Rebecca Goldman

In mass shootings, the number of people shot is six times higher when an assault weapon is involved and five times higher when a large-capacity magazine is involved. In an analysis, assault weapons accounted for more than 85% of deaths in mass shootings.  

The climate crisis continues to devastatingly and inequitably impact the health and well-being of people and our planet.  

As effective climate action requires political commitment and coordinated laws and policies, the League advocates for bold and just executive and legislative actions to help ensure a stable climate for future generations. 

In June 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion. This ruling eliminated a fundamental right that women and people who may become pregnant held for nearly fifty years and left the right to abortion up to federal and state legislation. 

One year after Dobbs, 20 states are enforcing more limited abortion bans than before the ruling, including 14 states that have banned abortion at conception. Additionally, many have implemented other restrictions that make abortion less accessible.

Throughout 2023, we have seen an unprecedented number of legislative attacks on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQIA+) individuals, particularly transgender (trans) and non-binary youth. These attacks, accompanied and “justified” by false and pathologizing narratives about LGBTQIA+ people, have devastating consequences for the community’s physical and psychological well-being. 

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program protects certain people who immigrated to the United States as children from being deported. Since the program began in 2012, DACA has allowed more than 800,000 people to remain in the US, where they attend school, work, and raise their families as vital members of our communities. 

Without the ability to make reproductive decisions for one’s body, those who can become pregnant cannot participate equally in our democracy.

Further, since the Dobbs decision reversing the right to abortion, numerous state governments have introduced legislation directly or indirectly related to reproductive rights, challenging doctrines of US democracy. 

In November 2022, the League sent delegates in person and virtually to observe the COP27 Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Experts highlighted ways in which climate change disproportionately affects women and girls, who are insufficiently represented in climate change response decision-making. 

In June 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and ending the federal constitutional right to abortion. As the Supreme Court no longer recognizes the right to abortion as protected by the US Constitution, this ruling makes state constitutional amendments even more significant, leaving the right to abortion up to federal or state laws. 

On August 16, the President signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law. The law approves more than 700 billion dollars in federal investments aimed at reducing the national deficit, combating climate change, and lowering health care costs.  

Gun violence has a relatively more devastating impact on certain groups of people, including the LGBTQIA+ community. The disproportionate impact of gun violence on the LGBTQIA+ community makes gun safety a vital protection for community members.