What Victory for Women's Rights Looks Like

[theHandpuppet]

Slate
What Victory for Women's Rights Looks Like
By Sara Libby
Sept 8, 2014

When the curtain fell on California's legislative session, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins released a bland statement celebrating its accomplishments. In it, she singled out a water bond, an on-time budget, and a bill that would cut down plastic bag use. What Atkins failed to mention: The state's first openly gay speaker had just wrapped up one of the most women-friendly legislative sessions ever.

That puts California on vastly different footing than many state legislatures around the country that have been hacking away at women's rights— including an astounding 200-plus restrictions on reproductive rights over the last three years, according to the Guttmacher Institute. But in California, "Women came out in a much better position than they have in past years," Kathy Kneer, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, told me.

None of the legislature's work is a done deal. Gov. Jerry Brown has until the end of the month to veto bills passed this session. But even if the governor tosses any of the bills (and it’s unlikely that he will), the sheer number of measures passed is a very positive sign for California’s women, and, in turn, women across the country.

Here's what passed:

•A bill requiring the state's commercial airports to offer a clean, private space for mothers to breastfeed or pump.
•A bill barring the sterilization of prison inmates
•A bill establishing timelines for local law enforcement to process rape kits.
•A bill expanding the definition of the word "harm" for the purposes of a restraining order to include and protect minors who were present during an act of domestic violence.
•A bill making it easier for pregnant graduate students to finish their studies.
•A bill bolstering Title IX enforcement.
•A bill strengthening the California attorney general’s oversight of hospital mergers (mergers that could limit access to abortion services).
•A bill requiring colleges to adopt an “affirmative consent” model in their sexual assault policies.
•A bill ensuring all California workers have the right to earn and use three paid sick days a year.

MORE at http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/09/08/california_s_legislature_led_by_women_passing_laws_to_help_women.html