Running, Walking, Crawling for Justice

May 15, 2025

An endurance athlete becomes a champion for assault survivors ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

May 15, 2025

Greetings, Meteor readers,

I had a delightful and tear-inducing conversation with a young woman today (read some of it below) that reminded me just how much many of us suffer in silence. If that’s you, please know: We hear you even if you’re whispering.

In today’s newsletter, the clock is counting down on the Summer Willis Act, a Texas bill that could reshape the future for sexual assault survivors. Plus, a heartbreaking case in Georgia and your weekend reading list.

For the quiet ones,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Codifying consent: In just about two weeks, the 89th Texas legislature will adjourn and will not return until January of 2027, meaning that any bills that aren’t voted on during this session will remain in limbo for two years. For Summer Willis–a Texas mom of two, endurance athlete, and fierce advocate for an anti-rape bill making its way through the State Senate–that’s two years too long.

You may have heard of Summer Willis: She ran the course of the New York City marathon (on International Women’s Day) last year while carrying a mattress to raise awareness about sexual abuse. For her, it was personal: When Willis was a sophomore at University of Texas-Austin in 2014, she says, she was drugged and raped at a frat party. She didn’t go to the police or school at the time. But later, she learned that what had happened to her was not even classified as rape because of the murkiness of Texas’s sexual assault law. Because one person had given her a spiked drink and a different man raped her, she says, the latter could not be tried since he didn’t “voluntarily intoxicate” her. The lack of legal clarity around consent means that many assaults, especially ones committed on college campuses, effectively disappear.

“My rape is not considered rape in Texas right now,” Willis says. “Neither are the [rapes of] thousands of Texans.”

She tried to bury the trauma until two years ago, shortly after the birth of her second child. In the thick of postpartum, she says she looked her boys in the eyes and said, “I promise y’all I will try to become the woman I used to believe I could be.” She took up running, believing that it would “make me strong and resilient and find all the answers I’ve been seeking for 10 years.” When she began sharing her story of survival with other runners and moms, she was shocked by how many of them relayed similar stories. “I was never planning on being an advocate,” she says. “But I just met too many survivors.”

WILLIS CROSSING TOWER BRIDGE AT THE LONDON MARATHON, WITH MORE JOY THAN ANYONE WOULD EXPECT FROM SOMEONE DOING THIS MUCH RUNNING. SUPER HUMAN. (COURTESY OF SUMMER WILLIS)

In February, Willis crawled half the distance of the Austin Marathon and ran the rest, the starting point of her run just across the street from where she was assaulted. (She told Runner’s World that the crawl was a metaphor for the difficulty survivors face in the search for justice.) Afterward, HB 3073’s sponsors informed Willis they would be renaming the bill in her honor. If passed, the law would codify and provide a legal definition of consent, including a stipulation that there can be no consent if a victim is intoxicated or unaware an assault is happening. “I feel the weight of all survivors in Texas on my shoulders,” she says. Although Willis thinks simply defining consent is “not enough,” the bill “will finally tell so many survivors that their rape counts.”

Although HB 3073 passed the House earlier this month with overwhelming bipartisan support and is (shockingly) a top priority of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s sexual assault task force, the clock is ticking before the legislative session ends on June 2. So what can we do? Texans can contact their senators, and Willis says the two men who need to really feel the love for this bill are Mike Ward (R-TX) and Pete Flores (R-TX). You can also find resources and follow Willis’ work by supporting her organization, Strength Through Strides.

AND:

A stunningly cruel violation of bodily autonomy is happening in Georgia. A 30-year-old woman named Adriana Smith, who was declared brain-dead after suffering blood clots more than 90 days ago, is being kept alive by the state because she’s pregnant. Georgia has a six-week abortion ban with very limited exceptions, which doctors apparently believe renders the family’s wishes irrelevant. “This decision should’ve been left to us,” Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, told Atlanta’s 11Alive. Smith, who’s a registered nurse and has a young son, had fallen ill at nine weeks pregnant; she’s now 21 weeks, and the hospital now plans to keep her on life support until 32 weeks gestation. According to Newkirk, Smith’s doctor said that there is fluid on the fetus’s brain, which means he may not be able to see, walk, or even survive. “Now we’re left wondering what kind of life he’ll have—and we’re going to be the ones raising him,” said Newkirk, who characterized the last few months as “torture.” (In case you’re wondering: No, the state will not be paying the family’s mounting medical bills.) In reaction to the story, Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, told Newsweek: “Black women must be trusted when it comes to our health care decisions…Our lives are on the line, and our human right to bodily autonomy has been violated.”
Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments brought by the Trump administration over whether or not lower courts can continue halting executive orders. The case specifically addresses Trump’s EO seeking to overturn birthright citizenship—the right that any person born in the United States is automatically a citizen regardless of their parents’ status—but it could have much larger implications. The Court is divided over the scope of injunctions and how they impact nationwide policy, but Justice Elena Kagan saw the administration’s challenge for what it was: a complaint from a team that keeps losing in the lower courts. “If I were in your shoes, there’s no way I’d approach the Supreme Court with this case,” she said.
On this day, 77 years ago, 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homes in what is now known as Al-Nakba, an Arabic word which translates to “the catastrophe.” As yet another set of catastrophes continues to be inflicted on the Palestinian population, we share with you the words of Dr. Shirin Zarqa-Lederman, who wrote for The Meteor in 2022: “In our homeland and across the diaspora we fight, and rally, and shout, and above all we remember. We remember and we hold the pain of our elders so that the Indigenous people of Palestine—no matter their religion—are not forgotten.”
Fans of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we summon thee. A new slayer has been chosen for the Hulu reboot. But don’t be too worried; Sarah Michelle Gellar will be there to impart her vampire-killing wisdom.

WEEKEND READING 📚

On going when you need to: One trans man spent a lifetime avoiding public bathrooms, damaging his bladder in the process. But now he’s finally ready to stop holding it all in. (Cosmopolitan)

On the “magic pill”: For some–especially pregnant people–the anti-nausea medication Zofran is a lifesaver. So why isn’t this safe, quick, effective drug sold over the counter? (The Cut)

On inherited worries: “At thirty-six, I have never been sweeter, smarter, or hotter than I am now.” Angelica Jade Bastién has a message for women already flagellating themselves over aging. (Madwomen & Muses)