LWVUS Welcomes House Introduction of George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (Legal Document) 5/23/2024 The League of Women Voters of the United States joined a sign-on letter to leadership in the US House of Representatives, welcoming the…
LWV's Work with Urgent Social Justice Issues (Blog) 5/22/2024 To achieve the League's vision of a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge, and the confidence to participate, LWV…, The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)The League supports ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and efforts to bring laws into compliance with the…, Climate ChangeThe League supports climate goals and policies that are consistent with the best available climate science and that will ensure a…, Gun SafetyThe League believes in protecting the health and safety of citizens through limiting the accessibility and regulating the ownership of…, ImmigrationThe League believes in promoting the reunification of immediate families, meeting the economic, business, and employment needs of the…, Reproductive JusticeThe League believes in protecting the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices.…, How You Can Get Involved in Urgent IssuesTake one minute to urge your members of Congress to support the Equal Rights Amendment; Take one minute…
Representing Middle Eastern and North African Citizens in the Census (Blog) 5/15/2024 In 2020, when it was time for my family to fill out the Census, we could only check one box in the race category: white. My family is Libyan-American…, The History of Arabs, Asians, and Proximity to Whiteness The history of Arab Americans' identity advocacy began in the early twentieth century…, In response, Shishim appealed to Judge George Hutton on account of his Christian identity,arguing, “If I am a Mongolian, then so was Jesus, because…, One important way to remedy this issue is to include a Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) ethnic category on the decennial census. Since the…, New OMB Standards are Published to Include MENA At the end of March 2024, the OMB announced that new federal standards for collecting data…, As the undercount of MENA-identifying Americans went on, it became clear to Arabs and advocates that the lack of data about their communities was…
LWVUS Opposes Effort to Exclude Noncitizens from Apportionment Count (Legal Document) 5/7/2024 LWVUS and partners urged Congress to oppose H.R. 7109, the Equal Representation Act, which would ask about citizenship status on the decennial census…
Protecting the Rights of Voters with Disabilities (Blog) 5/6/2024 This blog was written by legal intern Mackenzie Saunders. Voting is a fundamental right. Yet voters with disabilities face persistent barriers to…, Congress passed the VRA in 1965 to remedy longstanding racial discrimination in voting, especially against Black voters in the Deep South. The VRA…, Barriers for Voters with Disabilities While the passage of Section 208 was monumental for the disability rights movement, barriers for voters…, At least 25 states currently restrict who can return another voter’s absentee ballot. In Missouri, you can return a voter's ballot only if you are “a…, Some legislators argue that these laws protect us from voter fraud, but these claims have repeatedly been proven false. The Brennan Center for…, Voters with disabilities aren’t the only ones who can sue under Section 208. These lawsuits can also be brought by organizations that represent and…
EMTALA at SCOTUS: Abortion Will Always Be a Federal Issue (Blog) 4/23/2024 When the United States Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) overturning Roe v. Wade, the court wrote that the…, Abortion will not and should not be left to the whim of state legislatures, particularly when people’s health and lives are at risk. What is…, Meanwhile, EMTALA requires hospitals with emergency departments that participate in Medicare to: Provide screening upon a patient’s request…, The federal government filed a lawsuit asserting Idaho’s law was preempted by EMTALA under the United States Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which…, EMTALA’s advocates know that abortion is health care. Even with the advances in modern medicine, pregnancy is not without risk. Pregnant patients may…, For its part, the United States argues that EMTALA requires states to allow emergency abortions to protect the health of pregnant patients. The…, In practice, these circumstances often prove unworkable. Their wording is vague and unclear as to when exceptions apply, causing abortion providers…, Furthermore, state officials have begun questioning whether the right to interstate travel, a right the Supreme Court previously ruled is protected…, Abortion Goes Beyond States’ Rights As the events above and Moyle demonstrate, Dobbs did not return the issue of reproductive freedom to the…
LWV of Iowa, One Iowa File Brief Protecting Students from Harmful LGBTQIA+ Book Ban in Schools (Press Release) 4/18/2024 St. Louis, Missouri — Today, the League of Women Voters of Iowa and One Iowa filed an amicus brief in the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit…