In abusive relationships, the end can be the most dangerous part Two tragedies, in Virginia and Louisiana, highlight the peril that some women and children face during divorce or separation.

“At the point when a woman is choosing to try and leave a violent and abusive partner, husband — especially when there are children involved — it means that the violence has escalated for some time."

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigns from Congress amid expulsion threat The Florida Democrat, under indictment on charges of stealing federal funds, resigned just before the House Ethics Committee was set to hold a hearing on whether to recommend she be expelled.

The Florida Democrat announced her resignation just before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote Tuesday afternoon on whether she should face expulsion after she was found guilty of over two dozen ethics violations last month.

Peptides do a lot. Do you need them? Peptides — whether insulin or GLP-1's or copper peptides — amplify the work your body is already doing. But they aren't the solution to everything.

I, too, have wondered, what the hell *are* peptides?

@jennifergerson.bsky.social's latest column.

Sexual misconduct by lawmakers is widespread — but often goes unreported New data from the nonprofit National Women’s Defense League, shared first with The 19th, comes on the heels of the resignations of two members of Congress.

The majority of the allegations of workplace sexual harassment against members of Congress, 77 percent, involved misconduct against congressional staff, while 9 percent involved lobbyists and another 9 percent involved those not in formal political roles.

In two months, Trump’s Cabinet has lost three women Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi were ousted by the president; now the Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who has been embroiled in scandals, is resigning.

All three women former Cabinet members had received public blowback for various aspects of their performance in their roles.

Employers trust them in their homes. But can immigrant nannies and cleaners trust their employers? Domestic workers — many of them lacking permanent legal status — live in fear of their employers, who they say are now more likely to use their immigration status to exploit them.

“None of us know which party people support," she said. “Because of what’s going on right now I choose what to say and what not to say to people. I do not give too much information because I don’t know. Even a casual question could be a set-up.”

We're hiring a contract LGBTQ+ reporter The 19th is seeking a part-time contract reporter to report, write and produce coverage of LGBTQ+ issues, focusing on the intersections with politics and elections.

We're hiring a contract LGBTQ+ part-time contract reporter to report, write and produce coverage of LGBTQ+ issues, focusing on the intersections with politics and elections. Apply by May 1.
19thnews.org/2026/04/cont...

Politics is shaken by a new wave of #MeToo reckonings The accusations against Rep. Eric Swalwell — and his swift resignation after they became public — are driving a renewed focus on sexual misconduct and abuse in Washington.

“There is currently a survivor and sexual abuse issue that is at the epicenter of national and global politics right now,” she added. “I would like to say that I don’t know how much more evidence people need that this is something that should be prioritized.”

GOP House majority shrinks as Democrat wins New Jersey special election Progressive activist Analilia Mejia, who campaigned on affordability for the working class, will finish out Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s term.

Mejia defeated Republican Joe Hathaway and will complete the congressional term of fellow Democrat Mikie Sherrill, who was elected governor in November.

There’s a name for secretly removing a condom during sex without consent: stealthing Nonconsensual condom removal and other forms of reproductive coercion can have grave consequences, but few states offer recourse for survivors.

“The amount of harm that [stealthing] can cause, and the amount of disruption to somebody’s life. is definitely increased now that forms of birth control, including abortion, are very restricted in access or hard to attain,” Martone said.

Domestic violence organizations turn away thousands each day. Julia was one of them. An already underfunded system is under even more stress, as cases have gotten more complex and the Trump administration has sown confusion.

“The numbers of people they’re serving every year may have stayed flat, or even gone down a little bit, but they’re spending more time with each victim, and each victim has more holistic and complicated needs,” Engel said.

On Capitol Hill, survivors push for change as Congress confronts its own misconduct Advocates with RAINN urged lawmakers to fund critical support services and address the rapid rise of tech-enabled sexual abuse.

“Two congressmen are out... I am furious. Furious that it takes this long, furious we have a culture that silences those kinds of behaviors, and furious that these women have to come forward in shadow, sometimes for their own protection.”

@gracepanetta.bsky.social reports.

They served their prison time. Then came deportation. JJ and Nataly Marinero, two trans immigrants, were rebuilding their lives after incarceration. Their freedom was short-lived.

In January 2025, he received a call from a woman who said she was his parole officer. This struck Marinero as odd, because this was a different officer from the man he had previously spoken with. The woman demanded Marinero come to the front of his reentry home, he said.

Should I try cold plunging? Here’s what to know about the potential impact on the body — especially during perimenopause and menopause.

"But not all of us are elite athletes. Not all of us can afford a boutique cold plunge membership. And, well, not all of us hear about sitting in a tub of cold water and think, 'Wow that sounds like so much fun!'"

How the GOP motivated these women faith leaders to run for Congress as Democrats More Democratic clergy members are running for office as the GOP embraces Christian nationalist talking points — and Trump posts a Jesus-like image of himself.

“I think people are realizing that there’s been a vacuum that was created by well-intentioned people not talking about how faith and politics intersect, and the vacuum was filled by the religious right,” Trone Garriott said.

