A Quarter of Gen Z Men Think Women Should "Obey" Their Husbands

3.11.26

Click to skip ahead: Arizona GOP Moves to Ban Pro-Choice Speech on Campus; 1 in 4 Gen Z Men Say Women Should “Obey” Their Husbands; Bill to Punish Abortion Patients Fails in Tennessee; Josh Hawley Attacks Abortion Pills in New Legislation; Americans Fleeing Anti-Abortion States; In the States: Wyoming, Arizona, West Virginia; In the Nation

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Kansas Republicans Are Sneaking a Ban into ERA Ballot Measure

Republicans in Kansas, who have been unsuccessfully trying to ban abortion for years, have a disgusting new tactic: they’re sneaking a ban into an equal rights amendment. That’s right—they’re trying to put an ERA on the ballot that would ban abortion.

The Kansas Reflector reports that Republican Sen. Mike Thompson has introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 1623, which is clearly marked an “equal rights” measure. If there was any question that this proposed amendment was meant to trick voters, just take a look at the document itself:

It’s the italicized “and women” that really did me in. Thompson is working hard to make it seem like this amendment is about gender equality. The real goal, of course, is to codify fetal personhood.

It’s important to remember that Kansas voters already rejected an anti-abortion amendment in 2022. And Republicans know that!

In fact, Republicans in every state know that voters don’t want abortion restricted—they simply don’t care.

Abortion, Every Day has covered quite a lot of anti-abortion trickery in the last few years, but trying to sneak a ban into an ERA might be the wildest move yet. (By the way, I shared a video about this on Instagram and TikTok. I’ve noticed more suppression of my content than usual, so if you feel like commenting or sharing, it would go a long way!)

Arizona GOP Moves to Ban Pro-Choice Speech on Campus

Arizona Republicans are advancing legislation that would effectively ban pro-choice speech on college campuses. And remember—abortion is legal in Arizona.

As we reported earlier this month, HB 2060 would make it illegal for employees at public universities or community colleges to “encourage or facilitate” abortion. That language is deliberately sweeping: professors could be punished for saying anything remotely pro-choice, students could be barred from organizing abortion rights groups on campus, and health center staff would be legally prohibited from telling pregnant patients that abortion is even an option.

The bill—which just passed the Arizona House—is just one part of a broader attack on abortion-related speech that we’ve been covering for months: from Republican attorneys general suing pro-choice groups that share information about abortion to an array of bills in banned states that would outlaw advertising abortion pills.

But it’s the attacks on campus speech that are especially notable: an Indiana professor was recently demoted for a pro-choice op-ed she wrote in 2022, Dr. Shelley Sella’s speech to medical students was canceled in Texas, and anti-abortion groups like Students for Life are asking students and staff at religiously-affiliated universities to snitch on each other over pro-choice “infractions.”

Thankfully, students are fighting back: last summer, for example, we told you about the college activists at Illinois’s DePaul University who secretly distribute emergency contraception to each other. (It’s a Catholic college—don’t tell Students for Life.)

One final reminder about Arizona: the state just enshrined an abortion rights ballot measure in 2024. That’s why this year’s midterms will be crucial for the state—with the Democratic governor and attorney general both up for reelection. HB 2060 reminds us exactly what the stakes are.

1 in 4 Gen Z Men Say Women Should “Obey” Their Husbands

Well this is a nightmare: A new global study found that nearly a third of Gen Z men believe “a wife should always obey her husband.” When it comes to young American men, 23% reported the same.

Just as troubling, young men hold more traditional views about gender roles than their fathers and grandfathers did. The study—conducted by Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College—found that Gen Z men were twice as likely as Boomer men to have traditional beliefs about gender.

