Health

Contraception Bill Fails to Pass in the Senate

Photo by David Knox On June 5th, a bill to protect Americans’ access to birth control was thwarted by Senate Republicans. Democrats unanimously supported the bill with two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), crossing party lines to back the legislation. However, the vote failed 51 to 39, short of the 60 votes needed […]

Election Politics

Georgia Senate Passes Bill to Restrict Voting Access

The Republican-controlled Georgia state Senate voted Monday to pass sweeping legislation that would restrict access to voting for thousands of Georgia residents. The bill, which passed 29-20, will end no-excuse absentee voting and will enact stricter voter identification laws for absentee ballots. Only residents who are disabled, over 65, are in the military, have a […]

Abortion Abortion Providers On the Hill Politics

Anti-Abortion Activist Who Advocated for Ending Women’s Suffrage Speaks at RNC

Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee turned anti-abortion activist, spoke at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Tuesday. Johnson was the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic before leaving after reportedly watching an abortion on an ultrasound. She now runs And Then There Were None, an organization which helps those who work in facilities […]

Election On the Hill

Record Number of Women Running for Congress in 2020

More women are running for Congress than ever before. According to data from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University, 583 women have filed to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020. So far, 243 women have won their primary elections, another record high. While fewer female Democrats have […]

On the Hill Violence Against Women

Democratic Women Take to the House Floor to Address a Culture of Hostile Sexism

After Representative Ted Yoho (R-FL) failed to apologize for a vulgar verbal attack on Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) earlier this week, claiming that he “cannot apologize for his passion,” Ocasio-Cortez and her female Democratic colleagues addressed the incident on Thursday. In their speeches, these representatives dissected the unmistakable patterns of dehumanization and sexism that women […]

Immigration On the Hill

Trump Signs Memo to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Census Numbers

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memo Tuesday aiming to exclude the number of undocumented immigrant populations when redistributing congressional seats following the 2020 census. The unprecedented move, which civil rights advocates say is unconstitutional, comes a year after the Trump administration tried and failed to include a citizenship question in the census. If implemented, […]

Politics

Young, College-Educated, Democratic Women: You are Most Likely A Feminist

A new Pew Research study, conducted during March and April, confirms that age, education level, and political affiliation can indicate whether or not someone identities as a feminist. Overall, 61% of women said that “feminist” describes them “very” or “somewhat well”. Across different age groups, the 18-29 cohort was most likely to identify as a […]

Election On the Hill

Upcoming Elections May Jeopardize the Historic Number of GOP Women Senators

Since 2018, with the swearing-in of senators including Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Martha McSally (R-AZ), and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), the greatest number of Republican women have been serving in the U.S. Senate in the party’s history. However, this historic victory for gender representation in the Republican Party may be in jeopardy come November. A recent Politico […]

Uncategorized

Supreme Court Upholds Virginia Redistricting

On Monday, June 17th,  the Supreme Court decided to uphold district re-drawings in spite of republican’s challenge to reverse racially gerrymandered districts. Written by Justice Ginsburg, majority 5-4 decision states Virginia preferred to “stop than fight on,” illuminating that they are ready for an election with these already redrawn districts. These districts were originally drawn […]

Health

More than 1 Million Americans Lost Health Coverage in 2018

In 2018, more than 1 million Americans lost health coverage, continuing a pattern of decline since 2017 when Trump Administration and Congress decreased the Affordable Care Act requirements and regulations. In 2017, 29.3 million Americans did not have coverage and in 2018 this number increased to 30.4 million Americans, while previously the number of uninsured […]

Politics

Paycheck Fairness Act Passes U.S. House

On Wednesday, the Paycheck Fairness Act, also known as H.R. 7, passed the U.S. House of Representatives, with a final vote of 242-187 that included seven Republicans. The bill must pass the Senate and be signed by the President to become law. The Paycheck Fairness Act aims to strengthen protections against wage discrimination and amend […]

Health

Trump Administration Argues the ACA is Unconstitutional

The Trump Administration is arguing that a federal appeals court should strike down the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) as unconstitutional, including the popular provisions to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions, the expansion of Medicaid, and the ability for young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26 years old. In […]

Uncategorized

Bills to Re-Open Government Fail in the Senate

Today, furloughed workers received their second consecutive $0.00 paycheck because yesterday, a plan made by the Democrats, that they hoped would have bipartisan support to end the shutdown, failed to pass, forcing the government shutdown to continue in its 35th day. House Democrats are in the process of composing a border security proposal of $5.2 […]

Politics

Democrats’ First Legislative Priority is Voting Rights Reform

Democrats announced this week that their first legislative vote will be a sweeping voting reform act, H.R. 1, that Democrats believe will increase public trust in the government and strengthen democratic institutions. The legislation aims to reform redistricting, create automatic voter registration, revive the Voting Rights Act, overturn the Citizen’s United ruling, and expand the […]