.
1. Receive equal pay for equal work.
Yes,
the gender wage gap still exists. Just
ask Joan Halloway.
2. Name a female president.
We're still waiting for the first...
3. Marry another woman in any of the 50 states one chooses to live in.
Since 1971 the tide of public opinion on marriage equality has turned -- same-sex marriage is now legal in 19 states and Washington, D.C. -- but there are still
31 that ban gay marriage, 28 through constitutional amendments.
4. Necessarily access an abortion.
Despite the fact that it is legal for women to terminate their pregnancies in the U.S., states have been enacting more and more restrictions around the procedure and making it harder for clinics to perform it. In July, the Washington Post reported that
more than half of Texas' abortion clinics have shut down since newly-restrictive legislation passed last year. And
according to NARAL, abortion restrictions disproportionately impact young women and
poor women.
5. Be guaranteed paid maternity leave.
Pour another one out for American exceptionalism. The
United States is the only developed country that does not guarantee new mothers paid leave. (A devastatingly
small percentage of U.S. companies -- 16 percent -- offer fully paid maternity leave.)
6. Be sure their health insurance will cover contraception.
Despite an Obamacare mandate, demanding that employers that are not religious institutions or houses of worship fully cover birth control, some
insurers are refusing to do so. (And of course, the
Hobby Lobby case gave some for-profit employers exemption from covering contraception.)
8 Things Women Couldn t Do On The First Women s Equality Day In 1971 -- And 6 They Still Can t
Women have come a long way - but they're not there yet. Democrats seem much more willing to help advance women's rights than Republicans. Women should pay very careful attention to which candidates and representatives best support their rights.