This Is Not Just a Budget. It’s a War on Women.

They didn’t just vote to gut programs. They voted to gut women’s lives.

Last week, in the dark of night, House Republicans passed a budget bill that slashes billions in federal spending on Medicaid, SNAP (food assistance), childcare, home energy assistance and disability support. The budget bill will cut direct support to tens of millions of working-class families—and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, millions more will lose their health insurance through changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace.

This is not just cruel. It’s calculated.

And it will hit women hardest.

The proposed cuts will impact millions of middle- and working-class families—but they will disproportionately harm women, especially:

• Poor women who are pregnant: At a time when Medicaid covers 41 percent of all births in the U.S.—will be left with fewer prenatal visits, fewer safe births, and fewer chances to survive childbirth.
• Infants and young children will go without food and basic healthcare. Fewer immunizations. Fewer early screenings.
• Mothers will be forced to leave their jobs just as child care subsidies disappear and housing becomes even more unaffordable.
• Women students and new graduates will lose access to job training and pathways to independence.
• Women with disabilities will face devastating rollbacks in essential services and care.
• Women in the sandwich generation—both taking care of children and caring for aging parents—who are so often the unpaid caregivers in this country, will be punished for doing the work of caring for children and aging parents.
• Older women, who make up the largest share of nursing home residents and rely heavily on Medicaid, will lose long-term care support.

For what? To pay for massive tax breaks for the richest Americans.

According to the just-released nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model, the top 0.1 percent of earners—those making $4.3 million or more per year—will see their after-tax income INCREASE by an average of $389,280 in 2026. Meanwhile, Americans making less than $51,000 a year will actually see their after-tax income DECREASE. (This analysis was reported by journalist Judd Legum in Popular Information.)

This is not fiscal responsibility. It is a redistribution of wealth—from the most vulnerable to the most powerful. And it is being done at the direct expense of women’s health, safety and economic security.

Now, the bill moves to the U.S. Senate. And the question is no longer if women will be hurt. It’s how many. It’s how deeply. It’s how soon.

We have one month to stop these devastating cuts.

How?

Contact your senators—Republicans and Democrats alike—and tell them to reject these cruel, calculated cuts. Tell them to protect women, families, caregivers and our most basic support systems.

And tell your stories. As Sage Warner, the stories director at Center for American Progress, wrote for Ms. this week:

“We have one month to stop this bill from becoming law. As it moves to the Senate, we must continue building and amplifying platforms that let constituent voices permeate government decision-making—whether that takes place in the halls of Congress, via news feeds or in the inboxes of their representatives. Stories alone won’t stop bad policy. But they can challenge indifference, mobilize public pressure and drive home the real cost of cutting life-saving programs for American families.” 

Have a story to tell about how cuts to healthcare or food aid would affect you or your community? We want to hear from you. Pitch your story to Ms. as an op-ed; learn more at msmagazine.com/submissions.

This is our line in the sand. Join us—in fury and in action.

P.S. While we fight back, we can also dream: What if we had a Black woman president? Ms. contributor Janell Hobson dares to imagine just that in a powerful new essay. In the face of relentless attacks, envisioning bold feminist futures is itself an act of resistance.