The Women’s Initiative develops robust, progressive policies and solutions to ensure all women can participate in the economy and live healthy, productive lives.
A woman introduces her newborn baby to her grandmother, November 2020, in Los Angeles. (Getty/Brandon Bell)
What We're Doing
Advancing a proactive abortion agenda
Abortion rights are under attack. Our proactive agenda provides a road map for state and federal lawmakers to develop and enact policies that ensure equitable, safe access to abortion. In coalition, we will push back against restrictions that impede access to this critical health care service.
Addressing the maternal health crisis
People are more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes in the United States than in any other high-income country. Working closely with partners, we develop policy interventions to curb the maternal health crisis, eliminate racial disparities, and advance investments in maternal health care.
Closing the gender wage gap
To address pay disparities, especially for women of color, our comprehensive work advocates for measures such as the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA). The PFA would strengthen equal pay protections, prohibit employer retaliation, and limit employers’ reliance on salary history to make hiring decisions.
Building a stronger economy by prioritizing women
Women are crucial to a thriving economy and families’ economic stability and must be at the heart of any economic recovery. We research solutions that maximize women’s economic participation and respond to competing demands of work and family, such as a national paid family and medical leave program.
The Women’s Initiative works to secure women’s health and bodily autonomy, economic stability, equality, and access to equitable opportunities and uphold other reproductive, civil, and human rights. We firmly believe that the diverse experiences of women across race, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, faith backgrounds, and other factors—and the challenges they face—must be at the center of the national policy debate.
Important takeaways from Kansas’ vote for a constitutional right to abortion
Elyssa Spitzer reacts to Kansas' recent vote to retain its state constitution’s protection of a right to abortion. She discusses why, despite this important victory for women’s health and equality, abortion rights should not be left to the ballot but instead be recognized in the federal constitution as a fundamental right.
While it is critical that Congress works to codify the promise of Roe v. Wade and ensure equitable access to abortion care, the federal government must take what steps it can now under the scope of the Hyde Amendment to increase access to care and protect patients.
Expanding Access and Protections in States Where Abortion Is Legal
Abortion is protected by state law in more than 20 states, many of which have expanded access to abortion by making it more affordable, codifying state-level reproductive rights, broadening the types of providers able to offer care, and protecting abortion providers and access to clinics.
A Strong Start in Life: How Public Health Policies Affect the Well-Being of Pregnancies and Families
Understanding how the key social determinants of health—including housing, employment, and education—affect perinatal health is critical to ensuring that federal policies support healthy babies and families.
The misclassification of contraception as abortion by anti-abortion lawmakers is an alarming step down a path toward government control over women’s bodies and futures.
Authoritarian Regimes Have More Progressive Abortion Policies Than Some U.S. States
Americans in states with regressive anti-abortion laws now have fewer human rights protections than those in countries criticized for their records on women’s rights.
3 things businesses should do to support their workers’ reproductive choices beyond paying for employees’ abortion-related travel expenses
Lauren Hoffman and Rose Khattar discuss how businesses should be supporting their workers' reproductive choices since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.
How Americans Can Fight Back Against a Radical Supreme Court Majority
Responding to the judicial overreach of a radical Supreme Court majority will require long-term structural reforms to the courts and immediate action to mitigate the harms caused by their wrongly decided decisions.
