I was disheartened by the small attendance at the Women's Equality Act rally Tuesday and even more disappointed by the coverage in the Times Union that emphasized the abortion issue ("Abortion issue key in bill," June 5).
The story did not do justice to the comprehensiveness of this proposed act.
Having stood at the Capitol for more years than I would like to count, I was struck by how sad it was that we still need what amounts to a civil rights bill. Then, I open the paper and see this story. While the necessity to protect women's freedom of reproductive choice is important, one might think this act is primarily an abortion bill. It is far more comprehensive than that. Discussion should focus on the big picture.
If not stagnated by the abortion provision, enactment of the bill would seem to be a no-brainer and should glide through the Legislature. It is long overdue. It is 2013, and we are still talking about equality and fairness for the majority of the population.
The bill attempts to accomplish: pay equity; an end to workplace sexual harassment (including at the Legislature); the recovery of attorney's fees in employment, credit and lending cases; strengthening of human trafficking laws; an end to family-status discrimination; an end to source-of-income discrimination; an end to housing discrimination for domestic violence victims; an end to pregnancy discrimination; strengthening order of protection laws for domestic violence victims; and, yes, protecting a woman's freedom of choice.
Don't stay silent on this. Don't let this be sidelined by backward-looking arguments.
Tell your legislators it's time to give women protection of the law in every aspect of their lives.
Jan Marin Tramontano
Albany