Jessica Valenti's column argues that women — especially women of color — powered the 2026 midterm results by rejecting anti-abortion extremism, saying Republicans' abortion bans were an albatross around GOP candidates' necks. She cites Allie Phillips flipping a Tennessee House seat after being denied an abortion, women making up 53% of voters, and records: over 155 women in Congress, Keisha Lance Bottoms as the first Black woman governor, and Peggy Flanagan as the first Native woman senator.