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

 Young students deciding on colleges weigh state politics in their decisions 

Savannah Sellers and Bianca Seward, NBC News 

An unexpected factor has made its way to the forefront for high school seniors deciding where to attend college: state politics. Roe v. Wade being overturned in 2022 has made a direct impact on college decisions for some high school students that fear that living in a state with limited access to abortion will lead to more restrictions on women’s rights in general. A survey conducted by Gallup in 2022 post the Dobbs ruling showed that 73% of unenrolled young adults said that reproductive health laws were a factor in their decision on where to enroll in college. In addition to political concerns, finances remain high on the priority list, especially for parents, when it comes to college decisions. 

Read the full story here. 

Biden campaign puts reproductive rights front and center as it plans to tie Trump to abortion bans 

Arlette Saenz, CNN 

As the Biden campaign begins to hit the trail for the 2024 presidential election, abortion rights are at the focus. Using the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration is beginning to lean into making reproductive rights a focal point of the campaign. In battleground states, the Biden campaign will air an abortion focused ad with featuring an emotional testimony from a woman affected by the state abortion ban. The Biden administration is hoping to replicate the success democrats saw around the issue of abortion in the 2022 midterms in other recent elections.  

Read the full story here. 

Women Directors Have Three Best Picture Nominees, Setting Oscar Record 

Clayton Davis, Variety 

For the first time in Oscar’s history, three of the 10 movies nominated for best picture were directed by women. The movies making milestones for women include Justine Treit’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Celine Song’s “Past Lives.” In addition, women produced seven of the 10 nominated movies for best picture, and producer and star of “Poor Things,” Emma Stone, became the second woman recognized for best picture and acting in the same year. History was made again when Lily Gladstone, star of “Killers of the Flower Moon” was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the first Native American woman to accomplish this. 

Read the full story here. 

Arizona lawmakers want to build a Sandra Day O’Connor statue. Her family isn’t on board. 

Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, Arizona Mirror, The 19th* 

Arizona lawmakers proposed a bipartisan resolution that would see the replacement of a current statue in Statuary Hall in Arizona with one of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the high court. O’Connor’s son later reported that the family was not consulted on the project and prefers one previously approved in April 2022 that would place a permanent statue of O’Connor in the U.S. Capitol. O’Connor’s son said that rather than the new statue, he encouraged legislators to, “… sponsor legislation to create robust civics education in Arizona schools, something the late Justice was an advocate for and pioneered …”  

Read the full story here. 

White House launches gun safety initiative with first lady Jill Biden 

Chris Megerian, Associated Press 

On Thursday, the White House unveiled a new initiative to help spread awareness about the importance for storing firearms safely to protect children. This gun safety initiative has educators and school leaders at the forefront, including first lady Jill Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, in addition to Stefanie Feldman, head of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The announcement rollout includes a guide to safe firearm storage from the Justice Department, and a distribution of materials to schools that can be shared with families through the Education Department.  

Read the full story here.