U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.
Since our last report…
+ Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) reintroduced the Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (Be HEARD) in the Workplace Act in both the House and the Senate. Right now, independent contractors, unpaid interns and people working in small establishments with fewer than 15 employees do not receive federal protection from workplace discrimination or harassment, which disproportionately targets women. The Be HEARD in the Workplace Act would extend protections against harassment to all employed people.
+ Former Rochester police officer Shawn Jordan, convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, was sentenced to just 10 weekends in jail and 10 years of probation. Attorneys and child abuse survivor advocates expressed shock and outrage at the sentence. “This sentence is the epitome of injustice and a dangerous nod to child sexual predators letting them know, ‘No worries, we won’t go too hard on you,’” said Kathryn Robb, national director of the Children’s Justice Campaign at the organization Enough Abuse. “This little girl will be imprisoned by her memories for life, while [the rapist] loses a mere 20 days of his liberty.”
+ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over a Title X family planning program, established in 1970, that allows adolescents to access contraception without parental consent. While Texas is currently the only state that requires Title X-funded clinics to obtain parental consent, following a ruling in March, the lawsuit seeks to tighten restrictions and challenge federal reproductive healthcare policies in the name of parental rights. Texas has one of the strictest abortion bans and the eighth highest teen birth rate in the country.
+ Florida Amendment 4, the ballot initiative to end Florida’s extreme abortion ban, reached a weekly fundraising high, collecting $7.8 million between Sept. 7 and Sept. 13. The Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) Yes on 4 Campaign has raised more than $56 million, through widespread grassroots organizing and donations from more than 21,000 state residents in all 67 counties. “Voters understand that the current abortion ban in Florida goes too far and it has, as a result, put lives at risk,” said Taylor Aguilera, organizing director of FPF.
At least 11 states will ask voters to weigh in on abortion and reproductive healthcare access by way of ballot measures: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.
Let’s not forget what else was sent our way in September.
Thursday, Sept. 5: FDA Initiates New Studies on Tampon Safety After Push From Sen. Patty Murray
The FDA has finally responded to a letter Senator Murray sent in July requesting the agency to research the findings of the recent study that found lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxic metals a wide variety of tampon products, sparking widespread concern that tampons are unsafe to use.
According to the FDA response, they take the issue of tampon safety seriously and are working on a response to the question her letter raised about the study’s research.
Over the last several years, more than a dozen studies have researched the presence of chemicals in widely used menstrual products. A 2019 study found higher mercury concentrations in the blood of tampon users.
On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the FDA posted a public statement to their website announcing their awareness of concerns about tampon safety, while also stating that tampons must meet FDA requirements before they can be legally sold in the US. The FDA announced it has commissioned an independent literature review and study to evaluate the metals in tampons and the threats they might pose to public safety. “These initiatives will enable the FDA to complete a risk assessment of metals contained in tampons, based on a worst-case scenario of metal exposure. The FDA will communicate our findings from the literature review and lab testing publicly when they are available and have been peer reviewed.”
According to Murray, the relative scarcity of existing research on tampon safety reveals a lack of women’s health prioritization in medicine and law. She said, “For too long, women’s health has been overlooked and understudied—ever since I came to Congress, making sure that women’s health was a federal priority has been important to me. These are products millions of women are using on any given day, so it’s important we absolutely put to rest any concerns about their safety.”
Friday, Sept. 6: Indiana Woman’s Death Determined to Be the Result of the State’s Abortion Ban
Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski, a 26-year-old woman in Indiana, died in October 2023 after being unable to access timely care for her ectopic pregnancy after her local maternity ward closed. Wilkinson-Sobieski, already mother to a 1-year-old, was pregnant with her second child when she began suffering from major cramping due to a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.
Her husband Clayton brought her to their local hospital five minutes away. However, the labor and maternity ward had closed one month prior as a result of fewer and fewer OB-GYNs choosing to practice in Indiana and other states with abortion bans. In the year since Wilkinson-Sobieski’s death, even more maternity wards have closed in Indiana, and 45 percent of Indiana counties lack a labor and delivery unit.
