August 23
Congress is still on recess, and the Democrats were at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago all week. We covered behind the scenes footage on Instagram and TikTok. Monday is Women’s Equality Day, so we’re bringing you a special edition of MORE POWER that covers bills that the authors wrote to make the country a better place for women.
This week in MORE POWER:
Problem-solving Task Force
Taking Care of Businesses
Reproductive Freedom
Protecting IVF
Disarming Stalkers
Problem-solving Task Force
The Protect Black Women and Girls Act is comprehensive, bipartisan legislation that would create a task force to study the experiences of Black women and girls in education, economic development, healthcare, labor and employment, housing, justice, and civil rights. The task force would also have to weigh in on existing policies that are designed to improve Black women and girls’ experiences and make recommendations for new policies to address some of the issues it uncovered in its research. This bill has been introduced in the House and is pending a full vote.
Taking Care of Businesses
The Women-owned Small Businesses (WOSB) Certification and Opportunity Expansion Act passed the House in February. This bill aims to improve accuracy in tracking how well federal agencies are meeting their goals for working with WOSBs. In order to make this improvement, this bill ensures that only WOSBs that have been officially certified by a recognized authority – which can be federal agencies, state governments, or national certifying entities – are counted toward federal agencies' contracting goals. It also allows certain self-certified businesses to be temporarily considered certified while their applications are being reviewed. Additionally, the bill requires the Small Business Administration to provide updates on the certification process. To become law, the Senate would have to pass it next.
Reproductive Freedom
There are currently several bills in Congress that center reproductive freedom. Reproductive freedom is the right of individuals to make their own choices about having children, which includes decisions about birth control, pregnancy, and abortion. The Reproductive Freedom for Women Act and the Women’s Health Protection Act would – if made law – secure women’s access to abortion at the federal level, meaning that states would no longer be able to ban abortion. The Right to Contraception Act would function similarly: if made law, the bill would protect women’s access to contraception at a federal level. The Reproductive Freedom for Women Act and Right to Contraception Act both failed to pass the Senate. However, they can be brought up again. The Women’s Health Protection Act has not been brought to a vote yet. Use the links above to read more and take action on each bill.
Protecting IVF
The Access to Family Building Act, if made law, would protect Americans’ access to assisted reproductive technology such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). Recently, IVF has been subject to restrictions and/or bans at the state-level because IVF often involves creating multiple embryos, some of which might not be used and therefore discarded, which conflicts with some peoples’ pro-life sentiments.
The bill would ensure that anyone who wishes to use IVF to become pregnant can, without running into statewide bans or restrictions. It has not yet come up for a vote in the Senate or House, but public pressure could move the process along.
Disarming Stalkers
There is a bill on the hill that would expand existing federal laws that restrict gun access for people who have been convicted of stalking or are under court orders related to stalking or harassment. Stalking disproportionately affects women. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, one in every three women are stalked in their lifetime. Additionally, the bill, called the Strengthening Protections for Domestic Violence and Stalking Survivors Act, expands the types of relationships that are covered by the firearm restrictions. It includes people who have a restraining order against them for stalking or harassment involving not just a spouse or co-parent, but someone they’ve dated.
What Congress Passed
Nothing – they are still on summer recess, and Democrats were at the Democratic National Convention.
Nothing – they are still on summer recess, and Democrats were at the Democratic National Convention.
Nothing.
What POTUS Signed Into Law
Nothing.
