Title IX | Reproductive Rights | Workplace
Title IX:
Title IX prohibits discrimination against women and girls by any educational institution receiving federal funding.
Title IX and Sex Discrimination in Education: An Overview (pdf)
Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress
The CRS is an agency within the Library of Congress that conducts objective research for Members of Congress. This report, updated in 2003, states that since Title IX was instituted in 1972, not a single educational institution has had funding withdrawn for non-compliance. It discusses how, although Title IX is supposed to address sex discrimination in education across-the-board, the focus has been on discrimination against women's athletics. This document also discusses changes in education since the inception of Title IX.
Open to All: Title IX at Thirty (pdf)
Department of Education, Secretary's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics
The commission was established in 2002 and presented its findings in 2003. Through analysis of the issues and "public input," they found that in general, most organizations and citizens supported the idea of Title IX, but there was confusion and disagreement on how it should be enforced and a need for clearer instruction from the Office for Civil Rights. This document includes selected quotations from the public and full descriptions of the commission's 23 recommendations. Also available online are transcripts from the commission's public meetings.
Title IX Legal Manual
Department of Justice
Written in 2001 as a guide for other federal agencies, this legal manual provides an interpretation of Title IX legislation. It annotates the law through examples, court case references, comparisons and "interplay" with Title VI and the 14th Amendment, and gives concrete descriptions of what is and is not affected. The complete legislation from the Code of Federal Regulations is available on the Department of Education website.
Reproductive Rights:
Roe v. Wade
Legal Information Institute, Cornell University
The complete 1973 Supreme Court Opinion which upheld that a woman's choice to terminate a pregnancy is guaranteed by the constitutional right to privacy. Here are some remarks from Senators Frank Lautenberg and Barbara Boxer on the 31st anniversary of Roe V. Wade in 2004.
Partial-Birth Abortion: Recent Development in the Law (pdf)
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress
In November 2003, George W. Bush signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. Because the act does not include an exemption for an abortion when the the mother's life is in danger, it has been banned via the federal courts in California, New York, and Nebraska. This document describes the difference between different types of abortion and contains background information on the history of the legislation.
Title X Family Planning Services Act of 2005 (pdf)
Government Printing Office
Since 1970, Title X has been one of the only sources of funding for family planning. The current legislation includes the "Emergency Contraception Education Act" concerning dissemination of information about emergency contraception and the "Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act" to prevent pregnancies caused by rape.
Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (pdf)
Government Printing Office
Currently in the Congress, this act, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, would require women undergoing an abortion procedure be told that the fetus will experience pain, be offered pain inhibitors for the fetus, and would need to sign a waiver if refusing the pain inhibitors.
Workplace:
A New Look Through the Glass Ceiling (pdf)
General Accounting Office (GAO)
From 2002, this study examined the wage gap in management positions in 10 industries. Their key findings show that the glass ceiling still exists. Men still earned more than women, even as full-time managers. Half of the industries studied had a smaller proportion of female managers compared to the number of women in the industry's work force, and in 7 of the industries, the wage gap actually grew.
Sex-Based Discrimination
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes protection from sex-based discrimination in hiring practices and in the workplace. This website describes Title VII's protections which include protection from sexual harrassment and discrimination based on pregnancy. The EEOC website also provides statistics on "sex discrimination charges" for 2004.
Paycheck Fairness Act (pdf)
Government Printing Office
There is still a pay gap between men and women in the United States. Although the gap has decreased since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 in most professions, it still exists. This amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 will attempt to "provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex." It will provide for stricter enforcement of current equal pay laws and provide grants to teach negotiation skills to women and girls.
Women’s Earnings: Work patterns partially explain difference between men’s and women’s earnings
General Accounting Office (GAO)
In 2003, the GAO conducted a study to determine the reasons for the wage gap between men and women. By gathering statistics from 1983 to 2000, interviewing experts, and researching current literature, they attempted to explain the difference in earnings. They could only partially account for the discrepancy and conclude that the difference may stem from discrimination.
