Recent data shows the gender pay gap widened again in 2025, in both hourly and salaried occupations, continuing a concerning shift after years of slow progress.
Women earned about 82. …
As of March 2026, Arizona’s women’s rights landscape is defined by a combination of voter-approved protections and ongoing legislative and legal challenges.
In 2024, voters approved Proposition 139, …
Note from Julie
Hi — I’m Julie, founder of the Women’s Rights Data Initiative.
I started WRDI because I was struggling to understand what was actually happening to women’ …
As of March 2026, Texas continues to have some of the widest gaps in women’s rights protections in the country. Recent legislative actions have reinforced that direction, expanding the …
Texas’ Medicaid program covers millions of low-income children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities. But the state remains one of ten that have not expanded Medicaid to cover low-income …
In August 2025, a federal appeals court upheld Texas’s mail-ballot ID-number matching rule, reversing a lower court's decision and putting the stricter requirement back in place. The …
HB 7 authorizes private citizens to sue those who manufacture, distribute, mail, deliver, prescribe, or otherwise provide abortion-inducing drugs to or from Texas. The law exempts pregnant patients from being …
A maternal care desert is a place where people who are pregnant or giving birth have a hard time getting maternity care. Sometimes there’s no hospital nearby that delivers …
As of March 2026, Texas continues to have some of the widest gaps in women’s rights protections in the country. Recent legislative actions have reinforced that direction, expanding the …
A maternal care desert is a place where people who are pregnant or giving birth have a hard time getting maternity care. Sometimes there’s no hospital nearby that delivers …
Texas’ Medicaid program covers millions of low-income children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities. But the state remains one of ten that have not expanded Medicaid to cover low-income …
In August 2025, a federal appeals court upheld Texas’s mail-ballot ID-number matching rule, reversing a lower court's decision and putting the stricter requirement back in place. The …
HB 7 authorizes private citizens to sue those who manufacture, distribute, mail, deliver, prescribe, or otherwise provide abortion-inducing drugs to or from Texas. The law exempts pregnant patients from being …
Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 18 in June 2025, a sweeping rural health law designed to keep small hospitals open and expand access to care in underserved parts of the …
In 2024, Texas expanded postpartum Medicaid and CHIP coverage from 2 months to 12. The bipartisan bill (HB 12) aims to improve maternal health by allowing new mothers to continue …
In June of this year, Texas passed SB 1362, which bans state and local officials from recognizing, serving, or enforcing ERPOs (Extreme Risk Protective Orders), including those issued by other …
On May 19, 2021, Governor Abbott signed SB 8, also known as the Heartbeat Act, prohibiting doctors from performing abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, typically around 6 weeks. …
Texas public universities spent 2024 dismantling DEI offices to comply with SB 17, which has meant program closures and layoffs at places like UT Austin. Students and staff describe losing …
Women’s rights in this state are shaped by laws that significantly restrict access and leave little room for protection. Many of these policies are firmly embedded, making change slow and difficult. WRDI closely tracks Texas and reports on developments that deepen restrictions—or create rare openings for relief or legal challenge.
