100 Days of Pro-Woman Progress

Today marks President Obama’s 100th day in office. While there is certainly an astronomical amount of negative chatter coming from the right about Obama, including calling him an “Ritalin case” who is too busy with frivolous parties and events to get anything done for the country, I thought that Obama’s 100th day as the President of the United States would be the perfect time just to outline what Obama has done for this country’s women and families.

Barack Obama’s presidency is the perfect example of how electing leaders who support and value women makes a truly remarkable difference in the lives of women and of their families. After eight long years of unrelenting attacks on women’s freedom and privacy from an anti-choice administration, it is amazing to see an administration who supports the rights and freedoms of women. So when a deluded, foggy-headed member of the right has the audacity to tell you that Obama has done nothing for this country thus far in his presidency based on nothing but the delusion that the economic crisis is still affecting American families, you can correct them and tell them that why yes, he has accomplished a great deal for this country and unlike the last administration, he has signed in laws and regulations to protect and stand up for human rights.

• On January 23, just three days after his inauguration, Obama reversed the Global Gag Rule, a policy that has been reinstated by the Bush administration their first day in office that canceled US family planning funds to many overseas health centers and denied the world’s poorest women access to birth control.

• Also on January 23, Obama re-funded the UN family planning program, UNFPA, which the Bush administration had de-funded for seven years straight and on March 11 Obama signed legislation into law boosting UNFPA funding to a record $50 million.

• On January 29, Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 into law that restored women’s ability to sue the companies they work for for pay discrimination.

• On January 31, the Senate approved a bill to expand and reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in a 66 to 32 vote. On February 4 Obama expanded government health insurance to cover 11 million children. SCHIP provides health insurance to children from low income families who cannot afford private health care but do not qualify for federal Medicaid.

• On February 26, Obama signaled his commitment to medically accurate sex education by including it in his first budget outline.

• On February 27, Obama announced his intention to repeal the controversial, last minute Bush policy, the Federal Refusal Rule, or what some anti-choice groups claim is a “conscience clause.” The Refusal Rule could have allowed entire health care corporations to refuse to provide medical services, including abortion and birth control to patients.

• On March 6, Obama instituted a new ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues.

• On March 9, Obama lifted restrictions on stem cell research.

• On March 11, Obama signed legislation into law fixing the birth control price crisis at college health centers and safety net provider clinics across the country. In 2005, the birth control pricing crisis began when Congress amended federal law through the Deficit Reduction Act and eliminated incentives for pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide discounts on prescription birth control to college campuses and local health centers. Because the price for birth control skyrocketed, patients, including low income women and families who would be unable to pay the normal price for birth control, we unable to obtain birth control. (As a senator, Obama authored this legislation.)

• Also on March 11, Obama signed legislation increasing family planning funding for American women by $7 million and cutting the failed abstinence-only programs by $14 million.

• Also on March 11, Obama signed legislation increasing international family planning funding at the USAID by more than $30 million.

• On March 19, Obama pledged to sign UN declaration to decriminalize homosexuality. A declaration that Bush refused to sign.

• On March 20, Obama appointee Elena Kagan was confirmed as the first woman Solicitor General

• On April 23, Obama’s appointments to posts needing Senate confirmation were 32% women with a substantial portion of them being women of color.