Some other notable takeaways on young men in the U.S.:

• 44% say “men are being expected to do too much to support equality”

• 25% say the “husband should have the final word on important decisions made in his home”

• 40% believe “we have gone so far in promoting women's equality that we are discriminating against men”

This is part of the reason that conservatives are so keen on targeting college campuses! Indoctrinating young people is part of their long-term vision—and when it comes to young men, it’s working. That’s why groups like the Heritage Foundation have moved on to girls and young women:

They're Coming for Our Daughters

Bill to Punish Abortion Patients Fails in Tennessee

Let’s move on to some good news: a Tennessee bill that would have punished abortion patients with execution or life in prison has died in committee this week. We’ve been following HB 570 for a while now—along with all the other ‘equal protection’ bills introduced across the country.

As you likely know, these bills are coming from extremists who call themselves abortion ‘abolitionists’. They’re ultra-religious, ultra-misogynist, and ultra-terrifying.

Consider the scene at the Tennessee statehouse yesterday when HB 570 failed in committee. Outbursts from ‘abolitionists’ were so intense that lawmakers had to clear the room. From The Tennessean:

“‘Cowards and heretics everywhere!’ one person yelled.

Outside the chamber, a crowd of ‘abortion abolition’ supporters, predominantly bearded men, belted out the hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” near the committee chamber doors. They followed the hymn with the doxology, hands raised in worship. Off to one side, a group of women, some wearing head coverings, held babies and watched children. A few women wearing ankle-length skirts were interspersed through the crowd.

‘Christ is king! Christ is king! Christ is king!’ the men boomed, raising fists into the air after finishing their songs.”

So yeah, terrifying. That’s why I have such incredible respect for Allie Phillips, who walked up to these maniacs, told her abortion story, and refused to let them interrupt her.

Phillips—who ran for office in 2024 after being denied a health- and life-saving abortion—happened to be in the building for work when she saw the ‘abolitionists’ protesting. She tells AED that she decided to say something after the group finished a prayer but neglected to say anything about women.

“I saw a lot of submissive and quiet wives,” Phillips says.

“I didn’t give a fuck about the men. I wanted the women in the room and the children—in case they never hear a point of view about what they’re being told—to hear from me. Because I may be the only time they ever hear the other side of the story.”

🔥🔥🔥

Watch the video of the interaction at Phillips’ Instagram account, and read the 2025 guest post she wrote for AED. We’re also glad to be able to say that Phillips is running for House District 75 again—because Tennessee needs her.

Josh Hawley Attacks Abortion Pills in New Legislation

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has introduced new federal legislation to ban the use of mifepristone to end pregnancies—claiming in a press release that his bill will “empower women.”

Hawley has long been a leading voice against abortion rights: he’s lobbied the Trump administration to crack down on the mailing of the medication, and helped prop up a bogus anti-mifepristone study. Late last year, he even launched a dark money organization with his wife, anti-abortion attorney Erin Hawley, aimed at boosting extremist candidates who oppose abortion.

At a press conference for the bill, Hawley hosted women who say they’ve been harmed by the drug—keeping with the longstanding anti-abortion trend of pretending that restrictions are actually about protection. (Hawley even calls the legislation the “Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act.”)

We already knew that was bullshit, but what really drove the hypocrisy home was who Hawley chose to stand beside him: Christina Francis, president of the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG). This is a group that believes children should be forced to give birth, that women should be made to carry nonviable pregnancies to term, that certain forms of birth control are really abortions, and—perhaps most egregiously—that abortion is never necessary to save women’s lives.

At the press conference, Francis blasted mifepristone, saying: “The purpose of medicine is health, healing and wholeness—and dangerous abortion drugs are the exact opposite.”

I’d love for Francis to explain to Americans what exactly is “healing” about forcing patients whose pregnancies won’t survive to give birth to dead babies. Or what is “whole” about patients with massive placental abruptions being forced to labor for 24 hours—receiving blood transfusions in the ICU—just so doctors can deliver an “intact fetal body.”

Because that’s what her organization actually advises doctors to do. That’s what Hawley and his allies call “empowerment.”

