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Not Going Back: Drawing a Line in the Sand to Defend Our Rights
The policies President-Elect Donald Trump campaigned on, and the platform the Republicans adopted at their convention last July, would turn back the clock on 50 years of progress, not only for women but also for civil rights and human rights. But lets be clear: These policies have no popular mandate. Although Trump won the Electoral College to become the next U.S. president, Hillary Rodham Clinton won the popular vote by 2.2 (nearly 2.9 now) million votes and counting. To put that in context, Clinton won the popular vote by a larger margin than anyone in history who has not gone on to become the president.
Moreover, on issues such as equality, workplace opportunity for women, educational equity for girls, nondiscrimination of LGBT communities, immigration, ending gender-based violence and reversing the damage to our environment, strong majorities disagree with the president-elect. These majorities must be galvanized to fight back against an erosion of our rights.
Republicans now have control of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the presidencyand could soon control the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court. With a current vacancy, and more vacancies possible in the next presidential term, Trump may have the opportunity to reshape the Court for generations. The Court is currently split on many of the fundamental issues of womens equality, and Trumps list of potential Supreme Court appointmentscreated with the help of the staunchly conservative Federalist Society and Heritage Foundationsignals the creation of a Court that could likely reverse Roe v. Wade, further curtail voting rights, undermine unions and continue to weaken anti-discrimination statutes. Feminists must urge Senate Democrats to ask the tough questions of any nominee, insist on answers and use the filibuster to block reactionary Supreme Court appointments.
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Feminists must fight back. But we must also be proactive. In particular, the outcome of this election underscores the urgent need to finally ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Feminists will need every possible tool to fight against state and federal legislation and policies that discriminate on the basis of sex or perpetuate sex stereotypes. To this day, there is no prohibition on sex discrimination in the U.S. Constitution. Given the continuing attacks by right-wing lawmakers on Title IX, abortion and family planning, LGBT communities, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the ERA is needed more than ever.
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2016/12/26/not-going-back-drawing-line-sand-defend-rights/