“You cannot have real peace and security if you marginalize and exclude women… You cannot have decent, just societies if you abuse women. You cannot move on a path to democracy and open economies if you isolate and marginalize half the population. For some that was self-evident, others have had their eyes opened over the past 20 years.” – Hillary Clinton
BACKGROUND: The right-wing has questioned Hillary’s record as an advocate for women and children.
FACTS:
- Hillary Clinton worked in the Senate to strengthen the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, introducing multiple bills allowing states to expand the program that she helped create as First Lady. The program, created in 1997, increased health coverage for children in low income and working families.
- Hillary Clinton was a powerful advocate for women in the Senate and was one of the original cosponsors of the Prevention First Act to increase access to family planning. As Senator she was an outspoken defender of a woman’s right to choose and worked to reduce the number of abortions by reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies.
- As Secretary of State, Clinton elevated the cause of women’s rights to new heights. At the State Department, Clinton recognized women’s rights as a major foreign policy issue. It is, according to Newsweek, in the area of “hardships faced by women and girls across the world–that her impact has been most profound.” She elevated the Office of Global Women’s Issues and named the first Ambassador for Women and Girls. Newsweek continued, “Across the world, in diverse and deeply reactionary cultures, Clinton and [Ambassador-at-Large] Verveer have spoken and fought to liberalize attitudes on women’s role in the economy, girls’ schooling, women’s health, domestic violence, issues arising from war and conflict, and myriad other concerns.”
- Hillary fought to close the “word gap” that hinders long-term success in low-income children. “Nourishing a child’s mind in the first five years of life is as essential as feeding her body. New scientific research confirms that what happens to children’s brains in their earliest years shapes the adults they become, the success they achieve, and the contributions they make to our economy and society. Unfortunately, too many of our kids today are not getting the nourishment they need. Researchers have identified what they’re calling a ‘word gap.’”