Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON – When the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, women were paid 58 cents for every dollar earned by men. Fifty-six years after the act’s passage, the difference is still apparent. Today, women are paid only 80 cents for every man’s dollar, and the gap is even wider for women of color. The career earnings loss due to sex- and race-based pay discrimination for many women total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Paycheck Fairness Act was first introduced in the 105th Congress, 1997-1998 — more than 20 years and 11 Congresses ago. Women have been waiting for far too long for equal treatment. The Paycheck Fairness Act would bring us several important steps closer to parity.

Today, on the ten-year anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduces the Paycheck Fairness Act as H.R. 7. This act would begin to close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and address other ways to close the gender wage gap. Namely, it would increase penalties for wage discrimination and assure that employers determine wages through the factors of experience, training, and education, rather than sex. The act would also direct federal agencies to collect data on compensation discrimination and publicly disclose it.

The progress of women in the workforce over the last fifty-six years is evident, but the financial penalty many women experience due to sex- and race-based pay discrimination must stop. If closing the wage gap continues at its agonizingly-slow current rate, men and women will not reach wage equality until 2059. That is forty years too long.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) calls on members of Congress to support the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R.7) and to take leadership in moving this important advancement for working women and their families to passage.

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NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-628-8669

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON – By granting the Trump Administration’s request to allow it to bar most transgender people from serving in the military, the Supreme Court has taken another step away from judicial fairness, and towards political vendettas.

Donald Trump launched this hate campaign in a series of tweets in July 2017, abruptly declaring that “the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military.”   This came as news to the Pentagon, and Donald Trump’s government once again had to catch up to his personal vitriol and discriminatory agenda.

Now, the Supreme Court has taken a place on Donald Trump’s team of enablers.  Transgender military service members have proved themselves to be dedicated, productive, patriotic individuals who deserve the nation’s honor and respect. Instead, the Court has sanctioned continued discrimination and persecution.

The ruling does not automatically mean that transgender people already serving openly in the military will be discharged, but those who seek to transition or serve openly in the future risk removal from service. This sends a terrible message to transgender people who choose to serve in dangerous, difficult jobs in the military because they believe in their country and believe in their mission.

NOW calls on military commanders not to remove these brave people from service, and for Congress to act forcefully to put a stop to this discriminatory and unconstitutional policy.

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NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-628-8669

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON – On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, recognizing the Constitutional protection of a woman’s right to abortion care. Forty-six years later, Roe is still the law of the land—but just barely.

Since Roe, state and federal lawmakers have attempted to pass hundreds of restrictions on women. The Trump Administration has tried to block young immigrant women from getting abortions because the agency responsible for unaccompanied immigrant minors has adopted a no-abortion policy. Over the last eight years, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 424 abortion restrictions have been passed in the states.  And in 2018 alone, 15 states adopted 27 new restrictions on abortion and family planning.

Donald Trump has now succeeded in placing two justices on the Supreme Court he picked from a list of jurists compiled by anti-abortion extremists.  If the Court overturns Roe, 24 states would likely move to ban or severely limit abortion. Four states—Mississippi, Louisiana, North Dakota, and South Dakota—have already passed “trigger laws” that would automatically ban abortion if Roe is reversed.  

Roe v. Wade ended a terrifying era of back-alley abortions. Countless women lost their lives seeking basic reproductive healthcare. But Donald Trump and Mike Pence are determined to deny women control of their own bodies and deprive them of their reproductive health care rights. Pence has even said he looks forward to “Roe v. Wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs.”

This year, as we look back over 46 years of safe and legal abortion, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that women keep their constitutional right to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion care.  

This isn’t about politics. It’s about women’s lives.

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NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-628-8669