Issues - Women's Issues

"Since coming to Congress, I have fought for fairness in health care coverage, worked to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, supported equal pay for equal work, and sought gender equity in schools." - Rush Holt

Rep. Holt’s work in Congress on issues important to women reflects his commitment to protecting and expanding equality and ensuring that no American is denied his or her rights.

In this section:

• Ensuring Paycheck Fairness
• Protecting Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights
• Providing Essential Health Care for Women
• Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
• Ensuring Gender Equity in Schools

Ensuring Paycheck Fairness

Rep. Holt supports the bedrock principal of equal pay for equal work.  He helped enact the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to restore the fundamental right of women and other workers to contest pay discrimination, giving them their day in court. He a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act to strengthen enforcement to prevent pay discrimination and to increase penalties for infractions.

Holt also is a cosponsor of the Healthy Families Act to ensure that employees have access to paid medical leave.  This legislation would be a significant step toward increasing workplace productivity, improving public health, and strengthening families.

Protecting Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights

Rep. Holt has been unwavering in his support of the health and reproductive rights of women.  He strongly believes that every woman has the right to make health care decisions without government interference, and he supports legislation to protect Roe v. Wade. 

Rep. Holt has fought the Republican War on Women. He successfully fought off the Majority’s legislation that would have:

• eliminated funding for Title X, the national family planning program.
• denied any federal funding to Planned Parenthood health facilities.
• redefined rape to include only instances in which a woman was “forcibly raped.”
• allowed doctors to refuse life-saving care for women.
• prevented access to birth control, including emergency contraception to sexual assault survivors.

Providing Essential Health Care for Women

In many cases, women do not receive necessary preventive care because they cannot afford the cost.  Rep. Holt worked to ensure that health reform would provide access for women to obtain preventive care, from mammograms to cervical cancer screening, by eliminating insurance co-pays and deductibles for these important services.

When the Republican majority tried to remove prescription contraception for women from the list of preventive services required under health reform, Rep. Holt fought successfully to protect its inclusion.  He voted to ensure that all American women have access to comprehensive health care coverage and basic preventive care, including no co-payments for prescription contraception.

Rep. Holt is also a cosponsor of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure that pregnant workers are not forced out of their jobs unnecessarily or denied reasonable accommodations that would allow them to keep working and supporting their families.

To help ensure fairness in health care coverage, Rep. Holt has worked to put a stop to “drive-through mastectomies.”  He has voted for legislation that would guarantee a minimum hospital stay of 48 hours for a woman having a mastectomy, and 24 hours for a woman undergoing a lymph node removal.  Significantly, it would ensure that any decision to have a shorter hospital stay would be made by the patient and her doctor – not an insurance company.

Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

Rep.  Holt supports fully funding the programs authorized under the Violence Against Women Act.  He also supports increasing the cap on the Victims of Crime Act fund, which provides federal support to many state and local programs that assist victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes.  He is a cosponsor of the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act, to require that emergency contraception services be offered to victims of rape and sexual assault.

Ensuring Gender Equity in Schools

As a former teacher, Rep. Holt is a strong supporter of equality in education.  He is working to preserve the initiatives set forth in Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that gives women equal opportunity in education and athletics.  He fought successfully block the Republican majority’s attempt to eliminate the Women’s Education Equity program, which promotes education equity for women and girls and helps educational agencies meet their obligations under Title IX.  Further, he is a cosponsor of the High School Athletics Accountability Act, to help high schools comply with Title IX.