State Legislatures Wage "War on Women"

Ms. Magazine: The States' War on Women, by Virginia Chamlee:

 

In recent months we’ve become well aware of how U.S. House Republicans are trying to decimate services of vital importance to women. Don’t take your eyes off your local statehouse, though: There, legislators have pushed the war on women equally far, cracking down on reproductive rights and cutting funding for education and health programs that largely benefit women and children.

 

Under the guise of deficit reduction, lawmakers argue that the cuts are necessary, all the while preserving tax breaks for corporations and the rich. In Florida, for example, Republican Gov. Rick Scott has sought to repeal the corporate income tax—despite vetoing more than $615 million from the state budget in May, slashing both public education and health services for women and children. Reductions in health care and social services, though ostensibly affecting everyone, have an inordinately negative impact on women, who comprise a majority of the public-service workforce—nurses, teachers and social workers—and depend more than men on public services such as Medicaid, family planning and community colleges. . . .