Last week, a federal court ruled that North Carolina’s congressional districts had been unconstitutionally drawn to give Republicans a political advantage. The ruling ordered the state legislature to redraw the districts by January 24. This is the first time federal courts found a congressional map, as opposed to a state legislative map, unconstitutional based on partisan gerrymandering. The next day, federal judges in Pennsylvania upheld their state’s congressional districts, finding that the challenge to partisan gerrymandering was not for the courts to decide. The plaintiffs can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The highest court heard arguments in a case out of Wisconsin dealing with similar issues last October. A decision is expected by June. 

Last year brought more abortion restrictions in the states than any year since 2013. In total, 19 states adopted 63 new laws restricting access to abortion services. At the same time, many states fought back with 21 states approving 58 measures to expand access to reproductive services, protect reproductive rights, or institute comprehensive sex education. With a significant increase in abortion restrictions since 2011, the Guttmacher Institute now qualifies 6 states as hostile to abortion rights and 23 states as extremely hostile. Approximately 58 percent of American women of reproductive age live in one of those states, while only 30 percent live in a state that has supportive abortion laws on the books.

Many state laws successfully passed in previous legislative sessions are going into effect now that the calendar has turned to 2018. Paid family leave protections—new to New York and expanded in California—began on January 1, while Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington residents now earn paid sick days. With last week’s vote to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s (R-MD) veto of a paid sick days bill, Maryland workers will also see changes in the coming months. And on April 1, pregnant workers in Massachusetts will have greater access to on-the-job accommodations. Additionally, 18 states instituted minimum wage hikes to start the new year. Many of these increases are incremental bumps toward even higher wages that are gradually taking effect and are much needed in light of a new report from Bloomberg finding that the gap between the earnings of U.S. CEOs and those of average U.S. workers is the widest worldwide.