Pacific Views

Keeping 'em barefoot and pregnant.

The National Women's Law Center has analyzed the record of Dubya's administration on issues that affect women. To put it bluntly, the overall picture sucks.

From the executive summary:

Rolling Back Equal Opportunity for Women at Work
- The Administration ended the Equal Pay Initiative and has removed all materials on narrowing the wage gap from the Department of Labor's website. The Department of Justice has also dropped cases challenging sex discrimination in employment.
- The Labor Department repealed a rule to help employees obtain paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. [...]

Shortchanging Child Care and Other Supports Women Need to Be Self-Sufficient
- The Administration's budget would cut nearly half a million children from child care programs by 2009 as compared to 2002.
- The Administration's policies would radically alter and undermine the successful Head Start program, which is unique in its comprehensive approach to supporting poor children and families. [...]

Sabotaging Women's Health and Reproductive Rights
- More women could find themselves without health insurance as a result of the Administration's plan to "restructure" Medicaid.
- Women's reproductive rights are being taken away by Administration-backed laws criminalizing abortion and giving the rights and status of "personhood" to fetuses and embryos.
- Medical research is being undermined and scientific information distorted to serve an anti-abortion and anti-family planning agenda. For example, the National Cancer Institute posted information on its website that falsely suggested there may be a link between abortion and breast cancer.

The full executive summary is here. You can read the whole report by going here.

Posted by Magpie at April 24, 2004 08:18 PM | Women | Technorati links |