Key Issues

 Equality in pay, job opportunities, political structure, social security and education will remain an elusive dream without a guarantee of equality in the U.S. Constitution. The progress we have made — and must continue to make — towards women’s equality can be lost at any time because those advances depend on legislation that can be (and has been) weakened or repealed by Congress. Although we did not succeed in ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, winning a constitutional guarantee of equality for women remains one of NOW’s top priorities. 

NOW has been committed and active in supporting voting rights from robust programs to register voters, to fighting against gerrymandering to working to eliminate voter suppression.  NOW continues to work for the restoration of the Voters' Rights Act. We are committed to increasing voter registration and increasing the number of voters that sign for mail-in voting.

NOW advocates for wide range of economic justice issues affecting women, from the glass ceiling to the sticky floor of poverty. These include welfare reform, livable wages, job discrimination, pay equity, housing, social security and pension reform, and much more. We strongly support to get to at least $15/hour as our nationwide minimum wage.  

 Reproductive justice has been the cornerstone of NOW’s activism for over 50 years. Today, extremist politicians continue to use underhanded tactics to limit access to affordable reproductive healthcare for millions of women. These restrictions disproportionately affect low income women, rural women, women of color, and the LGBTQIA+ community. NOW activists are committed to pushing back against threats to reproductive justice like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal attempts, TRAP laws, abortion bans, and birth control rollbacks. NOW affirms that reproductive justice is an issue of life and death for women, not just a matter of choice.  

NOW is unique in its approach to the issue of violence against women, emphasizing that there are many interrelated aspects to the issue — domestic violence; sexual assault; sexual harassment; violence at abortion clinics; hate crimes across lines of gender, sexuality and race; the gender bias in our judicial system that further victimizes survivors of violence; and the violence of poverty emphasized by the radical right’s attacks on poor women and children — all of which result from society’s attitudes toward women and efforts to “keep women in their place.”  

And for those of you who volunteer to help domestic violence victims, here is a wonderful and empowering speech 

Click Here. 

 NOW condemns the racism that inflicts a double burden of race and sex discrimination on women of color. Seeing human rights as indivisible, we are committed to identifying and fighting against those barriers to equality and justice that are imposed by racism. A leader in the struggle for civil rights since its inception in 1966, NOW is committed to diversifying our movement, and we continue to fight for equal opportunities for women of color in all areas including employment, education and reproductive rights. NOW’s Combating Racism Committee is working to encourage growth at all levels within NOW of multiracial task forces to combat racism. 

Click for book list of race-related books. The first ones are books every white American should read. 

NOW advocates for Criminal Justice Overhaul; reforms are not enough. From ending mass incarceration and ending private prisons to fines fees reforms, bail working only for the wealthy, to the percentage of minority and mentally challenged people on death row, to ending the death penalty, NOW hopes to end private prisons and the biases that pervade our criminal justice system from policing to prosecution, to bail, fines and fees, etc. NOW is committed to Criminal Justice Overhaul not just reform.

The United States has a housing crisis all over the country. There isn't affordable housing in most metropolitan areas. In fact, there is a declining amount of affordable housing almost daily. Families live further from their jobs meaning more time on the road and away from the family. Our mounting homeless is because we don't have affordable housing. Women and children, disadvantaged areas are particularly hard hit. NOW is active in promoting the need for affordable housing in the face of increasing gentrification.  

NOW is committed to healthcare as a basic human right of each and every American. This could take the form of Medicare for all with a business support element to enhancing Obamacare and requiring Medicaid expansion in every state.  Every American, not just well off Americans, should have equal access to quality healthcare.

The fundamental constitutional protections of due process and equal protection embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every person, regardless of immigration status. When the government has the power to deny legal rights and due process to one vulnerable group, everyone's rights are at risk.  Creating a campaign of hate and keeping immigrants in cages, and separating children from their parents as the current administration has done is contrary to everything we believe in.  

Disability rights are human rights. As with race, gender, ethnicity, we do not allow discrimination due to a person's disability. NOW champions equality, including the equality for the disabled.    

NOW is committed to fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all areas, including employment, housing, public accommodations, health services, child custody and military policies. NOW is committed to educational efforts that combat the adverse effects of homophobia, promote positive images in the media and ultimately ensure civil rights protection for all. NOW asserts the right of LGBTQIA individuals to live their lives with dignity and security, and marriage equality for all.  

  Climate Change is happening now and the world is not reacting to this existential threat to mother nature and humans.  NOW is committed to working for dramatic and pervasive action on the Climate Change Emergency from getting rid of coal plants to massive shifts to clean energy, e.g., solar, wind, electric vehicles to major shifts to public transportation. NOW is committed to massive, worldwide action to reduce the impacts of climate change and to provide support for the communities being displaced.  

 Families Against Court Travesties, Inc. (FACTS)’ mission is to assist families who have been placed into a crisis situation by the family courts or other government agencies. By implementing a court-monitoring and reporting system, our goal is to ensure that the best interests of the child prevail in family court and that due process and equity are the norm. We are also committed to educating the public on these issues. NOW supports work to improve the travesties of family courts. 

Every day, in so many ways, the beauty industry (and the media in general) tell women and girls that being admired, envied and desired based on their looks is a primary function of true womanhood. We do it ourselves.

The beauty template women are expected to follow is extremely narrow, unrealistic and frequently hazardous to their health. The Love Your Body campaign challenges the message that a woman’s value is best measured through her willingness and ability to embody current beauty standards. 

 The Corona Virus has crippled us due to lack of process, leadership, lack of supplies, insufficient stockpiles, and lack of general preparedness, etc. As we assemble lessons learned and action required for the  issues of this COVID 19 virus and look ahead to possible future pandemics, preparedness has to be different. Since it is likely to take a back seat to military funding, we will have to ensure proper funding and action to come out of military funding versus social programs. 

NOW fully supports affirmative action as a key way to reduce discrimination in the workplace and in school admissions.  Affirmative action in the United States is a set of laws, policies, guidelines, and administrative practices "intended to end and correct the effects of a specific form of discrimination" that include government-mandated, government-sanctioned and voluntary private programs 

NOW fully supports and champions the full Title IX and education equality based on gender.

Title IX is federal law enacted in 1972, stating that no person on the basis of sex shall be 'excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance'. We oppose the changes to XI from Betsy DeVoss and the Department of Education.