Womenstake, NWLC's Blog

NWLC’s Weekly Roundup: January 23-27

Posted by Danielle Jackson, Online Outreach Associate | Posted on: January 27, 2012 at 05:14 pm

Happy Friday! Hope you’re all ready for another weekly roundup. I’ve got some stories today to wrap up Trust Women Week with, an interesting blog on human trafficking, an interview with an ally to the feminist community, and some news from Nike – which is a little different than things I’ve written about in the past.

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Tags: Abortion, college basketball, Human Trafficking, Roe v. Wade, Trust Women Week, Women's Sports, Athletics, Family Planning, Pregnancy Rights, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | Add new comment

A Change is Gonna Come, and It Finally Has…

Posted by Anna Benyo, Senior Health Policy Analyst | Posted on: January 27, 2012 at 03:01 pm

Yesterday I had the pleasure of gathering with several women who shared very personal stories about how they have struggled in our current health care system. I also heard a lot about how the new health care law is helping women in so many important ways.

Robyn, a mother of three shared her story about her son, Jax—a delightful cutie who was possibly the best behaved child I have ever seen (not a peep in over an hour!)—who was diagnosed with a genetic disorder. Jax would have likely reached a lifetime limit on health coverage but, thanks to the health care law, Robyn does not have to worry about that. Instead of constantly worrying about her son’s coverage and her family’s financial stability, she can instead enjoy her three beautiful children and continue working at a job she loves.

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Tags: ACA, Health Care Law, Kathleen Sebelius, Health Care Reform, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 1 comment

We want YOU: To Celebrate the 26th Annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day!

Posted by Val Vilott, Outreach Associate | Posted on: January 27, 2012 at 11:21 am

What are YOU doing next Wednesday? No plans?

Well, we’re about to change that. February 1st is National Girls and Women in Sports Day, a day to celebrate and promote girls’ and women’s participation and excellence in sports. NGWSD is marked annually with events around the country and on Capitol Hill to commemorate the achievements of girls and women in athletics, and we’ve got some big things in the works that you can participate in!

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Tags: blog, Facebook, National Girls and Women in Sports Day, NGWSD, Sports, title IX, Twitter, Athletics, Education & Title IX | Add new comment

Did You Know? Today is EITC Awareness Day

Posted by Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel | Posted on: January 27, 2012 at 10:29 am

You may have already received your W-2 in the mail from your employer, which means (drum roll please!) the 2012 tax filing season is officially underway. In the spirit of the season, so to speak, the IRS is kicking things off with EITC Awareness Day. In case you aren’t familiar with the EITC, aka the Earned Income Tax Credit, it is a refundable federal tax credit for working families that can be worth up to $5,751 for tax year 2011 (the year for which you’ll be filing your taxes now, in 2012). Along with the federal Child Tax Credit (a refundable credit worth up to $1,000 per child) and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (a nonrefundable credit that helps families with child and dependent care costs incurred in order to work or look for work), as well as analogous state tax credits, the EITC can provide working families a significant financial boost.  And in these tough economic times, families need all the help they can get.

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Tags: Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, ETIC Awareness Day, Tax Credits Outreach, Taxes, Family Tax Credits | Add new comment

Progress on Minimum Wage Increase in Delaware is Good News for Women

Posted by Andrea Alajbegovic, Outreach Intern | Posted on: January 26, 2012 at 03:39 pm

This week, the Delaware Senate labor committee approved a bill that would raise the minimum wage in the state by $1 over the next two years, from the federal level of $7.25 to $8.25. This increase in the minimum wage is a step in the right direction towards stimulating Delaware’s economy and helping women workers.

This increase would be very beneficial for women who account for two-thirds of individuals who made at or below the federal minimum wage in 2010. As our Julie Vogtman points out, increasing the minimum wage will also contribute to closing the wage gap between men and women. In Delaware, the typical woman working full time, year round in 2010 earned only 81 percent of what her male counterpart earned.

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Tags: Delaware, Minimum Wage, Employment | Add new comment

Women in Maryland: Learn More About the Judicial Selection Process

Posted by Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel | Posted on: January 26, 2012 at 01:46 pm

As you might have gathered by now, we at NWLC care deeply about increasing women’s representation in the judiciary. So we wanted to make sure that women lawyers in Maryland know about an event that will educate them about the judicial selection process.

The National Association of Women Judges and the Maryland lawyer chapter of ACS are offering a training today in Baltimore. Details are below. To register, email District 4 NAWJ Director Claudia Barber at claudiaabarber@aol.com and/or call (202) 724-5474.


The Maryland Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society and the National Association of Women Judges present:
Training Women Lawyers About the Judicial Selection Process
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Tags: American Constitution Society, Judges, National Association of Women Judges, Women in the Judiciary, Judges & the Courts | Add new comment

Celebrating Roe’s Impact on LGBT Rights

Posted by Ashland Johnson, Fellow | Posted on: January 26, 2012 at 09:54 am

It’s no secret the anniversary of Roe v. Wade holds a special place in the hearts of women’s rights advocates. But this anniversary has special meaning for advocates in other equality movements that have directly benefited from the principles set forth in Roe.

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Tags: Abortion, LGBT, Roe v. Wade, Pregnancy Rights, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | Add new comment

Health Action 2012: A Spotlight on Health Disparities

Posted by Danielle Garrett, Health Policy Analyst | Posted on: January 25, 2012 at 04:14 pm

Steph already told you about some of the informational and inspiring speeches at this year’s Health Action conference sponsored by Families USA. I was thrilled to spend 3 days with so many enthusiastic and hardworking health care activists, but I was particularly happy I made it to Friday morning’s panel on health disparities. The panel was informative and engaging, but also quite alarming. It was there that I learned that the direct and indirect costs of health disparities in the U.S. come to $1.24 trillion over 3 years.

Census data shows that there are striking racial disparities in women’s access to health coverage. Hispanic women are uninsured at a rate nearly 3 times higher than white women while Black and American Indian women are uninsured at a rate nearly twice that of White women. Our women’s health report card shows more alarming disparities in women’s health status. Black women in the US are significantly more likely to die from stroke and heart disease than white women and the AIDS rate among black women is over 22 times higher than for White women. Additionally, Hispanic women suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure more often than White women.

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Tags: ACA, Families USA, Health Action conference, Health Care Reform, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | Add new comment
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