Fact Check: Hillary Clinton is a Champion for Women and Families

For Immediate Release: Oct. 20, 2016

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Las Vegas, NV -- Tonight, Hillary Clinton stood up for the millions of women who have been hurt  by Donald Trump’s dangerous and offensive words and actions this election season. Throughout her career, Hillary Clinton has been a tireless champion for women and families.

• In 2007, Sen. Kennedy attributed CHIP’s success to help from First Lady Clinton: Sen. Kennedy told the Associated Press, “The children’s health program wouldn’t be in existence today if we didn’t have Hillary pushing for it from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.” 

• On SCHIP, “Clinton took a major role” in putting the law into action: According to Factcheck.org, “Hillary Clinton took a major role in translating the new law into action. The program leaves to the states the job of setting up coverage and getting children enrolled, a task that continues to be a struggle to this day. In February 1999, after 47 states had set up SCHIP programs, the Clintons launched a drive to "Insure Kids Now." Hillary took the lead, speaking first before her husband in an East Room event at the White House. [On February 23, 1999, she said] ‘At least half of all uninsured children are eligible for federal-state health insurance programs, but too often their parents don’t know or don’t believe they qualify. As successful, for example, as Medicaid has been, an estimated 4 million eligible children are still not enrolled.’” 

• As a U.S. Senator, Clinton introduced legislation to expand SCHIP.  SCHIP expansion was one of the very first priorities of the new Obama administration, and the president signed it into law in February 2009.

• As secretary of state, shefiercely defended the role of the U.S. government in family planning around the world — including access to safe and legal abortion —  calling it “an important part of women’s health.”  And as senator, she helped prevent the passage of bills that would have eliminated the ability to access abortion safely and legally. She also voted to protect access to abortion — including formilitary servicewomen and low-income women. 

• When it comes to supporting reproductive health legislation, Clinton has gone above and beyond. For instance, while in the Senate, she was theforemost sponsor of the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act, an effort to ensure that emergency contraception would be available at military treatment facilities for victims of sexual assault. The military lifted its ban on emergency contraception at military facilities in 2010. 

• Hillary Clinton supports access to affordable birth control: Clinton waged a multiyear effort​ — andeven blocked the nomination of an FDA head with Sen. Patty Murray — to pass a breakthrough in birth control access: the approval of emergency contraception available over the counter. She alsostood up to the Bush administration when it proposed a rule that would have defined widely used birth control methods such as IUDs as abortion and allowed medical providers to refuse to offer contraception to patients.Thanks to vocal opposition from senators like Clinton, the rule was not enforced and women’s birth control access was protected.

• Hillary Clinton has been a longtime champion of equal pay for equal work: While in the Senate, Clinton introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act in2005,2007 and2009. Speaking about her bill in 2007, Clinton noted that “pay discrimination continues to result in women earning less than men for performing the same job.” As senator, Clinton co-sponsored equal pay legislation in2001 and in2003 and as well. 

• Sen. Clintonco-sponsored the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (S. 181), which makes it easier for workers to successfully challenge unequal pay, and which is now the law of the land. 

• Clinton helped rally support for the Family and Medical Leave Act, which President Clinton signed into law in 1993: “As first lady, she was a powerful advocate for the Family and Medical Leave Act, which became one of the first that Bill Clinton signed into law as president in 1993. The act was among the earliest federal laws to require companies to offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave to parents and caregivers.” [The Atlantic,4/2/16]

• In the Senate, Clinton worked to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act for military members: “Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) praised Congress for passing their amendment, ‘The Support for Injured Servicemembers Act,’ which if signed into law will allow the family of wounded military personnel to take up to 6 months of unpaid leave. The legislation expands the benefits provided under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which currently allows 12 weeks of unpaid leave. The Act was passed as an amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and has received broad bipartisan support….’The Family and Medical Leave Act has made it possible for countless Americans to balance the difficult responsibilities of family and work.’” 

• As First Lady, Clinton supported the creation of the Department of Justice's first Office of Violence Against Women.

• Clinton helped launch the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, which supports access to birth control, family planning, and sex education. Teen birth rates are now at an all-time low.