Planned Parenthood Action Fund on Paycheck Fairness Act

“The politicians that voted against this bill should be ashamed of themselves.” - Cecile Richards

WASHINGTON, DC — Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards released the following statement on today’s Senate vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, a commonsense bill that would protect women in the workplace, providing women with increased protections against pay discrimination. Despite the efforts of champions for women’s health and rights in the Senate, the bill lacked bipartisan support needed to pass a procedural hurdle, the latest tactic in a string of measures by some members of Congress to restrict women’s rights, instead of advancing equity.

Statement from Cecile Richards, president, Planned Parenthood Action Fund:

“We applaud our champions in the Senate for standing with working women and their families and bringing the Paycheck Fairness Act up for a vote today. This is a commonsense bill that would protect women in the workplace and help ensure they get equal pay for equal work. The politicians that voted against this bill should be ashamed of themselves.

“At Planned Parenthood Action Fund, we hear from women every day who are working full-time jobs and are still struggling to make ends meet and making less than they deserve. We hear from women who are forced to choose between groceries or filling their prescription — between paying the rent or choosing the form of birth control that’s right for them. These are real economic issues facing women and their families — and anyone who tells you otherwise is out of touch with the majority of American women.

“Senator Barbara Mikulski and her allies in the Senate understand that to succeed in the workplace and in life, women need a fair chance to make what they deserve and they need. Today, women still make only 77 cents to every dollar a man makes — and the gap is even wider for women of color. It is past time for Congress to pass this measure.”

BACKGROUND:

The fact that women are the primary breadwinners in 40 percent of households with children, but women are only making 77 cents on the dollar is unacceptable.
Right now, women make up 47 percent of the U.S. labor force, but only 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs.
According the Shriver Report, released earlier this year by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress, one-third of all American women are living at “the brink of poverty,” meaning that they earn less than $47,000 per year for a family of four. “Forty-two million women, and the 28 million children who depend on them, are living one single incident—a doctor’s bill, a late paycheck, or a broken-down car—away from economic ruin,” the report reveals.
According to the Shriver Report, women make up nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers, the vast majority of whom receive no paid sick days. That is wrong, and in 2014, it’s an embarrassment.
The public overwhelmingly supports equal pay policies: “Nearly two-thirds of voters support the Paycheck Fairness Act. In a 2014 nationwide survey, 62 percent of likely voters said they support the Paycheck Fairness Act, a federal proposal that would help combat wage discrimination. Support crosses demographic and ideological lines, with 83 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents, and 44 percent of Republican voters saying they support the Paycheck Fairness Act.”