Home : Women's Rights

Crystal Eastman (03/12/2002)
NEW YORK--American Civil Liberties Union co-founder Crystal Eastman is one of 19 distinguished American women to be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame on Saturday, the ACLU announced today.

The ACLU And Women's Rights: Proud History, Continuing Struggle (03/12/2002)
For 75 years the ACLU has been in the forefront of the struggle to win full legal equality for women. From its defense of suffragist and birth control pioneer Mary Ware Dennett in the 1920s when the government declared her sex education pamphlet "obscene," to today's battle to admit women to The Citadel, a state-funded military academy, the ACLU continues to be vigilant in its defense of women's rights. The ACLU advocated women's rights long before the feminist revival of the 1960s. Suffragists and othe r women social reformers and political activists -- among them, Jane Addams, Mary Ware Dennett, Crystal Eastman and Jeannette Rankin -- were instrumental in the founding of the organization in 1920.

Affirmative Action (03/12/2002)
Affirmative action is under attack. The backlash against meaningful efforts to achieve full citizenship for all Americans that first arose in the early 1970s has been fueled anew by a combustible mix of changing demographics, political exploitation of racial tensions and economic instability. Early contenders in next year's Presidential race have been strident in their criticisms of affirmative action. Voters in California will probably confront a ballot initiative in 1996 to repeal all affirmative action laws in that state. And even the United States Supreme Court, formerly the principal architect of this legal remedy for discrimination, has issued decisions in recent years that diminish its role in correcting the pervasive underrepresentation of women and people of color in many spheres of education and the world of work.

ACLU Applauds Legislative "Gutting" of Anti-Choice Bill (03/11/2002)
LITTLE ROCK, AK - The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas today applauded lawmakers on the state Senate Public Health, Welfare, & Labor Committee, who acted in concert to negate the effects of pending anti-choice legislation.

Links to other Women's Rights Resources (02/21/2002)
The following sites provide comprehensive or unique resources relating to the work of the ACLU in this issue area. While some of these sites are operated by organizations that work frequently in coalition with the ACLU, the sites may also include materials on positions we do not share. To report a broken or relocated link, or to suggest a site for inclusion on this page, use the feedback button at the bottom of this page

ACLU Letter to VMI (07/03/2001)

In the Child's Best Interests: Defending Fair and Sensible Adoption Policies (04/30/1998)

ACLU Women's Rights Victories (12/31/1996)

About the ACLU Women's Rights Project (12/31/1996)

Background Briefing: The Civil Liberties Issues of Welfare Reform (04/01/1995)
Promoting Reproductive Freedom for Low-Income Women

Access Denied: Origins of the Hyde Amendment and Other Restrictions on Public Funding for Abortion (12/01/1994)
Promoting Reproductive Freedom for Low-Income Women