Women's Reproductive Health
WASHINGTON — The League of Women Voters of the United States joined an amicus brief filed in the consolidated Idaho v. United States and Moyle v. United States cases before the US Supreme Court. The cases concern whether states can block pregnant people from getting emergency abortion care in hospitals, which if adopted, would have devastating implications for pregnant people facing medical emergencies. The amicus brief is led by the National Women’s Law Center and the League is represented by Cohen Milstein.
In honor of Women’s History Month, VoteRiders’ Digital Communications Coordinator Erin Carden spoke with Jessica Jones Caparell, Director of Government Affairs at the League of Women Voters, about the tremendous power women continue to bring to the ballot box and the steps the League is taking in partnership with VoteRiders to make sure their voices are heard this election season and beyond.
This story was originally published in the Lincoln Journal Star.
A nonpartisan civic organization has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a case before the Nebraska Supreme Court over the law that added restrictions for abortion and gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth.
From Supreme Court decisions to voting rights legislation, 2023 was a busy year for our democracy. But how closely were you paying attention?
The Lochner era marked the beginning of the US Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) expansion of its powers into unenumerated rights, and by extension, Americans’ economic and social lives, which persists today.
The development of substantive due process brought many unenumerated rights under the Constitution, meaning SCOTUS had the power to expand and protect them. But as seen with abortion, substantive due process also made it possible for SCOTUS to overturn unenumerated rights; after all, an institution that can grant rights may also take them away. The end of Roe v. Wade was a powerful lesson that personal freedoms depend upon courts and judges being willing to defend and protect them.
The Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funding for most abortions. As a result, most people enrolled in public health programs cannot use their health care coverage to pay for abortion services. This poses a particularly devastating barrier to people living with low incomes, including the more than 16 million women of reproductive age enrolled in Medicaid.
Jefferson City, MO — The League of Women Voters of Missouri praised a Sept. 25 judicial decision overturning the Secretary of State’s deceptive ballot language for a reproductive freedom initiative.
From January – August 2023, state legislatures nationwide passed various bills into law. While following these developments, the League noticed several important trends around voting rights and election administration.
There is only one way we can ensure that the promise of democracy is kept: by fervently participating in our nation’s political processes, ensuring our voices are heard.
For the second year in a row, the League has declared August 26 to be Women’s Inequality Day because of the historic challenges women and our allies currently face.
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