DOJ report said the Biden administration unfairly targeted anti-abortion activists A report defends Trump’s mass pardoning of 23 people who were convicted under the Biden administration for violating the FACE Act, saying it was anti-Christian bias.

The accusations come in the first report from the Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group,” which has been tasked with going after law enforcement officials who have investigated President Donald Trump, including New York Attorney General Letitia James + former special counsel Jack Smith.

What it’s like to go through perimenopause and menopause in prison Limited information and a lack of informed health care providers make this life transition even more difficult for incarcerated people.

“She said the most magical words I’ve ever heard, and I felt so much better: ‘You are not crazy,’” Harris said. “I remember saying ‘thank you’ out loud.”

There’s a growing push to expel two members of Congress accused of sexual misconduct In the wake of separate allegations, Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of California's governor race and Rep. Tony Gonzales dropped his bid for reelection in Texas.

Dozens of Swalwell’s former congressional and campaign staffers also signed a public letter Sunday calling for him to drop out of the gubernatorial race — which he did that night — and resign from the House. They also called on law enforcement to open a full investigation into the allegations.

GOP states are taking up voting laws modeled after Trump’s SAVE America Act Ahead of midterm elections, some states are putting into effect new measures, including requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Republican governors in Florida, Mississippi, Utah and South Dakota recently signed bills that would require documentary proof of citizenship for people looking to register ahead of state and local elections.

The wild saga of FDR’s $1 million gay military sex sting In 1919, before he was president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt approved a secret operation that led senators to say he should never be allowed to hold public office.

Rhea DeBussy, a lecturer at Ohio State University wrote about the scandal in her new book “The Lavender Bans” which tracks queer history in the U.S. military. DeBussy noted that the Navy allocated $50,000 to the operation, the equivalent of just over a million dollars today.

Federal grants can save the lives of abuse victims. $200 million is sitting unspent. Changes made by the White House are preventing the distribution of funds meant to help survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and trafficking. This year’s grants are missing too.

Congress appropriated $713 million to the office in fiscal 2025, which ended September 30. Only $472 million of that has been distributed, according to an analysis of publicly available documents by The 19th.

What it really means to be a girl’s girl The reaction to “Summer House” drama and “not a girl’s girl” indictment aren’t just about friendship — they’re also about feminism, femininity and excusing men.

“It’s a surface level way of paying lip service to a certain kind of politics while just sort of defaulting back into the comfort zone of engaging in the default, which is patriarchy, which is sexism."

What leading Planned Parenthood is like now As the political energy around abortion rights shifts, Alexis McGill Johnson is navigating the future direction of the organization.

“When I look at where Planned Parenthood is in this moment, we are navigating all of the chaos, but also looking for where the opportunities are inside that chaos,” McGill Johnson said. “Chaos is a strategy: throw everything at people so they don’t know where to look or how to fight.”

Liberals expand their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Liberal Judge Chris Taylor defeated conservative Judge Maria Lazar on Tuesday for an open seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court.

State Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin are technically nonpartisan but have become heavily politicized in recent years. Conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley’s retirement opened up another seat with a 10-year term on the high court.

Do I need a vibration plate? On social media, people are insisting that they're shaking their metabolisms back into shape. Here's what to know.

"She’s burning fat! She’s getting rid of pesky cellulite! She’s definitely making claims about bone density and lean muscle mass! And I don’t really know what’s happening but she’s saying something about lymphatic drainage."

@jennifergerson.bsky.social latest for her Menopause newsletter.

As parents seek out ‘vaccine friendly’ clinics, pediatricians worry about eroding trust Most pediatricians support childhood vaccinations. Here’s why they’re seeing unvaccinated kids anyway.

“The environment has changed. There’s more and more people with questions,” Kressly said. “We are no longer speaking with one voice with policymakers, and so we are meeting the moment with what families need and deserve in order to make the best decisions for their kids.”

Book - Bradley Akubuiro The definitive guide to crisis management in the modern era—where speed, complexity, and resilience define success.

So incredibly proud of my friend and @19thnews.org board member, Bradley Akubuiro. His book, Faster. Messier. Tougher. is finally out in the world! Get your copy today!

bradleyakubuiro.com/book/

Is fracking in Texas endangering a day care's children? After years of opposition, a new drill site near where children learn and play has resurfaced a community's fears about the dangers it poses.

“The burdens of fracking were so unequally distributed,” she said. “The other bigger picture that people seem to miss when they say, ‘It’s OK to put it somewhere else, just not near me,’ is that you always will preserve a safe place. Sacrifice zones are safe spaces for polluters.”

Gender-affirming care is becoming a political test for top medical groups The country’s largest organization representing doctors is being pressed by Republican attorneys general on health care for trans youth.

As patients, families and doctors navigate this care in an increasingly confusing and hostile landscape, what medical groups say matters. But lately, what they’ve had to say — and how politicians interpret it — has only caused more uncertainty.

Pam Bondi out as attorney general She is the second Cabinet member to be ousted by President Trump, following former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last month.

Bondi is the second Cabinet member to be ousted so far in President Donald Trump’s second term, and both have been women: former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the face of the administration’s aggressive mass deportation agenda, left her post last month.