice voting elevates women and people of color seeking office
The New York City mayoral race is the latest example of how an election system that gives voters the option to choose multiple candidates can change the dynamics of campaigning and shatter electability myths.
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A day of 'profound power': Biden declares Juneteenth a federal holiday
The country's first new federal holiday since 1983 is the fruit of a decades-long push to acknowledge the importance of emancipation.