From state legislatures to the MAGA Supreme Court, Republicans have launched an all-out attack on women’s rights at every level of government. Now, more than ever, we need leaders like Chuck Schumer fighting back against Mitch McConnell and the real threat of national abortion ban.
Protecting Abortion Access
With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the MAGA Supreme Court sent women’s rights back decades. They opened the floodgates for states to pass all-out abortion bans with no exceptions. And Mitch McConnell indicated that if Republicans take back the majority in Congress, they’ll try to ban abortion in every state, even in places like New York where abortion is currently safe and legal.
Chuck Schumer is leading the fight to lass federal legislation that will guarantee equal access to abortion, no matter what state you live in. By codifying abortion rights into federal law, a woman’s right to get an abortion will be protected, no matter what bans a state legislature tries to pass.
Paycheck Fairness and Equity
Women still make just 82 cents on the dollar compared to men for doing the same work, and the pay disparity is even larger for women of color. Chuck Schumer championed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which requires employers to ensure that their pay practices are non-discriminatory and to make certain that they keep the records needed to prove the fairness of pay decisions. Schumer also supports federal legislation to close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act that allow the gender wage gap to persist and strengthen protections for women in the workplace.
Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act
Chuck Schumer helped write and pass the The Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the first federal legislation protecting women from domestic abuse. For decades, it strengthened the federal government’s ability to investigate and prosecute acts of domestic violence and provided support for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Unfortunately, the Violence Against Women Act expired in 2019 and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to even let the Senate vote on reauthorizing it.
But under Chuck’s leadership, the Senate broke through the gridlock and finally reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act in 2022.