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What this July 4th means for women’s progress and the unfinished promise of American democracy

As we prepare to mark the 248th anniversary of our nation’s founding, we are increasingly reminded that our democracy has always been a work in progress – and that the progress we have achieved has never been easy or conflict-free. The hard work done to fulfill the promise of our democracy and hold it to the highest standards has been especially important for women. It has required intentional efforts to ensure that the foundational principles we profess to uphold – among them, equality, fair treatment, and equal justice under law – were extended to women so they could enjoy the same opportunities, rights, and privileges once exclusively reserved for men.

Much of this work has centered around connecting the dots between democracy in theory and democracy in practice, to examine more precisely the protections needed to transform our democratic ideals into concrete reality for women. Privacy protections providing safeguards around women’s bodily autonomy and individual freedoms, efforts to secure the right to vote, measures to counter biases and ensure women received an equal opportunity to participate fully in our economy and society as a whole – all have been critical to women’s progress.

Understanding this context is critical at this moment because our democracy is under threat. The overturning of Roe v. Wade dismantled key constitutional privacy rights that gave women greater control over their bodies. Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s devastating decisions in recent years on affirmative action, voting rights, and federal regulatory authority have accelerated an unraveling of protections that have combatted discrimination and expanded opportunities for women. Given this landscape, the work of defending democracy and preserving democratic freedoms is very much a women’s issue and must be a women’s priority.

Research conducted by the National Partnership for Women and Families over the past year tells an important story about the setbacks women across the country are experiencing. The upending of Roe has had reverberating effects, threatening 36 million women of reproductive age living in the 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion.

As is too often the case, women of color are bearing the brunt of these restrictions. Black and Indigenous women are more likely than white women to live in these 26 states, only exacerbating existing health disparities such as those in maternal health. Many of these women of color are also economically insecure, with limited resources to travel to seek out the care they may need.

Many of the same states with abortion bans have also passed other restrictive policies. Recent analysis by the National Partnership reveals that the states where it is hardest to vote – using the measure of those in the bottom half of the Cost of Voting Index, which ranks all 50 states on how it easy it is for residents to cast ballots – are three times more likely to have laws on their books that hinder abortion rights.

Similar trends can also be found when comparing state abortion restrictions and women’s level of representation in state government. The National Partnership has found that states with the harshest abortion restrictions typically have the fewest number of women serving in their legislatures. In contrast, those states with a higher percentage of women lawmakers are much more likely to have stronger protections around abortion access.

This erosion of rights and barriers to civic participation not only weakens our democracy, but also jeopardizes the scope of women’s participation across our society. In the face of such challenges, we must be clear about the urgency of the moment and embrace bold, comprehensive solutions.

These solutions include establishing strong legal protections at the federal and state level that affirm access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care, protect patient privacy, and ensure comprehensive health coverage for women – regardless of their economic status – so that they can get the reproductive and other care they need. It means pushing forward structural reforms at the federal level to eliminate barriers to voting and pursuing ethics reforms to strengthen the integrity of our courts and push back on rogue judges with an ideological agenda. And it means investing in care policies, including a national paid family and medical leave plan, to counter longstanding biases that have made it harder for generations of women to participate in the economy. All these interventions matter for women.

The Fourth of July gives an opportunity to reflect on our past and consider our future. It is up to us to continue the fight to advance women’s progress and move our nation closer to our most cherished ideals – toward a future where a thriving democracy ensures every woman, and every person, can make decisions about their own bodies and control the course of their own destinies.

Together, we can achieve a future where individual freedoms are respected and protected; where courts are fair and unbiased; where opportunities are equal and equity is centered; and where factors like gender, race, and disability are never a barrier to achieving a better life.

This Independence Day, let us recommit ourselves to the task of fulfilling the promise and potential of American democracy – and using every tool at our disposal to hold our democracy to a higher standard.

This piece originally appeared on Medium.