Fight for Women, We are losing rights in the USA

We need Zonta members and their communities to step up right now in the USA and fight for Women. Together we can, and do, make a difference.

A Note on the state of Women’s rights in the USA for Fall 2025 Conferences

– Guest Post by Katherine Cleland, Zonta District 8, Zonta USA Caucus

Women’s rights and status are moving in the wrong direction in the USA and accelerating backwards. We cannot rest, and need all women to come together to redouble our collaborative efforts to hold the line, and advocate for equal rights at every policy and administrative level. Join us.

For the first time in U.S. history, the pay gap for women has increased for the second year in a row [1].
Women’s unemployment rate is growing, and it’s even worse for black women. The unemployment rate for black women has grown significantly and is 1.5 times the national unemployment rate[2]. (Black women’s rates exceeding 6.7%[3] in August, while the national average for women was around 4.2% to 4.8% in August.) The administration’s anti DEI executive orders, one characterizing common DEI programs as illegal[4] , are impacting hiring and retention of women, both government employees, and contractors to the US Government[5].
Forty one states have restrictions on reproductive care[6]. South Carolina legislators have introduced a bill that would punish women with the death penalty for making health choices over their own bodies.
Family planning is at risk, including losing access to contraception[7] – think about how fundamental that is to women’s freedom, equality and health.
All of the female 4 Star generals in the U.S. military have been fired[8]. Women are at risk of being demoted or threatened as – the Department of War[9] eliminated protections for military women reporting sexual assault and harassment, and eliminated the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, an agency that for 70 years boosted women’s recruitment and service. Additionally, a false narrative has been created about the readiness of women in the military[10] .
Changes to Medicaid and food stamps passed in the “big beautiful” budget disproportionately impact single mothers and older women. Expansion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements to a much larger group of people, including caregivers and parents with dependent children as young as 14 [11], disproportionately impact women as women constitute 55% of all Medicaid recipients.
Monetary funding for sexual assault and domestic violence have been dramatically reduced by the federal government, including legal and shelter support. These reductions in federal funding threaten to dismantle the essential safety net that over 1.2 million women and children depend on annually[12] to escape domestic violence. These funding cuts will become a rolling crisis for domestic violence shelters, groups, and survivors, especially smaller shelters in more rural communities.
Voting rights are threatened, as the Supreme Court is reviewing the Voting Rights Act based on redistricting in Louisiana and some states are trying to pass laws making it harder to vote (notably, Maine’s attempt on Nov. 4th failed, but many are being added[13] . Even at the federal level a proposed bill would require individuals to verify their legal name at birth – impacting married women, those who have changed their names, and those who have been adopted. Disparaging comments on social media fanning the anti-women flames have even seen threats to eliminate a women’s right to vote supported by the Secretary of War.
Rights gained are being challenged in court. Lawsuits are being forwarded through the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to end the Equal Rights Amendment, and a countersuit by Equal means Equal to validate the ERA and all the work we have done to get it ratified, under the guise of selective service registration[14]. Marriage equality is being challenged as cases are being brought to the Supreme Court to overturn the historic case allowing gay marriage, Obergefell[15].

Sadly, this is just a fraction of what is going on to move women’s rights backwards.

Many Zonta members I meet are surprised at the magnitude of what we are currently facing. Mainstream media is not reporting on this. Either they have been intimidated, sued, threatened to be sued, ignored the news, or even succumbed to the overwhelming chaos of the speed of these threats. There are no news sources other than third party news that are covering women’s rights and the rollback of women’s rights.

How to Stay Informed

You can stay informed by reading or regularly scanning some sources regarding Women’s rights as the mainstream media is putting women’s rights on the backburner. You may find any of the following useful:

CAWP – Center for American Women and Politics – they track women in government and elected positions across federal, state levels, and watch finance and more.
Women’s Congressional Policy Institute- track legislation in congress impacting women
and I recommend that you go back and resubscribe to that old favorite
Ms. Magazine. They cover all the women’s issues well, and only occasionally slip into partisanship.

What Zonta USA is doing:

Congress has been slow to act and has introduced limited legislation this session. We look for good bipartisan bills for Fast Action Fridays, and while those bills have been limited, we need Zontians and your networks now more than ever to advocate. Go to Voter Voice, Zonta’s own legislative advocacy made easy tool, and keep on sending emails to your elected officials about pending legislation. You can resend the message, until the bills pass. Find the bills we are advocating for this legislative session: https://www.votervoice.net/Zonta/home.

What Can You do?

What else can you do? Work locally – in your state, county, and your town. You can meet with your federal representatives in a local office.

Become a Domestic Violence Survivor Advocate:

Advocate for budgets at the state and community level for survivors of Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault. You and your club can become fierce advocates for domestic violence shelters and funding by paying attention to budgets, and working with your state domestic violence advocacy groups. Talk to your local domestic violence shelter, and ask them what they are hearing about their budgets, and get to work in your town, county or state. Combine service with advocacy. Ask them what support or resources they need from the community.

Vote Equality:

On the National Level, we are looking to 2026, and as a member of the ERA Coalition, Zonta USA will work to identify how federal candidates are pledging to support gender equality, as part of the Elect Equality campaign.