Learn the Issues

Because of you, North Carolina is lucky enough to have 29 progressive women who are champions of reproductive freedom serving in the NC General Assembly. We thought we'd take our June newsletter to share some of the amazing legislation they've worked on since session started in January. These are the women working to make our state a great place to be a woman. All of the progressive women in the NCGA cosponsored bills expanding access to Medicaid coverage in North Carolina. It was introduced...

Reflections about my own family and my daughter’s future this Mother’s Day weekend brought to mind a study I saw a few years back about gender parity at the national level.  The report, put out by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research determined that women would not reach parity in Congress until 2121.  That’s 102 years from now.  While this report is dated from 2014, if this holds true, it would mean that when my daughter’s granddaughters run for office, they may be running on a level...

The Threat is Coming from Inside the House and the Senate In mid-April our rights to reproductive healthcare were threatened once again by the Republican majority in the NCGA, but this time they were joined by six Democrats. The conservative legislators who support this SB 359 are claiming it is not about abortion, but they're just playing more of their political games with women. SB 359 compels doctors to save the life of a baby if the baby is born alive, which is already a law and part of a...

Senator Erica Smith is a former School Board member and has served in the NCGA since 2014. She earned her B.S. Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and also has a M.A. in Religious Studies from Howard University School of Divinity. Erica is a former engineer and has also worked as a high school math and Chemistry teacher. Earlier in 2019 Sen. Smith announced she is seeking the Democratic nomination for the US Senate. Devon Roberts: Why did you decide to run for...

In 2019 we ramped up our training programs to meet the needs of North Carolina after seeing so many women deciding to run for office this year. Who are the amazing women in your life who you think should run for office? Maybe you have a friend who is actually running for office in 2019. Maybe your neighbor would be great for City Council? We have built trainings to suit all of the ambitious women in your life. We're challenging you to forward this email to one friend who you think should run...

As we reflect on women’s history this month, I am reminded that Lillian Exum Clement, the first woman elected to the North Carolina General Assembly, did not begin her service until 1920. She was elected by an all male electorate as women did not yet have the right to vote. Now, North Carolinians are served by 44 women in the legislature, the majority of whom are progressive champions of reproductive freedom and gender equity. And, in the last election, women turned out at greater numbers to...