Women disproportionately work in low-wage sectors, live on minimum-wage salaries and, thanks to working a lifetime at unequal pay, are significantly more likely than men to outlive their savings.
In the past three years, extremist legislators at both the state and federal levels have done all they can to push women back to the days when rates of unintended pregnancy, infant mortality, and maternal mortality were high and desperate women died from unsafe abortions.
Women represent nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers and a woman working full time, year round at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour earns just $14,500 — nearly $4,000 below the poverty line for a family of three.
There’s a lot to be said for being able to trust that your community respects your capacity and your right to plan your own family and make your own health care decisions.
Prejudices and outmoded customs act as barriers to the full realization of women’s basic rights, which should be respected and fostered as part of our Nation’s commitment to human dignity, freedom, and democracy.