Obama's First 100 Days: Giant Strides for Women

By any measure, the work President Obama and his team have accomplished for women and girls in the first 100 days is impressive. They not only have reversed some of the most egregious Bush policies, but also have taken some powerful actions to advance and empower women.

I've been working for women's rights in Washington, D.C. since the Carter days and I have never seen anything like these first days. The pace is fast, and the outreach is inclusive. It started during the transition: The Obama/Biden team reached out to women's leaders and met with us on a whole host of issues frequently and at high levels. And it has continued.

In the current issue of Ms., which will hit newsstands next week, the editors have compiled a list of the major Obama achievements thus far vis-à-vis women's issues, and it bears repeating--see below. In reviewing this list, it's amazing how fast we are checking off as done major goals we have been working toward for several years. We still have a long to-do list--the damage of the Bush years was massive, and we have to remedy it while moving forward. But we are going in the right direction with all deliberative speed.

One area of concern that should be noted, however, is the percentage of women in top jobs. We must keep pushing. According to the Washington Post's appointment tracking database, women thus far number only 30% of appointments to positions needing Senate confirmation. But very encouragingly, appointments include a high percentage of people of color and include many outstanding feminists.

Savor the beginning of what promises to be a long list of Obama achievements for women:

JAN 23: President Obama overturns the "global gag rule," a move that will literally save countless women's lives in developing nations and will lead to the U.S. re-funding many international family-planning programs

JAN 29: Obama signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring women's ability to sue for pay discrimination

FEB 4: Obama signs act to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover 11 million children--Bush had vetoed this act twice

FEB 17: Obama's economic stimulus package saves and creates jobs not only in construction, where men dominate, but in fields where women workers are the substantial majority--health care, child care and education; also increases Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment benefits

FEB 27: Obama moves to rescind the Bush administration's "conscience" clause, which could have let health-care workers deny patients abortion, contraception or any other procedure they objected to

MAR 2: With the choice of Kathleen Sebelius as Health and Human Services secretary, Obama appoints a total of seven women to Cabinet-level positions

MAR 6 : Obama institutes a new ambassador-at-large for global women's issues and names Melanne Verveer to the post

MAR 9: Obama lifts restrictions on stem-cell research

MAR 11: Obama establishes the White House Council on Women and Girls and names senior adviser Valerie Jarrett as chair and director of public liaison Tina Tchen as executive director

Omnibus Spending Act restarts U.S. contributions to the United Nations Population Fund (which the Bush administration had blocked for eight years) and reinstates low-cost birth control availability at college health centers and at some 400 clinics serving low-income women

MAR 19: Obama pledges to sign a U.N. declaration to decriminalize homosexuality, which Bush had refused to sign

MAR 20: Obama appointee Elena Kagan is confirmed as the first woman Solicitor General

APR 3: Obama calls Afghanistan's proposed Shia Family Law--which would permit marital rape--"abhorrent," helping to lead Afghan President Hamid Karzai to review the law

APR 23 The FDA extends Plan B availability to 17-year-olds--something highly unlikely to have happened under Bush

Comments

[wagadog]

Oh really? This is how I see it:

Day 1. When he hired Larry "women are innately unable to do science" Summers.

Day 2. When he failed to get rid of Larry "let's export toxic waste to the third world" Summers.

Day 3. When he failed to get rid of Larry "falls asleep at meetings" Summers.

Day 4. When he failed to get rid of Larry "repealed Glass Steagall" Summers.

Day 5...

[stizzy]

"The pace is fast, and the outreach is inclusive. "

That is the most telling sentence in this piece. The Obama administration gets it right because they work around the clock and they have an unprecedented commitment to getting expert input during their planning stages. Let's hope they can keep it up. They can't start sliding on any front -- because we know all too well that women's rights and gay rights and the rights of the poor are the first things that get "lost in the shuffle".

[HPdevotee]

I am very proud and hopeful in our new President. He has done more in his first 100 days to promote the human rights that most effect women personally than I've ever seen any President during their whole tenure (and I've lived through quite a few ).

I trust in his timing and await The Freedom of Choice Act legislation that he promised to sign during his campaign. And with a monthly e-mail, I don't let him forget about said promise either. ;)

[itolduso]

Yes, Obama is a strong leader, and is blessed with the support of a majority of our population that is ready for positive change and a chance to do things better. And yet, I am so frustrated that women still face so many obstacles. This morning as I turned on the news and was bombarded with information on 'swine flu'...where it's popping up, how to protect yourself, concrete steps to take to avoid contracting it and what to do if you do become infected...every news agency, in print, on the net, and on t.v. & radio...a coordinated effort to educate & reduce risk. Impressive. Yet, every year, more women will have their lives torn apart, will suffer injury & death, threats to their children,p­ets,friend­s & family members at the hands of abusers, than will get 'swine flu'. Domestic Violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women & their children, results in millions of dollars in emergency response costs & emergency room visits, leads to loss of productivity in business, and disruptions in schools, and is a threat to the safety of the general public-the violence is not restricted to the home. One in Four women will suffer abuse at the hands of a loved one, it is an epidemic, a public health crisis...& it is met with silence in the press, treated as a 'private matter' by our leaders, & ignored by the public.

[itolduso]

In 2006, The U.S. Center for Disease Control named Domestic Violence a "PREVENTABLE Public Health Crisis that affects over 32 million Americans". So I would like to see Obama lead the response to domestic violence with at leat as much effort as his administration is putting into the swine flu epidemic. We know how to prevent domestic violence through education & outreach. We know how to keep it's victims alive through safety planning, providing shelter, access to legal aid, & counseling. And we know what it takes to change the attitudes & actions of abusers. But the biggest challenge has always been AWARENESS...of the size & reach of the problem, it's cost to ALL of society, and of the shelters and services available to treat it. We can only end this crisis by ending the silence.

[h0tr0d]

A good starting point would be an honest dialogue. Like including in all the man bashing, that the person most likely to abuse a child is their mother. That women abuse men at an almost equal rate, that in non-reciprical violent relationships it's most likely the woman who is abusive.....or let's try to understand why domestic violence is higher in lesbian relationships than it is in hetero. This whole business of trying to make women as a class the victims is nothing more than dishonesty.

[sodulguy]

still it is sad that women ever had to fight for things like equal pay for equal work, how could any politician have ever opposed it and still gotten elected. O bama is just doing the right thing and I'm sure he doesn't feel that he has done anything that any intelligent, decent person would have done. ( or at least should have done)

[2morrowKnight]

President Obama's success with women's issues indicates not only his depth of humanity, but also that of First Lady Michelle Obama, whohas undoubtedly had a strong say about matters of reproductive freedom and empowerment for women.

He has been a strong leader in this area.