Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, Judge Michael F. Stelzer of the Missouri Circuit Court in St. Louis issued a preliminary injunction allowing the only remaining clinic providing abortion care in the state to continue operating through June 21st. NOW celebrates this victory for abortion rights, which, at least temporarily,  prevents Missouri from becoming the first state in the nation without an abortion clinic since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Yet this ruling also exposes the constant threat that reproductive rights face in America today as abortion opponents attempt to strip away women’s constitutional right to safe, legal, affordable and accessible abortion care. Including Missouri, six states in the U.S. only have one abortion clinic, and they are all in danger of the kind of underhanded, bureaucratic tactics that the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and Gov. Mike Parson are trying to use to render Roe meaningless. This case serves as a reminder that legislative bans on abortion are only one of the anti-abortion ploys that NOW and other reproductive rights advocates contend with every day. We will remain vigilant in protecting the reproductive freedom of women in Missouri and around the country.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This June 10th, NOW recognizes both the 56th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act as well as Mom’s Equal Pay Day. While the Equal Pay Act helped to narrow the wage gap, the data still demonstrates that women face pay discrimination, especially if they are mothers.  

Mom’s Equal Pay Day recognizes that being a mother is a greater indicator than gender when it comes to wage disparities. Even as more and more mothers become the breadwinners for their family, mothers are still only paid 69¢ for every dollar a father is paid.  

Closing this wage gap would mean that women’s poverty rate is cut in half, On average, women employed full time in the U.S. are losing an astonishing combined total of almost $900 billion every year due to the wage gap. This vital additional income could be used towards childcare, healthcare, and education ー all important aspects to raising a happy, healthy family.  

The wage gap widens for Black, Latino, and Native American moms who are paid 54¢, 46¢, and 48¢ respectively, for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic dads. Additionally, data on undocumented immigrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, and women with disabilities is not known.  

On this Mom’s Equal Pay Day, NOW strongly advocates for the Paycheck Fairness Act which updates the Equal Pay Act and was recently passed by the House of Representatives. We urge legislation which requires equal pay for “substantially similar” work be adopted. NOW is also committed to achieving work equity by supporting movements to gain access to paid leave, paid sick days, affordable childcare, affordable healthcare and other important protections needed by working parents.  

It is time that women stop being punished for being mothers. We must end disparities in wage equity now.  

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Joe Biden likes to say that he “gets it,” but he’s way out of touch when it comes to the Hyde Amendment. His shocking announcement that he still supports Hyde is unacceptable and unsupportable.

He needs to renounce his past support for the Hyde Amendment and put forward policies to correct the damage it’s done to women – especially those enrolled in Medicaid, low-income women, young women, and women of color hit hardest by this restriction.  If he cannot do this, he should consider leaving the race….the girls and women of our nation deserve better.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt and Missouri NOW President Freda Mckee:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The draconian abortion ban signed into law by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson would criminalize abortions performed during or after the eighth week of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest.  As we’ve seen in other states where anti-abortion junk science has prevailed over constitutional protections and reproductive rights, Missouri’s ban will be challenged in court.

Ordinarily, that would mean a legal freeze on enacting these immoral restrictions while the appeal is underway, but now we know that Missouri has no intention of following the law. Missouri’s health department refused to renew the license of Missouri’s only remaining clinic performing abortions for unspecified reasons, citing “possible deficiencies” that they’ve told Planned Parenthood could lead to criminal referrals against doctors. Only a last-minute judicial ruling, rooted in legal precedent and constitutional norms, temporarily prevented the illegal and immoral closing of Missouri’s last remaining clinic performing abortions.

Gov. Parson and the anti-abortion extremists who’ve hijacked state politics have blown up the legal system, ignored the appeal process and hijacked democracy by attempting to unilaterally shut down Missouri’s last abortion clinic.  This outrageous step would have made Missouri the first state without an abortion clinic since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

If the extremists have their way, supporters of reproductive rights will have nothing left to appeal.  The clinic will be gone before the next court hearing and women of Missouri will suffer, especially women of color and women living in poverty.  Their lives will be further endangered and they will face an undue burden when trying to access their constitutional right to safe, legal and affordable abortion care.

NOW sees through this transparent attempt to circumvent the law and impose the anti-abortion crowd’s version of religious law on women. What’s next–Handmaid’s Tale dress codes and scarlet letters?  Thought police?

Missouri’s end run around our legal and reproductive rights must not stand.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In yet another alarming proposed rule from the Trump-Pence administration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks to gut portions of the Health Care Rights Law, otherwise known as Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. This was the the first law to prohibit discrimination based on sex stereotypes, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy-related conditions and termination of a pregnancy. But now HHS is proposing to eliminate many of these key protections.  Furthermore, the rule proposes yet another “conscience” protection that would allow employees to refuse to provide care based on their religious beliefs.

We cannot allow these attempts to roll back such critical protections. The National Organization for Women (NOW) firmly believes that if enacted, this rule would be devastating for LGBTQIA+ patients, particularly for those in the trans-gendered community, and for women in need of abortion counseling and care.

The Trump administration must end these efforts to jeopardize lives and return us to the dark days of religious-based sex discrimination being permitted in health care delivery. NOW remains committed to fighting any discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all areas, including health services. We strongly oppose this proposed rule and urge our members and supporters to continue speaking out against these unjust, immoral and harmful regulations.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745