Women's & Reproductive Rights
The struggle to expunge all sex-based laws based on custom, stereotype and paternalism has been largely successful in this country. Sex discrimination has been banned, by federal and state law, in employment, education and housing. The right to abortion, while still under attack, is guaranteed by the Constitution. Paternalistic labor laws, that in the name of protecting women, served to keep them out of better paying jobs, have been abolished. As a result, women today participate in all realms of society on a more equal basis than ever before.
But legally sanctioned discrimination still persists. Women still earn far less than men for the same work. The "glass ceiling" is still a barrier to women's advancement in the workplace. Women are excluded from certain educational opportunities. And poor women are trapped in a cruel Catch 22: effectively denied their right to reproductive freedom through state laws that prohibit medicaid coverage for abortions, while at the same time punished for bearing children under new welfare reform laws.
Since its inception in 1920, the ACLU has recognized that personal privacy and reproductive rights are among our most important constitutional liberties. The ACLU was the first national organization to argue for abortion rights before the Supreme Court, and has been the principal defender of those rights since 1973, when the Court recognized the right to choose in Roe v. Wade.
Our mission is to ensure that every person can make informed, meaningful decisions about reproduction free from intrusion by the government. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, we aim to protect access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, from sexuality education and family planning services, to prenatal care and childbearing assistance, to abortion counseling and services.
The ACLU has argued more women's rights cases before the United States Supreme Court than any other organization. The ACLU was the first national organization to argue for abortion rights before the Supreme Court, and has been the principal defender of those rights since 1973, when the Court recognized the right to choose in Roe v. Wade.
The ACLU will continue our commitment to ensure that women are free to live and work as equals, with full personal control over their reproductive destinies.
Publications:
History of the ACLU Women's Rights Project
Back to School: Do You Know What Your Kids Learned in Sex Ed Today?
Fact sheet: Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Censor Vital Health Care Information
Fact sheet: What the Research Shows: Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Don't Work
Download "Roe at 35: Champions of Choice" here (pdf)
|
