NOW lauds today’s Senate vote to pass an inclusive and long-overdue reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Despite efforts by a handful of misguided Republicans to undermine the bill’s important provisions, the Senate reauthorized the act with a bipartisan vote of 78-22, sending it to the House for immediate action.
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision that affirmed a woman’s right to abortion. On this day we remember the countless women who died from unsafe abortions prior to Roe. Those brave women were the senseless victims of a society that has historically treated women like second-class citizens, tossed their rights around like a political football and patrolled their bodies as if they belonged to the state.
The National Organization for Women offers heartfelt congratulations to all the feminist candidates who won last night and a sincere thanks to all the women’s rights supporters who showed up at the polls and made their voices heard.
NOW applauds women voters for re-electing President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, defeating some of the most extreme anti-woman tea party candidates running for the Senate, and passing marriage equality measures in Maine and Maryland.
Tomorrow’s election is pivotal. We’re down to the wire, and so much is hanging in the balance for women: economic security, the fate of Roe v. Wade, protection of Medicare and Social Security, and much more. We must stand up to the radical fringe — the last thing the War on Women needs is a commander-in-chief in the White House.