After finally being brought to another hospital, Wilkinson-Sobieski died two days later of a ruptured fallopian tube due to the ectopic pregnancy. Her widower Clayton, quoted in IndyStar, said, “Every expert who talked to me said it’s a timing thing, and they didn’t treat her in time.” Wilkinson-Sobieski’s tragic death was the result of a delay in care that is becoming more and more common as maternity wards continue to close around the country.
Tuesday, Sept. 10: Gender Pay Gap Widens for the First Time in 20 Years
The gender pay gap has widened significantly for the first time in 20 years, according to 2023 income data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. Women working full-time, year-round earned 83 percent of what men earned in 2023, a decline from their earnings in 2022, 84 percent. When all workers are taken into account, including the many women who work part-time or seasonal to fulfill caregiving roles, women were paid 75 percent of men’s wages—down from 2022 when this figure was 78 percent.
Both men and women’s median earnings grew, but men’s rose at double the rate: 3 percent for men compared to 1.5 percent for women. The gender pay gap exists regardless of industry, occupation, age or education level. Women of color are disproportionately hurt the most, experiencing wider pay gaps.
- Asian American women earned 83 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
- White women earned 73 cents for every dollar.
- Black women earned 64 cents for every dollar.
- Native American women 52 cents for every dollar.
- Latina women earned 51 cents for every dollar.
Tuesday, Sept. 10: Harris and Trump’s First Debate Covers Reproductive Rights
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump faced off in their first presidential debate. Harris, who spoke for almost five minutes less than Trump, received praise for her performance, preparedness and delivery (and an endorsement from Taylor Swift). The two answered questions about access to abortion and reproductive healthcare, the Affordable Care Act, Jan. 6, immigration, foreign policy and the economy, among other issues.
Abortion was a hot topic of the debate. Harris refuted Trump’s claim that everybody wanted Roe to be overturned and brought back to the states, saying, “Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the healthcare providers are afraid they might go to jail, and she’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn’t want that. Her husband didn’t want that.”
Harris pledged to sign a congressional bill reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade as president. The Women’s Health Protection Act, proposed federal legislation to codify Roe into law and establish the legal right to abortion in every state, has been reintroduced in several congressional sessions, passing in the House twice but failing in the Senate.
Trump continued with baseless accusations, including that certain Democratic states supported post-birth abortions. The moderator clarified that there is no state in which it is legal to kill a baby after it is born, and Harris called this misinformation “insulting to the women of America.” Trump failed to answer whether he would veto a national abortion ban, responding that he would not need to and that he has not discussed this with his running mate, JD Vance.
Monday, Sept. 16: Georgia’s Abortion Ban to Blame for the Deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller
A ProPublica investigation revealed that the deaths of two Georgia women, Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, were deemed “preventable” by maternal health experts who blamed Georgia’s abortion ban, after they were unable to access legal abortion and timely medical care in their state.
Amber Thurman, a 28-year-old medical assistant with a 6-year-old son, became pregnant with twins in the summer of 2022, missing the threshold for an in-state abortion after a six-week ban was enacted in Georgia on July 20. She encountered a rare complication after taking abortion pills from a North Carolina clinic where she did not expel all of the fetal tissue from her body. Unable to drive the four hours back to North Carolina, Thurman arrived at Georgia’s Piedmont Henry Hospital for a routine procedure to clear the fetal tissue, a dilation and curettage (D&C).
However, Georgia had made performing this procedure a felony with little exceptions. Doctors fatally delayed this critical procedure, gathering more information and testing her for sexually transmitted diseases and pneumonia. Thurman was not operated on for 20 hours. Her last words before she was wheeled into surgery were to her mother: “Promise me you’ll take care of my son.” On Sept. 16, 2024, Thurman should have turned 31.
