Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Aug. 22, 2024 in Chicago (AP Photo/Paul Sancya).
Over the last decade, there have been plenty of opportunities for women to show up for themselves and each other, but instead, they’ve chosen to do the opposite — particularly when it comes to protecting their legal rights.
In 2016, when Hillary Clinton was running for U.S. president, there was a chance of having the first female leader at the national helm. However, her campaign was met with plenty of backlash. One of the most shocking areas being questioned was her ability to run a country based on gender, with many of the dissenters being females themselves.
Now, here we are again, with the chance to have a female as the country’s leader, with built-in support to ensure the rights of women and other underrepresented groups are upheld.
We’ve already experienced what is at stake when the wrong person is in power. But will women vote in support of their fundamental rights? There’s a lot on the line with every election, and here are several laws affecting women that everyone should be mindful of come November.
Attack on reproductive rights: Abortion, contraception and IVF
In 2018, during the confirmation hearings for then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Kamala Harris, a Senator at the time, memorably asked: “Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?”
And his response was, essentially, I cannot.
“I’m not thinking of any right now, Senator,” he said at the time.
Yet, there is a growing number of laws that allow the government to make decisions about the female body.
In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, ending the right to abortion, a judgment that was upheld for nearly a half-century. All conservative justices, including the three appointed by former President Donald Trump, joined Chief Justice Samuel Alito in his opinion, with the exception of Chief Justice John Roberts, who concurred with the judgment only and would have banned abortions after 15 weeks.
Alito contended abortion is a matter to be decided by the states, a sentiment that has been echoed by Trump. This puts women living in more than half the country at risk. As of July 2024, 21 states have abortion bans or early gestational limits in effect; 6 states have no health exceptions; and 10 states have no rape or incest exception when it comes to the legality of abortion.
As a further attack on women’s reproductive rights, several states have introduced personhood bills in 2024 that could make it illegal to destroy embryos during the process of in vitro fertilization, or IVF. In a February 2024 ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. This ruling has halted IVF treatments in many state clinics, leaving patients without care and chances of becoming pregnant.
Additionally, eight states so far in 2024 have proposed restrictions on contraceptive access. A law passed in Indiana limits the types of contraceptive care available to those with Medicaid coverage, based on misinformation by anti-abortion groups that IUDs cause abortions. Similarly, a bill proposed in Oklahoma sought to enact restrictions with the intention to ban IUDs and emergency contraception.
Despite the differing opinions women have regarding abortions, all women should be fearful of their legal rights being in jeopardy, as they do not stop with their physical bodies. To vote against female body autonomy seems like there’s a lack of awareness of how much of an impact this has for them, as well as their friends, family members, and colleagues.
People’s fear of the unknown leads them to stay with rooted, albeit outdated, beliefs, even if they don’t always align with them. However, this type of fear-based decision-making is putting not only reproductive rights at stake but also a woman’s right to divorce and right to receive equitable health care and wages.
Efforts to roll back no-fault divorce
Many conservatives are now also focused on efforts to make it more difficult for women to end marriages based on irreconcilable differences.
Many leaders have come out against no-fault divorce including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Ohio Senator-turned-vice-presidential-candidate J.D. Vance. If the idea is that these efforts will not come to fruition, Missouri law already requires women seeking divorce to disclose whether they’re pregnant, and state judges won’t finalize divorces during a pregnancy.
Though the ruling was originally established to make sure men were held financially accountable for the children they fathered, it puts women at risk who are in domestically violent, emotionally abusive, and other risky spousal situations.
Women’s health care
General health care access for women also remains in danger. Harvard research has found women who received coronary bypass surgery were only half as likely to be prescribed painkillers compared to men who had undergone the same procedure.
There’s also been evidence women wait an average of 65 minutes before receiving treatment for acute abdominal pain, while men only wait 49 minutes. Though Congress has made efforts to reduce health disparities through the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2022, these are but a few examples of health care discrepancies women, especially women of color, face every day compared to men.
Again, the hope is women will vote in favor of governing officials who are going to provide more accessibility, affordability, and opportunity for equitable health care, which is not likely going to be those who are voting against women’s reproductive rights.
Widening gender wage gap
The gap in equal rights between women and men continues in the workplace as well. Despite pay equity laws, women earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, and the number is reduced even further with Hispanic women earning only 65% as much as white men, and Black women earning 70% in comparison.
Everyone rightly wants a seat at the table, and if females only get one, then everyone is going to fight for that spot. However, what most women have found is working together as a collective boosts opportunities and makes it easier to achieve their respective goals. It’s beneficial to be in someone’s corner rather than being viewed as a threat.
It’s simple: protect women’s legal rights
When put into a position to make real change, why is it hard to get women to support other women and their initiatives, and more importantly, how can we put a stop to it?
Women supporting women creates a ripple effect and opens a space where meaningful changes can occur. Speaking up in favor of women’s rights is important. And voting in local, state, and federal elections is a crucial part of that.
The time is now to insist on equity to preserve your own best interests, as well as for the generations of women who will come after.
Kelly Hyman is a TV legal analyst who has appeared on Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, CourtTV, BBC, MSNBC and is the host of the popular true-crime podcast, “Once Upon a Crime in Hollywood.”
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
