This Saturday, the day after Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, a crowd of several thousand is expected to gather on the grounds of Hawaii’s Capitol to deliver a message to local and national elected leaders, and to the world: Women’s rights are human rights.
Organizers aim to present this simple yet weighty message in an empathetic and inclusive setting that engages Democrats, Republicans and everyone else concerned about female-focused issues ranging from health care and reproductive rights to the gender pay gap and the minimum wage.
Striving for a genuine sense of inclusiveness is a tall order, given the current climate of political divisiveness. If the Honolulu march — one of some 385 marches to be held across the nation and around the globe in solidarity with the massive Women’s March on Washington — is to succeed, participants must focus intently on the issues at stake. A vent-fest among “Pantsuit Nation” backers would be downright counterproductive.
Among the hot-button matters expected to be addressed quickly by the new president and the GOP-led Congress are a move to slash federal funding for Planned Parenthood services and selection of an anti-abortion Supreme Court justice.
Planned Parenthood first opened its doors in Hawaii in 1966 to provide services pertaining to birth control and family planning, fertility counseling as well as training for medical professionals. It has a half-century record here of providing women with important medical screenings and assistance conducted in a manner likely far more efficient than the government could provide otherwise.
Congress now is angling to deny Planned Parenthood roughly
$400 million in federal Medicaid funds. The move could result in roughly 400,000 lower-income women losing access to care, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
In 1970, three years before the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Roe v. Wade, Hawaii became the first state to allow abortion at the request of a woman. Alaska, Washington and New York followed suit that year. There will never be unanimous agreement on the matter of abortion rights. However, with statistics showing that nearly 1 in 3 women now have an abortion at some point in their lifetime, it’s undeniably an important, all-inclusive issue.
And reaching into just about every household’s pocketbook is the gender pay gap. In 2015, U.S. women working full time typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid for equal work, according to tracking by the American Association of University Women. What’s more, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the annual ratio hasn’t significantly budged since 2007.
Overall, the gap has narrowed since the 1970s, due largely to women’s progress in education and the workforce and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate. Still, the gap is not poised to close soon, and that’s disheartening. At the slow rate of change seen since 2001, the AAUW predicts women will not reach pay equity with men until 2152.
In a related issue, two years ago, the Hawaii Legislature increased the state’s minimum wage by 50 cents in the first of four annual increases that will lift hourly pay to $10.10 next January. Policies must continue to keep workers on pace with Hawaii’s high costs of living via options ranging from gradual hikes to earned-income tax credits.
Amy Monk, a retired diplomat who is a co-chairwoman for the Oahu march, is asking participating organizations, such as local Planned Parenthood and AAUW operations, to present “action items” articulating a next step in strategy to protect and expand the scope of women’s rights. “We don’t want this to end with the march,” Monk said.
Teresa Shook, the Hana, Maui, resident who sparked the international Women’s March effort right after the presidential election with Facebook posts suggesting a march as a “call to action,” echoes Monk’s sentiment.
“I believe there has begun a renewed wave of social activism,” Shook said. “We must be responsible for each other. We must support those organizations that look out for people’s civil liberties.”
Many traditionally-labeled women’s issues are ones that go well beyond gender. The benefits ripple outward, from the well-being of the woman, to her family and household, and into the community.
“We must be vigilant during these next four years to protect the rights we have and not lose ground,” Shook said — and she is right.
