By: Ronda Kaysen
Source: momlogic.com
With all the hype swirling around Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office, we wanted to find out just what the new president has (or hasn’t) done for families and women since he moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Here’s a breakdown of 35 events from the past 100 days that affect moms and their families.
For Moms
1. Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act, restoring women’s legal right to sue their employers for pay discrimination.
2. Obama’s economic stimulus package saves and creates jobs in fields where women workers are the substantial majority — health care, child care, and education.
3. Obama ended Bush’s “global gag rule,” a ban on federal funding for international organizations that offer abortion counseling.
4. Obama stripped funding for contraception for low-income women from the stimulus bill because of Republican opposition.
5. The National Organization for Women (NOW) has Obama’s back. When asked if the Obama administration was friendlier toward women’s groups than the Bush administration, NOW president Kim Gandy said, “Are you kidding? The difference is like night and day.”
6. Obama rolled back the Bush administration’s “conscience” clause, which would have given health care workers the right to deny patients abortion, contraception, or any other procedure that they found morally objectionable.
7. Obama has appointed seven women to Cabinet-level positions.
8. Speaking of female Cabinet appointees, Kathleen Sebelius was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services yesterday.
9. Obama institutes a new ambassador-at-large, Melanne Verveer, for global women’s issues.
10. Obama establishes the White House Council on Women and Girls, tapping senior adviser Valerie Jarrett as chair and Tina Tchen as executive director.
11. The 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act restarts U.S. contributions to the United Nations Population Fund.
12. The spending bill also reinstates low-cost birth control availability at college health centers and at about 400 clinics for low-income women.