Candi Miller, a 41-year-old with three children and lupus, diabetes and hypertension, became pregnant in the fall of 2022. Medical professionals warned her that having another baby could kill her due to her health conditions. Miller avoided doctors “due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions,” according to her family, and ordered abortion pills online. Like Thurman, she did not expel all the fetal tissue and needed a D&C. Miller suffered at home and died in her bed. “The fact that she felt that she had to make these decisions, that she didn’t have adequate choices here in Georgia, we felt that definitely influenced her case,” said one member of the maternal health committee.
There are no doubt more women and more preventable deaths, of women, forced to continue high-risk pregnancies and told to return when they are “crashing.” Committees like Georgia’s operate within large lags and have only reviewed cases through the fall of 2022.
“No one should be forced to wait until they are on death’s door to get the care they need, fearing prosecution, nor should any doctor be forced to withhold life-saving treatments at the hands of diabolical politicians and systems that are literally killing us,” said Nourbese Flint, president of All* Above All.
Tuesday, Sept. 17: Senate Republicans Block Second Bill Protecting Right to IVF
Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill that would have protected nationwide rights to IVF treatments. This was the second time that Senate Democrats tried to push forward the Right to IVF bill, sponsored by Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), only for Republicans in the Senate to keep it from advancing. Duckworth herself had her children through IVF after being unable to conceive naturally after her time in the military and combat injuries.
In February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that discarded embryos from in vitro fertilization treatments were considered children under state law, forcing doctors in the state to stop IVF procedures in line with Alabama’s abortion ban. Since then, there have been national concerns that anti-IVF bills would pass in other states, blocking women’s access to the fertility treatment.
On Sept. 17, Duckworth’s bill fell short of the 60 votes required to advance the bill, failing 51-44. The bill would have established the right for Americans to access IVF while also requiring insurers from public and private health plans to cover treatments, making them more affordable.
In response to Trump’s claims that he would support IVF if elected, Duckworth pointed out that federal coverage for the costs of treatment won’t matter if individual states have laws in place forbidding it. “You can cover it all you want,” she said, “but if there is nobody to perform the procedure than you don’t have access to it. So his argument is really a red herring and it’s meant to fool and deceive the general public, which is a disservice to Americans.”
Before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that if Republicans were to vote no on the IVF bill, “it would be further proof that Project 2025 is alive and well.” Project 2025 includes extreme restrictions on reproductive health care and specifically IVF and embryonic research, including the line “There is never any justification for ending a child’s life as part of research […] All research should be prohibited as a matter of law and policy.”
In addition to the Senate, IVF has become a crucial issue in the battle for control of the House of Representatives. After some House Republicans cosponsored a bill protecting IVF access, Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) cast doubt on their motivations, saying, “Now that they’ve realized it’s a losing issue for them, they’re desperately attempting to cover up their extreme record from the voters they seek to represent.”
Wednesday, Sept. 18: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Slams Harris for Not Having Biological Children
At a campaign event in Michigan with former President Donald Trump, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said being a mother was her most important job, and that, “My kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”
As Harris supporters were quick to point out, Harris is a stepmother: Her stepchildren Cole and Ella Emhoff, who affectionately refer to her as “Momala.” Speaking about their interracial blended family in a video shown at the DNC, Cole Emhoff said, “We may not look like other families in the White House, but we are ready to represent all families in America.”
At a separate event, Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff said all parents, “no matter how you become one, make the same sacrifices and revel in the same joys of raising children.” He also importantly shifted the conversation to what he described as Sanders’ “unbelievable” comments, “as if keeping women humble, whether you have children or not, is something we should strive for. It is not.”
In the shadow of Project 2025’s words about women’s roles and ideal family makeups, Harris isn’t the only woman to face much-publicized criticism for not having children. In June, a Newsweek op-ed said that pop superstar Taylor Swift—who endorsed Kamala Harris the night of the Sept. 10 debate—is a bad role model for young girls because she is 34, unmarried and childless. In defense of Kamala Harris, Doug Emhoff’s first wife and Cole and Ella’s mother Kerstin Emhoff wrote on X, “Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families. That keeps you pretty humble.”
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