WOMEN'S RIGHTS

A look back at history shows that women have made great strides in the fight for equality, including women's suffrage (the right to vote), and inroads in equal opportunity in the workplace and in education. But today gender bias continues to create huge barriers for many, especially poor women, women of color, and immigrant women. Ongoing struggles include ensuring equal economic and educational opportunities, ending gender-based violence, and addressing the harms to women and girls in the criminal justice system. [hr]

REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM

IN THE LEGISLATURE

WE DON’T NEED POLITICIANS TO MAKE OUR HEALTH CARE DECISIONS

Politicians are not medical experts, yet in Idaho they like to believe they are and are advancing legislation to curtail women’s access to reproductive health care. Here are two bills we opposed in the 2015 legislative session:
House Bill 154: places restrictions on medical abortions.
Senate Bill 1102: requires admitting privileges for physicians who perform surgical abortions.
On February 23rd 2015, the House State Affairs Committee held a public hearing and passed House Bill 154. Here are some voices of those who opposed the bill.

Lauren

Representatives, it is because I have lived in a rural community, and because I believe that a woman’s zip code and her salary should not define her access to care that I stand in opposition to house bill 154. Read full testimony here.

Cindy

I had an abortion when I was in college. I have no regrets, I had no side effects, I have no shame over this. I made that decision with my doctor and the man who later became my husband. I saw no need to ask my elected officials for permission to make this private medical decision. I relied on my doctor for medical advice and on my husband for support. Read full testimony here.

Bill- A letter to the Editor

Politicians MUST think women are stupid if they think women want them playing doctor and interfering in their private decisions. Enough is enough. Now is the time for all of us (yes,men and women) to tell our elected officials to leave these decisions with a woman, her doctor and her family. Read full letter here.

In the 2012 legislative session, Idaho legislators proposed legislation to make ultrasounds mandatory for women seeking to terminate their pregnancy. The proposed law would have allowed the government to be in a position of mandating specific medical procedures instead of leaving the decision between a doctor and patient. Additionally the bill would have curtailed a woman’s constitutional rights to privacy and liberty by subjecting her to possibly unwanted and unnecessary medical procedures. We mobilized and our efforts forced legislators to stop the legislation.
Join the ACLU of Idaho protect the rights of women across the state by joining our Community Action Network Program. Fill out our volunteer form to join us.
Learn more about the ACLU Women’s Right Project by visiting: http://www.aclu.org/womens-rights

IDAHO 20 WEEK ABORTION LAW: UNCONSTITUTIONAL

On Wednesday, March 6, 2013 U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill struck down Idaho’s law banning abortions after 20 weeks. The ACLU of Idaho applauds the decision as it restores the constitutional protection to women’s reproductive rights.
“We are happy to see that the court recognized these laws are an unconstitutional and dangerous intrusion into a woman’s private medical decision-making,” said Monica Hopkins, Executive Director of the ACLU of Idaho. “The decision articulates women are capable of making decisions without government intruding in their lives and placing undue burdens in their path - be it from mandatory ultrasounds or the attempts to criminalize women for seeking and physicians for performing abortions.”
The people of Idaho understand that abortion is a complex and deeply personal decision that should be made by a woman, her family, and her doctor – not politicians. We are pleased to see that the court struck down this unconstitutional intrusion into a woman’s personal medical decisions. We hope our legislators have heard this message loud and clear