A “Magical Moment” for Abortion Access
  December 18, 2025 Howdy, Meteor readers, After spending portions of this week kneading pizza dough, baking a bajillion cookies, and hand-churning vanilla ice cream—I will NEVER joke about being a one-woman bakeshop again. I’m leaving this to the professionals.  MY VERY PROFESSIONAL BAKING ASSISTANT KNEADING BAGEL DOUGH. AND YES THAT IS A BABY APRON. In today’s newsletter, we hear from the Slovenian activist who helped make history for abortion access in Europe. Plus, Scarlett Harris on the anniversary of that cinematic masterpiece: 9 to 5. Hanging up the apron, Shannon Melero  WHAT’S GOING ONA million voices strong: Yesterday, the European Parliament approved a citizens’ initiative (ECI) that will improve access to abortion care for women across Europe. The initiative, led by a group called My Voice, My Choice, calls for the European Union to fund abortions in any participating member state, even if the person seeking care is from a country with an abortion ban. That means that a pregnant woman in anti-abortion Poland could have a safe, legal procedure in Slovenia–and the EU would foot the bill. This unexpected victory is three full years in the making. “Everyone said it was impossible,” My Voice, My Choice founder Nika Kovač tells The Meteor. The current parliament, consisting of representatives from the member states of the European Union, was extra-conservative, and the group needed to collect one million signatures in a year for the ECI to be brought to the floor.  NOVAČ AND HER COLLEAGUES SHORTLY AFTER THE DECISION ON WEDNESDAY. (PHOTO BY ČRT PIKSI) People told Kovač she’d never get a million signatures. They were right: She didn’t get a million; she got more, 1.12 million. It was the fastest-growing ECI in history. But why would a woman from Slovenia, where abortion is a protected right, take up such a long-shot cause? “I was living in the United States when Roe v. Wade was overturned,” she says. “To me, it was so shocking that the rights of people could go backwards. That’s why I became obsessed with the idea that we need to do something in Europe so it wouldn’t happen to us.” Kovač spent several years collaborating with advocacy groups across Europe to bring this initiative to a vote, a “big-tent coalition” that, in addition to women’s organizations, also included men, religious people, and conservatives. Still, as recently as this week, she expected to lose. “At the debate [the day before the vote], the opponents seemed very organized,” she says. “But when the vote came in, it was one of the most beautiful feelings in the world. They tried to convince us for so long that reproductive rights was a divisive topic. This was a magical moment of maybe there is some hope in a time of darkness.”  SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO VOTED ON THE INITIATIVE. (PHOTO BY ČRT PIKSI) The hard work doesn’t stop there. The specifics of the funding and how exactly countries that opt in can receive it now rest in the hands of the European Commission, which has one year to set out any measures it deems necessary. My Voice, My Choice will be part of that fight, as well. But before all that, “we’ve decided to take a break for two weeks,” Kovač says. “Sometimes, the most revolutionary thing you can do is rest.” AND:
 9 to 5 Showed the Struggles of Women in the Workplace. If Only It Felt More Dated!Happy 45th birthday to a classic.BY SCARLETT HARRIS  THE HOLY TRINITY. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) In our post-girlboss landscape—where so much pop culture, from the truly terrible All’s Fair to next year’s The Devil Wears Prada 2, is set in the workplace—it may be hard to imagine, but when 9 to 5 hit theaters 45 years ago this month, people were hungry for media portrayals of working women. There were 25 million women in the workforce by then, one in three of whom were employed in clerical positions like those depicted in 9 to 5, but they didn’t show up much onscreen. 9 to 5 changed that The 1980 film, which still feels modern and vital, follows three women working at the Consolidated Companies: supervisor Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin), a widow who is angling for a promotion to support her four kids; Doralee Rhodes (Dolly Parton), the beleaguered assistant to nightmare boss Mr. Hart (Dabney Coleman); Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda), a wide-eyed divorcee entering the workforce for the first time; and their colleagues dealing with child care demands, unequal pay, and alcoholism. “For the first time on screen, you saw exactly what was happening in offices,” says Dame Jenni Murray in the 2022 documentary Still Working 9 to 5. And that was unpaid labor beyond the job description, like getting coffee at best and sexual harassment at worst. “I’m not your girl, your wife, or even your mistress,” Violet hisses at Mr. Hart, alluding to the office rumor that he’s been having an affair with Doralee. The characters also take on what Violet calls the “pink collar ghetto” of clerical work; she is continually passed over for a promotion in favor of the men she trained who need it more because they have families to support, and “clients would rather deal with a man.” As far as we like to think we’ve come, Fonda notes in the documentary, “It’s worse now. Where do you go to complain when you’re part of the gig economy?”  FONDA, EARLIER THIS MONTH AT THE DNC WINTER MEETING FOR STAND U FOR A LIVING WAGE. (VIA GETTY IMAGES Audiences ate it up: 9 to 5 was a box-office success, earning over $100 million on a $10 million budget, and was the second-highest-grossing movie of 1980 behind The Empire Strikes Back. A precursor to Bridesmaids and Girls Trip, 9 to 5 proved that the female-ensemble comedy was bankable. Violet, Judy, and Doralee see power in the collective, realizing that they are stronger together. They kidnap their boss, and the changes they enact in Mr. Hart’s absence—flexi-time, job sharing, office daycare, and disability accommodations (equal pay is a bridge too far)—show what a truly egalitarian (excuse me, ruined) workplace can look like. Doralee’s plotline also presages the #MeToo movement in 2017, when sexual harassment in the workplace was revealed to be all too common. (In an ironic turn of events, the 2009 Broadway musical adaptation of 9 to 5 was produced by Harvey Weinstein.) Judy, Doralee, and Violet briefly toy with publicizing Mr. Hart’s sexual harassment, but they ultimately believe no one would care. Forty-five years later, the problems in 9 to 5, as exemplified by the #MeToo movement, are stubbornly around, while other problems have popped up alongside them: the mass exodus of women from the workforce, the DEI backlash, the arrival of AI, and the cost-of-living crisis have all made work even more precarious. “No one should work full time and still have to choose between rent, food, or childcare,” Fonda said at a Stand Up for a Living Wage fundraiser earlier this month. “Low wages are not distributed equally. They fall hardest on women and especially women of color who make our restaurants, hospitals, and service industries function every single day. When we raise wages, we directly address gender inequality, racial injustice, and the economic barriers that have held entire communities back for generations.” As Parton sings in the iconic theme song she wrote for the movie, we’re all just “barely getting by, it’s all takin’ and no givin’.” Unfortunately, 9 to 5’s workplace commentary remains as relevant as ever. Luckily, it remains as enjoyable as ever, too.  WEEKEND READING 📚🎧On the long commute: Turns out getting to work is a lot harder when you’re a woman. (The Atlantic) On love and lust: It was a good year for yearning. (The Cut) On the bots: The online culture wars aren’t what they used to be. (There Are No Girls on the Internet)  FOLLOW THE METEOR     Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? |
