Tag Archives: National Women’s Law Center


	Denying Contraceptive Coverage is Harmful to Women



	Tell the EEOC to fully enforce the law.

Does your employer-sponsored health insurance cover your birth control? Most of us couldn’t have said “yes” ten years ago.

This week marks an important anniversary of a major legal advance for women: ten years ago, in response to a petition filed by the National Women’s Law Center, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled that it is illegal sex discrimination for some employer-sponsored health insurance plans to cover prescriptions and preventive care but not to cover contraceptives for women.

This was a major legal advance for women, but our work is not done. We still need to make sure that the EEOC is doing all it can do to enforce its landmark ruling, and that women receive the full protection of the law.

More than ten years ago, the National Women’s Law Center led a coalition of 60 health care, women’s, civil rights, and other groups, prompting the EEOC’s ruling, and making a real difference for women. A study conducted shortly after the ruling found that contraceptive coverage had increased across the nation. Yet some employers have resisted, and we continue to hear from far too many women who do not have coverage for the contraceptives they need.

Join us in telling the EEOC to focus on enforcing this important protection.

In the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing about our new campaign to make sure the new health care law also fulfills its promise of guaranteeing insurance coverage of contraceptives for all women regardless of employer coverage. Today, let’s honor this important anniversary by asking the EEOC to ensure that women receive the contraceptive coverage from their employers to which they are legally entitled.

Thank you for your continued commitment to health care that works for women and their families.

Sincerely,

Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. To review the long battle we’ve fought to get insurance coverage of contraception, check out our timeline.

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Help Us Protect Against New Attacks on HCR – Your Gift Matched

12/14/2010 Nativegrl77

You have to wonder — which part of the landmark health care law do they want to repeal?

Is it the part that ends the practice of charging women higher health insurance premiums than men?

Or perhaps it’s the part that bans the practice of denying coverage to rape victims because insurers consider rape and domestic violence to be “pre-existing conditions?”

This year’s landmark law was an urgent and long-overdue step forward. And we’re not going to let it fall victim to partisan politics.

With your help, we can defend our gains — and make new progress — for women and families in 2011.

Please make an urgent contribution to the Center’s year-end campaign — every dollar you donate will be matched dollar for dollar by our Board of Directors, up to a total of $60,000.

Last year, Congress considered ways to fix our broken health care system, and the Center went to work. We sought to stop insurers from charging women higher premiums than men. We sought to require insurers to provide insurance to 32 million Americans who had none. And we sought to end the trauma of women being denied coverage by insurance companies that consider Cesareans, domestic violence and rape to be “pre-existing conditions.”

We researched and documented the discrimination women face. We put women’s health needs front and center through our attention-grabbing “Being a Woman Is Not a Pre-existing Condition” campaign. We provided expert testimony on Capitol Hill documenting the inequities and discrimination that women faced every day as they sought quality health care for themselves and their families.

And with the help of so many people like you, we won.

The health care law was the culmination of years of work by the Center and its allies — documenting the abuses by insurance companies, organizing policy advocates, activating supporters, and building Congressional support Member by Member.

With your help, we will carry on the fight for women and families in America — in the workplace, in the classroom, on the soccer field, and in the doctor’s office.

And until December 31, every dollar you donate will be matched dollar for dollar by our Board of Directors, up to a total of $60,000.

On behalf of women and families everywhere, thank you for your generous help.

Sincerely,

Nancy Duff Campbell
Co-President
National Women’s Law Center

Marcia Greenberger
Co-President
National Women’s Law Center

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Women’s Progress in Peril – Help Us Now

12/02/2010 Nativegrl77

If the final days of the 111th Congress are any clue, you and I have our work cut out for us in 2011.

Earlier this month, 58 Senators voted to bring an important bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act, to the floor of the Senate for a full debate and vote. This measure would help close the continuing and shameful disparity between men’s and women’s wages.

But in highly polarized Washington, 58 votes are not enough. Needing 60, this critical reform died without ever receiving a vote on the merits.

We have fought too long and too hard for women and families to let injustices like this stand.

Please make an urgent contribution to the Center’s year-end campaign — every dollar you donate will be matched dollar for dollar by our Board of Directors, up to a total of $60,000.

It’s a sign of the times that our Board has issued this challenge.

For more than 38 years, the National Women’s Law Center has led the way for women and families — in the classroom, in the workplace and in society as a whole. Our team of experts, lawyers and advocates is a formidable force for women in America today. The coming year will be a tough one, but frankly we’ve been here before — and prevailed. And with your help, we can prevail again.

