Women
Every issue is a women's issue. However, there are several challenges that especially affect women, such as: women's health,
reproductive health, reproductive rights, domestic violence, pay
equity, child care, and retirement.
Since being elected as the first woman to represent Washington state in the United States Senate, Senator Murray has been a champion for women and their families.
She has spearheaded efforts to invest in women's health, protect reproductive rights, close the pay gap, and increase access to child care. She helped write and pass the historic Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and was a key proponent of its reauthorization in 2000 and 2005.
Priorities
- Increasing access to reproductive health services and support policies that decrease unintended pregnancies.
- Ensuring that all women in this country are able to make decisions about their bodies and their health.
- Providing assistance to victims of domestic abuse
- Ensuring fairness and equity in the American workplace
- Promoting equity in health research
Accomplishments
- Fought for increased funding for the National Family Planning Program (Title X) and supported legislation that would restore family planning clinics’ access to discounted prescription drugs, including contraceptives.
- Pushed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make a decision on making Plan B (a form of emergency contraception) available over-the-counter and introduced legislation to increase awareness of emergency contraception.
- Introduced legislation that addresses the economic barriers that trap victims in abusive relationships and fought for increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act.
- Supported legislation that would reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co that seriously undermined the laws that protect workers against pay discrimination.
- Worked with the administrator of FDA to encourage pharmaceutical companies to include women in advanced clinical trials of new, life-saving drugs.