Contraception is an important part of preventive health care for women. Contraception allows women to plan, delay, space, and limit pregnancies, helping to avoid negative health impacts on women and children; it is critical for women with underlying medical conditions that would be further complicated by pregnancy, and it has other health benefits unrelated to preventing pregnancy. Contraception also allows women to further their educational and career goals, thereby advancing their economic and social equality.
The National Women’s Law Center submitted an amicus brief on behalf of 48 organizations committed to obtaining full legal, economic, and social equality for women and economic security for women and families. This brief highlights the negative impacts that the restrictions at issue in this case have on women’s economic security and equal participation in social and economic life. These include significant, and in some cases, insurmountable, costs that threaten women’s financial well-being, job security, workforce participation, and educational attainment. Such costs have a particularly harmful impact on low-income women, women of color, women in low-wage jobs, and women who already have children. These effects deprive women of equal dignity promised by the Constitution, unduly burdening women’s reproductive decision-making.
The 55 undersigned organizations write to voice opposition to the reauthorization of the District of Columbia private school voucher program. We oppose this and all private school voucher programs because public funds should be spent on public schools, not private schools. But the D.C. program, in particular, has proven ineffective and unaccountable to taxpayers. Not only have multiple Department of Education (USED) studies1 concluded that the program has failed to improve educational outcomes for participating students, but two U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have also identified its repeated management and accountability failures.
On behalf of the undersigned organizations and the tens of millions of working families we represent, we urge you to become a co-sponsor of the Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act (S. 786/H.R. 1439). The FAMILY Act would create a national family and medical leave insurance program that would strengthen the workforce, families, businesses and our economy. The FAMILY Act is modeled on successful and effective state paid leave laws and would help working women and men meet their caregiving demands while reducing economic inequality and improving economic opportunities for all.
As organizations working to advance women’s equality and civil rights, we are writing to request that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) promptly issue guidance to universities and colleges reminding them of their legal obligations under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect students from harassment and threats based on sex, race, color, or national origin carried out via Yik Yak and other anonymous social media applications.
The 56 undersigned organizations write to voice opposition to H.R. 10, the reauthorization of the District of Columbia private school voucher program. We oppose this and all private school voucher programs because public funds should be spent on public schools, not private schools. But the D.C. program, in particular, has proven ineffective and unaccountable to taxpayers. Not only have multiple Department of Education (USED) studies1 concluded that the program has failed to improve educational outcomes for participating students, but two U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have also identified its repeated management and accountability failures.
We the undersigned organizations thank President Obama for the Administration’s ongoing commitment to women’s health. This Administration’s leadership has been vital to sustaining investments in the domestic Title X family planning program, the international family planning and reproductive health program at USAID, and the U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). These investments collectively yield strong dividends for women and their health and wellbeing, and advance broader economic and global development goals. We urge the President to cement his support for women’s health in his final budget proposal and we respectfully request increased funding in fiscal year (FY) 2017 for family planning and reproductive health programs at home and abroad.
We write to you as organizations opposed to Congress’ continued targeting of Planned Parenthood and women’s health care, particularly abortion. The Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for October 8, 2015, is just the latest in a series of coordinated attacks that have taken place since the House returned from its August recess. This myopic and dangerous focus on taking away women’s access to critical health care must end.
The 56 undersigned organizations write to voice opposition to H.R. 10, the reauthorization of the District of Columbia private school voucher program. We oppose this and all private school voucher programs because public funds should be spent on public schools, not private schools. But the D.C. program, in particular, has proven ineffective and unaccountable to taxpayers. Not only have multiple Department of Education (USED) studies1 concluded that the program has failed to improve educational outcomes for participating students, but two U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have also identified its repeated management and accountability failures.
As organizations committed to advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice, and related ocial justice causes, we appreciate the important steps your Administration has taken to improve the wellbeing of women and their families, including the expansion of reproductive health care services. Moreover, the actions you have taken in prior budget proposals to eliminate certain abortion restrictions have made a real impact in driving momentum in Congress to modify such policies. Building on this tradition of executive leadership is critically important to our work.
With the opportunity and necessity in the coming months to address the country’s fiscal future, the undersigned 106 organizations urge the development of an overarching budget deal that provides sequestration relief and increases budget caps to adequately fund investments that ensure the health and well-being of our nation’s youth. As organizations committed to supporting adolescent sexual health programs—the Office of Adolescent Health’s (OAH) Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) and the Division of Adolescent School Health (DASH) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—we know firsthand the vital role these federal programs play in supporting the health of young people and communities.
We write to you as organizations strongly opposed to S. 15531, an unconstitutional and dangerous limitation on abortion that puts women’s health and rights at risk. The bill’s provisions represent an appalling lack of compassion for—or trust in—the women who would be affected by this ban. By significantly interfering in both women’s personal decisions and their relationships with their healthcare providers, this bill is part and parcel of a nationwide campaign that has only one ultimate goal: to forever eliminate women’s access to reproductive health care.
The 130 undersigned religious, education, civil rights, labor, LGBT, women’s, and health organizations write to request that you direct the Attorney General to instruct the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to review and reconsider its flawed June 29, 2007 Memorandum titled, Re: Application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to the Award of a Grant Pursuant to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (OLC Memo). The OLC Memo reaches the erroneous and dangerous conclusion that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) provides a blanket override of a statutory non-discrimination provision. If left in place, the OLC Memo will tarnish the legacy of your work to advance fairness and equal treatment under the law for all Americans.
As expectant and parenting youth, the people who are in families and communities with them, and the organizations who work with young parents, we call on members of Congress to support the Young Parents' Dignity Agenda, a commitment to federal legislation and policies that provide expectant and parenting youth the respect, recognition, and resources they need to continue building a successful foundation for their families.
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the 95 undersigned civil and human rights and labor organizations, we urge you to oppose all efforts to defund Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). We strongly condemn the distorted and fraudulent campaign against PPFA, a critical provider of vital health services to low-income women and women of color.
As organizations committed to promoting the health and economic security of our nation’s families, we urge you to support the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 2654/ S. 1512). This legislation promotes healthy pregnancies and economic security for pregnant women and their families and strengthens the economy.
We, the undersigned organizations that support the health and rights of immigrant women, write to express our strong opposition to proposals to restrict access to abortion for women in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. These proposals seek to impose, through a rider on the Homeland Security appropriations bill, a ban on coverage and provision of abortion services for individuals in ICE custody except in cases of rape, incest, and a very narrow definition of life endangerment. This language further chips away at access to abortion by allowing any ICE employee to refuse “to perform or facilitate in any way” any abortion.
We write to thank the Department of Justice for its commitment to addressing gender discrimination in policing1 and to urge the Department to issue, without delay, much-needed guidance outlining how flawed law enforcement responses to domestic violence and sexual assault can violate federal law and constitute police misconduct. The undersigned include 88 national groups and 98 state and local organizations that are dedicated to advancing civil and human rights, eliminating gender-based violence, and advocating for survivors. In light of the ongoing attention to policing reform, we believe that issuing guidance that addresses the context of domestic violence and sexual assault– which the Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing identified as necessitating a coordinated community and law enforcement response – will ensure that survivors are more fairly treated by the justice system.
