Equal Rights

This decision is a victory for women and all people in Texas who may become pregnant.

Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15) is a time to recognize and celebrate the achievements and contributions of Hispanic and Latina Americans. This month, I want to highlight four trailblazers who’ve fought for the rights of women and paved the way for the next generation of civil rights activists.   

For those who experience pregnancy, our basic freedoms hinge on our ability to make choices about our reproductive health. Our physical and psychological health, ability to gain and maintain employment, financial resources, and even what we can and cannot eat are all dependent on our reproductive choices. 

On July 1, in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to the freedom to vote. The decision held that Arizona laws discounting ballots cast out of precinct and banning nonrelative neighbors or friends to deliver mail-in ballots did not violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965, despite these laws’ negative effects on Black and brown voters. It is a major loss for voting rights at a time when this sacred freedom is under attack across the nation. 

The US Supreme Court declined to rule on a Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy LWV of the US Board President Dr. Deborah Ann Turner and LWV of Texas President Grace Chimene issued a joint statement in response.

Figure skating has a long way to go to fully reckon with the intertwined ways that patriarchy, homophobia, and racism occur and the resulting harms done to athletes, from Olympic stars down to kids in the learn-to-skate program. It is a fiercely gendered sport, especially in pairs skating.

My pairs partner, Erica Rand, and I are challenging those binary gender norms. In doing so, we are also hoping to open up the sport we love to people of all genders and gender expressions.

Though their work styles are vastly different, each of these women made our country a fairer, more just place. 

For far too long, people of color have been denied justice. No one is above the law, especially police officers who have taken an oath to protect, serve and enforce the laws. Passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is a necessary step towards holding officers liable for their actions and prohibiting the tactics that have already caused far too many deaths.   

Plaintiff Catholic Social Services (CSS), a foster care agency retained by Philadelphia to provide placement services, sued the city after it stated it would not contract with CSS if it continued to refuse to place foster children with unmarried and same-sex couples. 

In the past year, The League signed on to numerous amicus briefs to defend the LGBTQ+ community from the wave of attacks on their rights. Many of these cases could set a precedent for discrimination against both LGBTQ+ and other marginized groups.