PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania Women's Health Caucus is using International Women's Day as an opportunity to outline its legislative priorities for the upcoming session.
The caucus has four areas it wants to focus on moving forward: maternal and child care, workplace justice, dignity for incarcerated women, and health care.
Just within the past year of the coronavirus pandemic, state Rep. Mary Jo Daley said women lost 156,000 jobs across the U.S., while men gained 16,000 jobs. Many of the women who lost jobs were women of color.
"This is startling and inequitable," said Daley, who represents part of Montgomery County, "and it's just one of the reasons that the Pennsylvania Women's Health Caucus prioritizes workplace justice."
State Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, representing parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties, said the caucus has also been trying to level the playing field for reproductive health and fertility treatments.
"We cover a lot of different treatments for men when it comes to health care, and we don't have that same equitable standard when it comes to women or fem-identifying individuals," she said.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Morgan Cephas of Philadelphia, who is co-chair of the caucus, said more women are incarcerated in the U.S. than in any other country around the globe. Prison reform is underway, but she said it can't come fast enough.
In the last several decades, the number of women in Pennsylvania prisons has skyrocketed. And, about 80% are caregivers to young children, Cephas said, citing ACLU data.
"Women of color are significantly over-represented in our criminal justice system. Black women represent 30% of all women incarcerated nationally, although they only represent 13% of the female population," she said. "Hispanic women are 16% of incarcerated women, but they represent 11% of the population in the U.S. So now is time to take action to prevent trauma and provide them with the encouragement they need to rehabilitate and get back to their loved ones safely."
The caucus hopes to push legislation this session that will include access to feminine hygiene products for female inmates and the prohibition of shackling of pregnant women. It also hopes its legislative agenda will protect and respect women's health and will ultimately help families and communities.
