Legislatures across the nation are taking up issues that many thought were settled decades ago, such as reproductive rights and equal access to comprehensive health care in the workplace.

By Roy Speckhardt, April 22, 2012

In this time of economic hardship, the surprising political issue that’s received a great deal of media coverage and the public’s interest of late is the “War on Women.” Rather than focusing on how to get people working again, Congress and state legislatures across the nation are instead taking up issues that many thought were settled decades ago, such as reproductive rights and equal access to comprehensive health care in the workplace.

Some pundits claim that there is no “War on Women,” but the controversial bills that have been introduced in federal and state legislatures indicate otherwise. For instance, in the first three months of 2012, 45 of the 46 state legislatures that have convened this year saw 944 provisions related to reproductive health and rights. So far, 75 of these are abortion restrictions that have been approved by at least one legislative chamber, with nine being fully signed into law. This anti-woman legislative push is disturbingly effective, but it is a drop from the 127 abortion restrictions approved by at least one legislative body in the first quarter of 2011.

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