Protecting Women's Health and Rights
Senator Lautenberg is a longtime leader on women’s health, championing a woman’s reproductive rights, funding for breast cancer research and equal rights.
Senator Lautenberg's Record
Lautenberg: We Must Redouble Efforts to Cure Cancer
Senator Lautenberg is a cosponsor of legislation to increase research to determine environmental causes of breast cancer and strongly supports ensuring that the postal service continues selling the breast cancer stamp and directs a portion of the proceeds to go to breast cancer funding. Lautenberg also is a coauthor of the Ovarian Cancer Biomarker Research Act of 2008, which would increase research for ovarian cancer screening and treatment.
Lautenberg: A Woman’s Right to Choose is Fundamental
Senator Lautenberg strongly supports a woman's right to choose and to decide what's best for her own health and future. Lautenberg is an original co-sponsor of Freedom of Choice Act, which would establish a federal law that will guarantee reproductive freedom for women and codify the Roe decision. Lautenberg has opposed and will continue to oppose judicial nominees who fail to demonstrate that they will respect Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose.
Increasing Access to Family Planning
Senator Lautenberg is the author the Access to Birth Control Act (ABC), which would protect an individual's access to legal contraception by requiring that if an individual pharmacist has a personal objection to filling a legal prescription for a drug or device, the pharmacy would be required to ensure that the prescription is filled without delay by another pharmacist employed by the pharmacy who does not have a personal objection. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Lautenberg has led efforts to support funding for Title X, the very successful national family planning program.
Equal Rights and Fair Pay in Workplace
Senator Lautenberg has consistently supported the Equal Rights Amendment, which would make a woman’s equal rights clear in the Constitution. Lautenberg is also a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, designed to prevent pay discrimination based on gender.