Americans Fleeing Anti-Abortion States

Don’t let anyone convince you abortion isn’t an economic issue. New research shows that rental prices are going down in anti-abortion states while vacancies go up—yet another reminder that Americans don’t want to live under abortion bans.

The National Bureau of Economic Research reports that since Dobbs, housing markets in banned states have faced a 2.2% decline in rental prices compared with markets in states without bans. Rental vacancies increased by 1.1% in these same markets. It’s almost like people are afraid to have families in states where the laws could kill them. From The 19th:

“The paper is part of a growing body of research showing how abortion bans are reshaping communities. Other studies have linked abortion bans to higher rates of poverty and higher property crime rates, and found that they may be driving young people to leave their home states. Surveys have shown that aspiring doctors—especially those training to OBGYNs—are less likely to choose residencies in states with abortion bans.”

This is consistent with other post-Dobbs economic impacts that AED has reported on: States that ban abortion are losing over $130 billion annually. That’s because large swaths of the labor force won’t work in states that ban abortion, residents are moving away in droves, and growing numbers of young people aren’t even applying to college in abortion-banned states.

This election year, you’ll hear a lot about ‘affordability’ and the need for Democrats to focus on ‘economic’ rather than ‘social’ issues. Abortion is absolutely inextricable from the economy.

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Going to SXSW? Then you’ll want to stop by Friday’s panel, “The Real Fight Is Local: Repro Freedom State by State.” You’ll hear from the brilliant leaders at the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, Public Rights Project, National Women’s Law Center, and the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity.

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In the States: Wyoming, Arizona, West Virginia

WyoFile reports that Wyoming abortion rights advocates have already challenged the state’s new abortion ban. Earlier this week, Gov. Mark Gordon signed a ‘heartbeat ban’ into law, essentially spitting in the face of the state Supreme Court—which ruled that abortion is protected by the state constitution. The plaintiffs are asking for the law to be blocked while the suit makes its way through the courts.

Arizona Republicans are pushing a bill that would allow women to seek child support from the first positive pregnancy test—a move to codify fetal personhood while feigning concern for women and children. HB 2144 would add “pre-born child” to state law, defining life as beginning at conception. As Reproductive Freedom for All pointed out to lawmakers this week, the legislation clearly undermines the pro-choice amendment voters passed in 2024.

And in West Virginia, Republicans have introduced legislation (SB 921) that would permanently ban Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care and abortions. But the bill goes even further: it would strip funding not just from providers who offer that care, but from anyone who “counsels,” “refers,” or “promotes” it. Even “affiliating” with organizations that provide such services could cost them their funding.

Quick hits:

• Oklahoma’s public radio station, KGOU, has more on the legislation that would prohibit the state from regulating crisis pregnancy centers;

• A new Washington law will allow the state to sell or donate its stockpile of abortion pills that’s close to expiring;

• Abortion Forward has a Bluesky thread breaking down the ‘Baby Olivia’ hearing in Ohio.

“Too often, common choices are recast as something nefarious and used to determine arrest or prosecution: What did you do before the stillbirth? Did you go to the hospital? Did you Google how to get abortion pills? Did you want this pregnancy? Why did you miscarry in the toilet? Why did you flush the fetal remains? Why did you bury the fetal remains? Why did you bring the remains to the hospital? Why did you put them in a plastic bag?”

- Alanna Vagianos, When Miscarriage Is Recast As Murder, HuffPost

In the Nation

• A broad coalition of 22 Democratic attorneys general have filed an amicus brief challenging the Trump administration’s attacks on the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate.

• Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has done us a favor by compiling all the bullshit Republicans have been up to on abortion pills.

• NPR is collecting stories about people’s experiences with telehealth abortion medication, if you know someone who’d like to share.

• And of all the stories that The New York Times could do about Planned Parenthood, it’s telling that they decided to write this one.