Happy Friday! Welcome to our Media Round Up. Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Here’s what caught our eye this week:

Meet the history-makers of the 118th Congress

Jack Forrest, Sarah Fortinsky, Andrew Menezes and Gregory Krieg, CNN

The 118^th Congress being sworn in soon will shatter several glass ceilings for women. 149 women will serve in the 118^th Congress, an increase from the 147 women sworn into the 117^th Congress. Fifty-eight women of color will serve in the 118^th Congress, and in the House there will be a record number of Latinas and Black women breaking two more records. The new Congress will also include the longest-serving woman in congressional history, Representative Marcy Kaptur. Some of the newcomers who made history in Congress include Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Democrat Andre Salinas who are the first two Latinas elected to Congress from Oregon, and Democrat Shri Thanedar who is the first Indian American elected to Congress from Michigan.

Read the full story here.

The Pelosi Era Comes to a Close

Carl Hulse, New York Times

At noon this past Tuesday, Representative Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) era as Speaker of the House came to a close. Some of Pelosi’s trailblazing legacy as the leader of the Democrats in the House includes advocacy for legislature on climate change, health care, and public works. One of Representative Pelosi’s biggest accomplishments includes the approval of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Representative Pelosi will be succeeded by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the first African American to lead a party in either chamber of Congress.

Read the full story here.

US regulator moves to expand access to abortion pills

Lauren Fedor, Financial Times

The Food and Drug Administration will now allow brick-and-mortar retail pharmacies in the US to offer abortion pills for the first time. The rule changes made by the FDA on Tuesday represent a significant win for reproductive rights activists who have been advocating for access to abortion since the overturn of Roe v. Wade (1973) last June. Under the previous administration, birth control pills were accessible at medical clinics or via mail-order from online pharmacies who received permission for this during the pandemic.

Read the full story here.

More women are being detained as jail populations near pre-COVID levels

Candice Norwood, The 19^th*

After seeing significant declines in early 2020, jail populations throughout the country are near pre-pandemic levels. Even though women represent a small percentage of the country’s incarcerated population, the group’s rates of incarceration have increased more quickly from 2021 to 2022 than men’s. New York University’s Public Safety Lab started the Jail Data Initiative to assist in collecting data on women’s incarceration rates. Anna Harvey, director of NYU’s Public Safety Lab says, “When I was looking for data on jail incarceration and not finding any systematic collection of data, it occurred to me that we could create this data of national scope by leveraging the fact that many jails post their daily jail rosters online every day.”

Read the full story here.

Patty Murray makes history as first female Senate pro tem

Liz Goodwin, Washington Post

On Tuesday, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was elected Senate president pro tempore. Senator Murray is the first woman to hold the job, putting her third in line of presidential succession. Senator Murray was first elected to Congress in 1992, a self-proclaimed “mom in tennis shoes.” The Senate president pro tempore roles include presiding over the Senate, signing legislation, and leading the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Murray said she hopes to use her role to be a “problem solver in the Senate,” helping to craft bipartisan solutions to keep the government functioning.

Read the full story here.