Events In one of its most important sex discrimination rulings in recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court in Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls, declared that employers could not exclude women from jobs in which exposure to toxic substances could harm a developing fetus. The ruling was a decisive victory for a broad coalition of labor unions […]
Events The Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, Mayumi Moriyama, withdrew her request to present a trophy to the winner of a sumo wrestling contest after she was besieged by protests. No woman had ever been permitted to enter the sacred center ring of sumo. (01/90) After his re-election as Japanese Prime Minister, Toshiki Kaifu, a […]
Events A Gallup poll of opinions on the effectiveness of groups, conducted nationwide involving 1,000 adults, between February 28 and March 2, showed that NOW was viewed favorably by 71% of the poll respondents, just behind the American Cancer Society, the League of Women Voters, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. NOW was equally […]
Events Canada’s high court ruled that a Canadian 1972 anti-abortion law restricting abortion violated a woman’s right to control her body. (01/88) Over President Reagan’s veto, Congress finally passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act (CRRA) for which NOW had been fighting. It reversed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1984 Grove City decision and restored full coverage […]
Events NOW’s The Court Watch Project compiled Reagan’s judicial appointment record for 1987: the U.S. Senate confirmed 43 Reagan appointees to the federal bench-33 judges to district courts and 10 judges to the courts of appeals. Of these, 41 were white males, one was a white female, and one an Asian male. By the end […]
Events Astronaut Judith Resnick and teacher Christa McAuliffe died with five male crew members in the explosion of the spacecraft, Challenger, as millions of Americans watched on television. (01/28/86) Corazon Aquino was inaugurated as the first woman President of the Philippines. (02/86) The largest march for women’s rights in U.S. history occurred on March 9th […]
Events A “classic male sexist charge” was U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick’s response to a remark by her White House opponents that she was “too temperamental to hold higher office.” In addressing the Women’s Forum, a group of New York business and political women, Kirkpatrick stated that “sexism is alive in the U.N., in the U.S. […]
Events Rep. Mary Rose Oakar, (D-OH), introduced a bill to require the Federal government to pay its male and female employees equally for comparable work saying: “For too long, women have been paid at a lower rate than men even though their jobs have been of comparable worth . . . Positive steps must be […]
Events The ERA was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.J. Res. 1 by Democratic Party leadership (without consultation with organizations supporting ERA), with 210 sponsors that rose quickly to 232. In addition, four non-voting members of Congress from the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands signed on as […]
Events Washington D.C. was the scene of more than the Presidential Inauguration. Thousands also came to the city to remind President Reagan of the continued and determined support for the Equal Rights Amendment. Two days of ERA actions preceded the one at the Inauguration itself. (01/20/81) President Reagan endorsed a proposed Human Life Bill (HLB), […]
Events A new community property law became law in Louisiana, depriving Louisiana husbands of their status as “head and master” of the household. (01/80) A federal judge ruled in McRae v. Harris that imposing severe restrictions on Federal funding of medically necessary abortions was unconstitutional. Judge John F. Dooling, Jr. of the Federal District Court in Brooklyn, […]
Events By a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a Pennsylvania law that required a doctor performing an abortion to choose the abortion method most likely to save the life of a fetus that might be old enough to survive outside the womb. The decision was rendered in the case of Colautti v. […]
Events The U.S. government said that it would finance abortions for poor women who were victims of rape and incest if the incidents were reported to the proper authorities within 60 days. The ruling was by Joseph Califano, a personal opponent of abortion, and head of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW).(01/26/78) NOW’s […]
Events NOW president Karen DeCrow delivered a Women’s State of the Union Address in Washington, D.C. (01/13/77) NOW’s new bylaws were reported as ratified after mail ballots were counted. The new bylaws provided for paid officers, a delegate system and modern, streamlined management. (01/29/77) The Tenth National Conference of NOW in Detroit, MI, elected Eleanor […]
Events NOW adopted the Women’s Bicentennial Medallion as a fundraiser for the ERA ratification campaign. It was designed by Judith Meuli and Toni Carabillo. (01/76) The Senate agreed to NOW’s demands for hearings in the death of Karen Silkwood, Kerr-McGee nuclear plant employee. The 28-year-old mother of three had been killed in a suspicious auto […]
Events President Ford signed an executive order which established a National Commission on International Women’s Year. The government allocated $350,000 to finance the Commission; both Australia and Canada allocated $2 million. During the signing ceremony, President Ford urged the ratification of ERA in 1975. (01/10/75) The Vietnam War ended-after 14 years and 56,559 American dead. […]
Events At the Seventh NOW National Conference in Houston, Karen DeCrow was elected president and Judith Lightfoot, chair of the board. Resolutions were passed calling for the impeachment of President Nixon and another calling for the resignation of NASA’s administrator because of unfair practices in hiring and promotion of women and minorities and asking for […]
Events For the first time in 24 years, the U.S. Senate had no women members. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, who had served since January 3, 1949, was defeated in her re-election bid in November 1972. (01/20/73) Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote the decision in Roe v. Wade (see below) legalizing abortion. He was appointed to […]
Events President Nixon made his historic visit to Red China, the first visit ever made by a U.S. President to that country. (02/28/72) Dr. Juanita Kreps was elected the first female governor of the New York Stock Exchange. (02/20/72) Rep. Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman to run for the U.S. presidency in the […]
Events The U.S. Supreme Court held a two-hour hearing on its first-and key-abortion case. Although the case did not involve a woman’s right to control her own body, it had the potential for abolishing abortion laws of 39 states which allowed abortion “when necessary for the preservation of the mother’s health.” In the Washington, D.C. […]
