Women's Issues
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I am committed to finding commonsense solutions to the challenges facing America’s working women, and have led the fight to help them succeed both at home and at work. Throughout my time serving in Congress, I have strived to champion the needs of women across the country and back home in Pennsylvania. That is why I am honored that Corporate Voices for Working Families and Working Mother Media have once again recognized me for providing leadership in improving the quality of life for working families by presenting me with the 2012 Best of Congress Award. Corporate Voices for Working Families and Working Mother Media developed the Best of Congress Award to recognize Members of Congress who have made a concerted effort to partner with businesses and other stakeholders to create long-term solutions to the challenges that America’s working families face. I have won this award every year since it was created in 2008.
Lilly Ledbetter
In January 2009, President Obama signed his first legislation into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This was a major step towards ending gender pay discrimination in America by reversing a Supreme Court decision that kept women from pursuing pay discrimination claims. I was proud to be an original co-sponsor of the bill and advocated for its passage. This legislation is about fairness and makes it clear that gender discrimination has absolutely no place in America’s workplace.
Health Care
Strengthening Benefits: The Affordable Care Act made great strides in strengthening health benefits for women. No longer is being a woman or a woman’s ability to reproduce considered a pre-existing condition. Insurance companies are no longer allowed to discriminate against women and charge them higher rates simply because of their gender. Health insurance plans are now required to cover women’s preventive services including well-woman visits, mammograms, pap smears, and contraception without charging a co-payment, co-insurance, or deductible.
Protecting Vital Health Services: The Republican majority in Congress has made it their mission to restrict access to reproductive health services for women. In 2011, Congressional Republicans were willing to shut down our government, risking benefits for seniors and veterans and risking our country’s economic standing, to take vital health care services away from women by defunding Planned Parenthood. Attacks on Planned Parenthood threaten vital preventive care services for women.
Access to Vital Medication: I worked with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure women would have continued access to an affordable compound drug that prevents pre-term labor in high-risk women. A decision by KV Pharmaceutical in 2011 to price a similar branded version of the drug at 100 times the cost of the compound version threatened to put a lifesaving treatment out of reach for many pregnant women. Days later, KV Pharmaceuticals issued a new pricing structure for Makena and the FDA ensured access to the lower-cost compound drug for all women, regardless of their ability to pay.
Domestic Violence
Nearly two decades ago, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), landmark legislation that forever changed in this country how victims of sexual and domestic violence are treated. Congress twice reauthorized VAWA with strong bipartisan support. In April 2012, the U.S. Senate passed, by a vote of 68 to 31, a strong bipartisan bill that ensures all victims of domestic and sexual violence would be protected.
Despite this bipartisan history and calls from law enforcement organizations to reauthorize this legislation without politics, Congressional Republicans passed a reauthorization of VAWA in May 2012 that strips critical protections from victims of violence.
Rather than incorporating the crucial safeguards for battered spouses included in the bipartisan Senate-passed bill, Republicans advanced legislation that rolls back existing protections. More than 300 organizations – many of which work to ensure the safety and security of women – opposed this bill because it weakens protections and creates tough hurdles for victims trying to navigate a complex judicial system.
Instead of encouraging victims to come forward and report abuse, the Republican-passed VAWA legislation makes them more vulnerable. I have consistently stood up for strengthening the Violence Against Women Act and will keep fighting for passage of bipartisan legislation that includes comprehensive protections for all victims of domestic violence.
International Family Planning
As a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, I have advocated for efforts to restore U.S. contributions to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the only multilateral organization that provides essential reproductive health services in over 140 countries. I have also consistently opposed the "global gag rule," which prevents international family planning groups who receive U.S. aid from using their own, non-U.S. money to provide reproductive health information and services to women. This misguided policy has been enacted under Republican administrations for decades and was most recently repealed under President Obama.
In the 112th Congress, Republicans are once again attacking women's health and recently added a version of the global gag rule into the State and Foreign Affairs Authorization bill, an amendment I voted against.