Here is a glimpse of some of the major challenges that we will take on in 2011, marshalling all of our experience, savvy and skill:

Advocate for an economic recovery plan that puts job creation and economy-boosting investments before deficit reduction in the short term. The recession has hit women hard and millions of women, many of them single mothers, are among the long-term unemployed. We will press for jobs and job supports, such as child care, that will help both these women and the economy.
At the same time, we will advocate for a long-term fiscal plan that protects programs vital to women and their families. We will press for additional revenues from a fair and responsible tax system and fight efforts to balance the budget on the backs of Social Security and Medicare, which have helped millions of women escape poverty and achieve some measure of economic and health security.
Protect health reforms that help women and families. The Center played a lead role in efforts to stop insurers from charging women higher premiums than men. And we shined a bright spotlight on the trauma of women being denied coverage by insurance companies that consider Cesareans and domestic violence to be “preexisting conditions.” Those were critical advances, and we won’t allow the country to go backwards.
Win confirmation of dozens of judges, who are superbly qualified and who await Senate confirmation to serve on the federal bench.
Catch up with the community of nations by ratifying the landmark international human rights treaty for women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women — CEDAW — ratified by all but the United States, Sudan, Somalia, Iran and three Island countries in the Pacific. Our nation’s presence on this list is simply shameful.

We’re up against what will certainly be one of the most challenging sessions of Congress in recent years, with many more Members hostile to core rights and programs critical to women’s lives. But if we’ve learned one thing in our 38 years, it’s this — that victories are possible even in the toughest of times.

Your support will never make a bigger difference. And between now and December 31st, the Board will match your gift dollar for dollar, up to a total of $60,000.

Please give generously. For women and families everywhere, you have our deepest thanks.

Sincerely,

Nancy Duff Campbell
Co-President
National Women’s Law Center

Marcia Greenberger
Co-President
National Women’s Law Center

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Breaking News: Rally for Girls’ Sports Campaign Launches Today

11/10/2010 Nativegrl77


	Rally for Girls’ Sports



	Take the Rally for Girls’ Sports pledge to ensure girls are getting a fair shot to play!

For girls, sports are about more than winning a game. Girls who play sports are healthier, more confident, less likely to engage in risky behaviors, and do better in high school and beyond. We’d like to think that any student has a fair shot to play sports, but sadly that is not the case. School districts across the country are denying girls an equal chance to play in high school.

It is past time to treat girls fairly on the playing field. You can help by joining the National Women’s Law Center’s new campaign focused on girls in high school: Rally for Girls’ Sports: She’ll Win More than a Game!

Today we filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education against 12 school districts where the schools’ own data show that high school girls are not receiving equal opportunities to play sports. But these school districts are just examples of a widespread problem. Girls make up half of all high school students nationwide, but only 41 percent of school athletes. Girls shouldn’t be forced to the sidelines!

This is the first step in the campaign, but we can’t take this on alone. Sign the Rally for Girls’ Sports pledge today to ensure girls are getting a fair shot to play!

Girls are missing out. In these critical educational years, we need to come together as advocates, parents, coaches, and students to make sure that girls are treated fairly. Many girls want to play and they have what it takes to succeed — they just need the opportunities.

Please join with us to rally for girls’ sports. Every girl who plays will win more than a game.

Sincerely,

Neena Chaudhry
Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Want to learn more about Title IX? Sign-up for our FREE webinar to learn more about what Title IX means for female athletes in your community! All parents, coaches, school officials, and athletes who want to level the playing field are welcome.

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Express Yourself -Vote Tuesday

11/01/2010 Nativegrl77


	If Women Vote, Washington Will Listen



	We can’t afford to sit this one out — make sure to vote tomorrow.

You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth saying it again: women’s votes change the face of government.

Pollsters and pundits are claiming that many women may sit this election out. But when women don’t vote, we all lose. Learn where your polling location is and make sure to vote tomorrow.

Your vote is your way of expressing what’s important to you. A host of important priorities for women are at stake in this election. For instance, your vote can say:

We took a major step toward meeting women’s health needs by passing a new health care law — being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition. Let’s keep it that way.
Helping women and their families through hard times, expanding opportunity, and strengthening the economy are important to me. I need our leaders to support a strong safety net and a fair tax system that provides the resources needed for those investments.
I want Congress to make equal pay a priority and fight to make sure that women and their families won’t have to make do with 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

The midterm elections will make a profound difference on whether women and families will get the help they need to make ends meet in these difficult times. Women’s votes matter now more than ever. That’s why none of us can afford for women to sit this election out.

Express yourself — make sure to vote tomorrow.

Sincerely,