NY Governor Cuomo Officially Introduces Women’s Equality Act (Source: Feminist.org)
Source: Feminist.org
On Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) officially introduced the long-awaited Women’s Equality Act.
The Women’s Equality Act [PDF] is designed to strengthen women’s rights in New York in ten different areas [PDF]: achieving pay equity; stopping sexual harassment in all workplaces; allowing the recovery of attorney fees in harassment cases; ending employment discrimination based on whether a woman has children; stopping income discrimination of female-headed households; stopping housing discrimination of victims of domestic violence; strengthening order of protection laws; strengthening human trafficking laws; stopping pregnancy discrimination; and protecting a woman’s right to choose. Cuomo has urged state lawmakers to pass the measure before the legislative session ends on June 20.
State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), supported the bill in a statement, saying, “Women’s health and equality is not a Republican or Democratic issue... The women of New York deserve a vote on the entire Women’s Equality Act and deserve to know where their elected officials stand on these important issues.” Her sentiments are also echoed by New York voters according to a recent poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. The poll, which featured responses from 1,075 New York voters questions between May 29 and June 3, found that two-thirds of voters support the Women’s Equality Act including the abortion provision. The poll also found that men and women were closely aligned in their opinion, with 67% of women and 66% of men favoring the bill.
