Together

• The U.S. doesn’t have paid family/medical leave but 177 other countries do?
• One in three women have experienced some form of sexual assault?
• When a group includes more women, its collective intelligence rises?
• More than 2.7 million children in the U.S. have an incarcerated parent, and approximately 10 million children have experienced parental incarceration at some point in their lives?
• For every 100,000 births, 43.5 black women die, compared to 12.7 deaths among white women and 14.4 deaths among women of all other races?
• After the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which covered birth control without co-pay, the abortion rate in our nation was at a historic low?
• Women who are physically abused by current or former intimate partners are five times more likely to be murdered when one of the partners owns a firearm?

“The moms of America recognize President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as the direct attack on women’s rights and freedoms that it is. If he is confirmed, Kavanaugh would alter the balance on the U.S. Supreme Court in ways that cause lasting damage to our ability to live and work free from discrimination, to get the health care and education we and our families need, and to block President Trump’s sexist, racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant agenda.

“The U.S. Supreme Court ended its term last week with a trio of terrible rulings: a 5-4 vote to uphold President Trump’s Islamophobic and destructive Muslim Ban; a 5-4 vote that will harm unions and the workers who count on them; and 5-4 vote damaging women’s ability to get the reproductive health care they seek. If the U.S. Senate confirms Kavanaugh, we will face many more rulings that damage our lives and our country for generations to come.

“With the Trump administration working every day to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA), our and our children’s health care is very much on the line. One more U.S. Supreme Court justice supportive of Trump’s agenda could mean 130 million people with pre-existing conditions lose their health insurance coverage. A tremendous amount is at risk for women and families, in particular: Being able to choose if we want children, how many to have, and when to have them is core to our personal freedoms and economic security. Reliable birth control and reproductive choices that permit women to manage if and how many children we want and when we want them has been nothing short of revolutionary – not just for women, mothers and families, but for our country. It has helped to narrow the gender pay gap, improved our health and that of our families, and enhanced our access to economic and political power. This is no small matter. An article in the American Economic Journal concluded: Estimates imply that the Pill can account for 10 percent of the convergence of the gender gap in the 1980s and 30 percent in the 1990s. Yet the Trump administration wants to take away the contraceptive coverage guarantees the ACA provides and has nominated a justice with a history of diminishing women’s rights.

“Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh is a direct attack on our health care and on women, moms and families. Kavanaugh is wrong for our nation. We must come together to overcome all court-sanctioned racism and xenophobia – and to build a nation where everyone can thrive. That begins with the U.S. Senate refusing to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Statement from Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and executive director of MomsRising, an online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on Latina Equal Pay Day - the day that marks how long Latinas have to work in 2018 to catch up to what White, non-Hispanic men were typically paid in 2017.

“Today marks the last of a long line of Equal Pay Days that highlight the continued appalling injustice of wage discrimination in this country. Latinas face an extreme, punitive wage gap: For every dollar paid to a white, non-Hispanic man, Latinas are paid just 53 cents. That adds up to average losses of more than $25,000 each year– earnings that could be used for rent, groceries, child care, education, health care and more. These gaps are even more punitive for Latina mothers, who are paid less than half of what is paid to white, non-Hispanic fathers.

“Latinas should not have to work 22 months to be paid what white, non-Hispanic men are paid in 12. These gaps are intolerable and must end.

“The moms of America will continue to use our voices and our votes to demand equal pay for Latinas and for all women. Closing these outrageous gaps should be a top priority for every lawmaker elected next Tuesday. We need policies that address the root causes of pay gaps and boost economic security for our families and communities -- policies like paid family and medical leave, earned sick days, fair pay and affordable childcare. The new Congress should move quickly to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Healthy Families Act and the Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act to make our workplaces more fair.

“When Latinas are shortchanged on their paychecks, it hampers their economic mobility and damages our nation’s families, communities and economy. We will not rest until all wage gaps are closed.”

“No woman should be shortchanged on her paycheck because of her gender or race – but, in fact, that happens to millions of women and moms right here in the United States every single day. The gap between the wages paid to women of color and moms and those paid to white men and dads is huge, punitive and shameful. Right now in this country, Latinas are paid just 53 cents, Native American women 58 cents, Black women 61 cents, and Asian women 85 cents for every dollar paid to white men. Moms are typically paid just 69 cents for every dollar paid to dads. Overall, women in this country make just 80 cents to a man’s dollar.

“We simply must address the wage gap, which is causing grave and lasting damage to women, families, our economy and our country. The Paycheck Fairness Act will help eliminate the bias and discriminatory practices that are driving down women’s wages and forcing too many hard-working families into poverty. We need Congress to pass this essential bill, to increase pay transparency and strengthen penalties for wage discrimination. More than 50 years after the Equal Pay Act became law, and a decade after enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Congress must take the next step. America’s moms want and expect the new Congress to make speedy passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act a top priority.”

--Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising

 “We welcome today’s introduction of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would go a long way toward eliminating the wage gap, giving everyone a chance to succeed and strengthening our economy by boosting working families. This essential legislation would: deter wage discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations and by prohibiting retaliation against workers who ask about employers’ wage practices or disclose their own wages; empower women to negotiate for equal pay; strengthen federal outreach, education and enforcement efforts; and create stronger incentives for employers to follow the law.

“We also need family-friendly workplace policies – including paid family and medical leave, earned sick days, affordable child care and a living wage – to help close the wage gap and boost our economy.

“America’s moms are looking to the most female, most diverse Congress in history to pass this essential bill. We won’t wait any longer for the fair wages we deserve.”

--Statement of Ruth Martin, Vice President, Workplace Justice Campaigns, MomsRising