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Women's History

WASHINGTON — The League of Women Voters of the United States issued the following statement on the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter: 

Our history is replete with people with disabilities who paved the way for a stronger, more representative democracy — like Judy Heumann, Sojourner Truth, Senator Tammy Duckworth, Claudia Gordan, Harriet Tubman, Joyce Ardell Jackson, and Vilissa Thompson, to name a few. 

Yet we also know that anti-voter laws and regulations disproportionately impact people with disabilities, and the fight to make the vote more accessible is ongoing. 

In this blog, we’ll highlight some of our favorite voting rights activists who were also women with disabilities. Then, we’ll examine how ability and voting rights intersect today. 

In June 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion. This ruling eliminated a fundamental right that women and people who may become pregnant held for nearly fifty years and left the right to abortion up to federal and state legislation. 

One year after Dobbs, 20 states are enforcing more limited abortion bans than before the ruling, including 14 states that have banned abortion at conception. Additionally, many have implemented other restrictions that make abortion less accessible.

How much do you know about our democracy’s Founding Mothers from the eighteenth century to today?

Dolores Huerta is a civil rights activist and labor leader who has dedicated her life to fighting for democracy in the United States, both in the government and the workplace. Growing up, she witnessed the struggles of farm workers and saw firsthand the injustices they faced. Her experience motivated her to become an activist and work towards creating a more democratic society. 

The League of Women Voters of the United States sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Schumer urging him to schedule a vote on a joint resolution to eliminate the timeline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). 

This story was originally published in The Herald-Dispatch.

Members of the League of Women Voters of the Huntington Area recently established a flower garden at the Cabell County Courthouse.

You may consider yourself a history buff, but how well do you know the women who shaped our democracy? Test your knowledge and learn a thing or two with this quiz!

Thanks to resources like VOTE411.org, you know where and how to cast your vote, but how knowledgeable are you on voting history?

Quiz yourself and compare your score with your friends!

August 26, otherwise known as Women's Equality Day, marks the anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment.

Yet today, fewer rights than they'd had in decades. In August 2022, we launched our campaign for Women's Inequality Day, uniting to demand that lawmakers restore and protect our rights.