War on Women

The "War on Women" describes the legislative and rhetorical attacks on women and women’s rights taking place across the nation. In includes a wide-range of policy efforts designed to place restrictions on women's health care and erode protections for women and their families. Examples at the state and federal level have included restricting contraception; cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood; state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasounds; abortion taxes; abortion waiting periods; forcing women to tell their employers why they want birth control, and prohibiting insurance companies from including abortion coverage in their policies.

04/25/2013
Abortion Legislation

It's Time to Extend Abortion Coverage to the Women of Peace Corps

By Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office at 12:41pm

When John F. Kennedy signed the executive order creating the Peace Corps over fifty years ago, he said, "Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary, and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs." It's true that life in the Peace Corps isn't easy, but unfortunately, our government is failing to live up to the rest of this promise when it comes to providing for the reproductive health needs of Peace Corps volunteers, who selflessly give their time and energy to help communities in developing countries.

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04/24/2013
Abortion Legislation

Pennsylvania Politicians Ought to be Ashamed: The Latest Attack on Women's Health Care

By Becca Cadoff, Reproductive Freedom Project at 4:30pm

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted to block women from having access to comprehensive insurance coverage that includes abortion care. This is yet another example of the continuing attack on women.

Most health insurance plans currently cover abortion care, but some politicians are trying to take it away. They are attempting to rob a woman and her family of the ability to make personal and private decisions about her pregnancy. A woman's decision should be left to her and her family, not her legislator.

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04/23/2013
Abortion Legislation

Three's a Crowd

By Becca Cadoff, Reproductive Freedom Project at 4:18pm

Over the weekend extremist politicians continued their onslaught on restricting abortion care. What happened? Well, the saying goes "three's a crowd," and when it comes to interfering in personal decisions best left to a woman, her doctor and her family, that's especially true.

  • On Friday, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed a sweeping anti-abortion bill that threatens women's access to care in a multitude of ways.
  • Due to onerous regulations approved last week by the Virginia Board of Health, Hillcrest Clinic was forced on Saturday to shut its doors to women seeking care.
  • A Thursday debate about an abortion bill in the Florida House of Representatives became so insulting that five Representatives had to leave the debate.

Three is, indeed, a crowd – especially when our privacy and our health are at stake. Tell your elected officials to leave us alone.

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04/19/2013
Abortion Legislation

Kansas No Longer A Place to Call Home?

By Becca Cadoff, Reproductive Freedom Project at 1:01pm

After her adventures in Oz, Dorothy couldn’t wait to get back to Kansas. But if she lived there now, she might not be so eager to return.  Governor Sam Brownback has just signed yet another bill that makes it more difficult for Kansas women to get the health care they need.

This behemoth 70-page sweeping anti-abortion bill attacks women’s health care from a variety of angles.  It could impose new taxes on a woman who obtains an abortion and on the health center where she obtained it, and it could require doctors to inform patients about a supposed link between abortion and breast cancer — a risk that the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and other medical experts roundly reject. The law also includes language about the legal rights of fertilized eggs, which lays the groundwork for even more extreme measures blocking access to reproductive health care.

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04/17/2013
Abortion Legislation

Bringing Down Arkansas' House of Cards

By Becca Cadoff, Reproductive Freedom Project at 4:44pm

Yesterday, we filed a lawsuit in Arkansas to challenge what was, for a short time, the most extreme abortion ban in the nation. Don't be mistaken though, the Arkansas law is still outrageous - banning most abortions just a few weeks after a woman finds out she is pregnant. By passing this law, politicians are preventing a woman and her family from being able to make the most personal decision they might ever make.

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04/16/2013
Abortion Legislation

Enough is Enough: Headed to Court to Stop the Arkansas War on Women

By Hayley Smith, Advocacy and Policy Associate, ACLU at 2:17pm

Today we filed litigation challenging a new law in Arkansas that bans abortion starting at 12 weeks – a law that is a clear violation of state legislators' duties to preserve, protect and defend the state and federal constitutions. Our lawsuit asks the court to block this blatantly unconstitutional ban, which violates numerous Supreme Court decisions dating back 40 years. A stubborn group of legislators insisted on rushing the bill through the legislature, refusing to listen to admonitions by doctors and even the Governor himself.

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04/12/2013
Abortion Legislation

The Battle to Shut Down Virginia's Abortion Clinics

By Alicia Gay, ACLU at 12:43pm

After considerable arm twisting by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, today the Virginia Board of Health approved medically unnecessary regulations designed to force many women's health care centers in Virginia to shut their doors. These costly and unprecedented regulations require many women's centers to meet the building requirements as if they were newly constructed mini-hospitals. The retroactive application of these guidelines to existing health centers is excessive and inappropriate.

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04/09/2013
Women's Rights in the Workplace

What Would You Do With $11,000?

By Meghan Groob, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 4:55pm

Imagine looking at your bank statement and seeing $11,000 more than you expected. If you're anything like me, you would immediately start planning how to spend your newfound riches. Should I be responsible and pay off my debt? Or should I finally take that dream vacation to Paris?

This situation isn't hypothetical. Fifty years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, women, on average, still make just 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. That adds up to nearly $11,000 in lost wages every year.

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04/09/2013
Women's Rights in the Workplace

18 More Cents...in 50 Years

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:58am

Over the last five decades, women have broken many barriers in education, business, and government. We need look no further than Congress to see the progress women have made: in 1963, Congress had only 14 women. In contrast, the new 113th Congress seated 97 women, the highest representation of women in United States history. The progress of women is also evident across the workforce. Today, women make up half of all workers in the United States and are increasingly becoming co- or primary breadwinners for their families.

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04/04/2013
Women's Rights in the Workplace

Mr. President, Walk With Us On Our Journey for Equal Pay

By Georgeanne M. Usova, Washington Legislative Office & Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:16pm

Today, the ACLU joined over 100 organizations to send a letter to President Obama asking for executive action to combat pay discrimination.

For far too long, equal pay has been out of reach for many women as a result of workplace discrimination. We know that President Obama agrees, because he made the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act the first bill he signed into law and has repeatedly called on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.

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