Rights of Women

• Urges federal, state, territorial, local, and tribal governments to enact or to amend domestic violence civil protection order statutes to provide protection to victims who are in a romantic or intimate relationship with the perpetrator of domestic violence or have been in a romantic or intimate relationship with the perpetrator, but do not necessarily have a child with, live with, or are married to the perpetrator of the violence.
  Approved August 2006


• Reaffirms policy adopted in 1972 urging the vigorous and effective enforcement of Title IX to clarify that retaliation constitutes a form of discrimination prohibited by Title IX for which a private right of action exists to enforce the statute.
  Approved August 2004

• Supports federal, state, local, and territorial legislation that prohibits discrimination in housing against victims of domestic violence and urges all relevant federal, state, local, and territorial administrative agencies to adopt and vigorously enforce regulations to combat such discrimination. Co-sponsored by the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities.
  Approved February 2003

• Encourages legislation to ensure that an unmarried surviving partner who shared a mutual, interdependent, committed relationship with a victim of terrorism or other crime can qualify for crime victim compensation and assistance funds provided by that government to eligible spouses.
  Approved as revised August 2002

• Urges that gender-based persecution be recognized as grounds for asylum under the Immigration and Nationality Act and supports federal legislative or administrative action to ensure that women who have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their gender be included in interpretations or applications of the term, “social group,” in criteria for asylum under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
  Approved February 2001

• Amends Goal IX of the American Bar Association to promote full and equal participation in the legal profession by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. Jointly presented by the Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, the Commission on Women in the Profession, the Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession, Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly, and the Young Lawyers Division. Cosponsored by the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities.
  Approved as revised February 1999

• Urges Congress to provide adequate funding to enable the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to carry out its congressionally-mandated duties to investigate, conciliate and take legal action to enforce laws prohibiting discrimination. Presented by the Section of Labor and Employment Law. Cosponsored by the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities.
  Approved as revised February 1998

• Encourages courts to ensure the needs of child victims of abuse. Jointly presented with the Hawaii State Bar Association and the Young Lawyers Division. Cosponsored by the Law Student Division, Maine State Bar Association, and the Cleveland Bar Association.
  Approved August 1996

• Supports legislation that protects the confidentiality of personally identifiable and health information in either paper or electronic form. Cosponsored by the Young Lawyers Division, the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, and the Steering Committee on Unmet Legal Needs of Children. Related recommendations sponsored by the Section Withdrawn (8/98) and Approved (2/99).
  Approved as revised February 1996

• Supports legislation and public policies that do not deny or restrict child custody or visitation on the basis of sexual orientation. Jointly presented with the Section of Family Law and the Steering Committee on Unmet Legal Needs of Children. Cosponsored by the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, the Commission on Women in the Profession, and the Section of Litigation.
  Approved August 1995

• Endorses legal remedies and voluntary actions that take into account as a factor race, national origin, or gender to eliminate or prevent discrimination. Presented jointly with the Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession, the Commission on Women in the Profession, the National Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the National Asian Pacific Bar Association. Cosponsored by the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the Steering Committee on Unmet Legal Needs of Children, the Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, the National Association of Women Lawyers, and the Section of Torts & Insurance Practice. Related recommendations sponsored by the Section Approved (8/75, 2/89).
  Approved as Revised August 1995

• Opposes legislation denying public benefits or increases in public benefits that would otherwise be entitled to a family upon the birth of a child based on the family’s receipt of public assistance, the mother’s age or marital status at the time of birth or the fact the child’s paternity has not been established. Cosponsored by the Steering Committee on Unmet Legal Needs of Children, the Section of Family Law, and the Chicago Council of Lawyers. Related recommendations sponsored by the Section Approved (2/90).
  Approved February 1995

• Urges the protection of the rights of children and opposes legislation that denies children access to public education, health care, foster care or social services based on their or their parents’ citizenship or immigration status. Presented jointly with the Hispanic National Bar Association, Steering Committee on Unmet Legal Needs of Children, National Asian Pacific Bar Association, National Association of Women Lawyers, Coordinating Committee on Immigration Law, Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession, Section of Litigation, and the Section of International Law and Practice. Cosponsored by the Chicago Council of Lawyers. Related recommendation sponsored by the Section Approved (2/90).
  Approved February 1995

• Reaffirms commitment to and pledges support of unified family courts Approved in 1980 and set forth in Standard 1.1 of the ABA Standards Relating to Court Organization and Administration. Jointly presented with the Steering Committee on Unmet Legal Needs of Children and their Families, the Government and Public Section Lawyers Division, the Young Lawyers Division, the Section of Litigation, the Hawaii State Bar Association, the National Conference of Women’s Bar Association. Cosponsored by the Commission on Women in the Profession and the Criminal Justice Section.
  Approved as Amended August 1994

• Supports the elimination of the restriction of the Social Security Act that permits widows and widowers to collect disability on deceased spouses’ earnings only within the first seven years after the spouses’ death and the lowering of the age restriction for collection. Jointly presented with Senior Lawyers Division and the Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly. Related recommendation sponsored by the Section Approved (8/95).
  Approved August 1993

• Oppose any legislation requiring a woman to use a contraceptive or sterilization as a penalty for any conduct or as a condition of probation or parole or to be eligible for the receipt or the continuation of public benefits or the provision of financial incentives. Cosponsored by the Criminal Justice Section.
  Approved as Amended August 1993

• Opposes state or federal legislation which restricts the right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy (I) before fetal viability; or (II) thereafter, if such termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. Supports state or federal legislation that protects a women’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. Jointly presented by the National Association of Women Lawyers, the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations and the individual members of the ABA. Cosponsored by the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the Santa Clara County Bar Association, the Seattle-King County Bar Association, and the Young Lawyers Division.
  Approved August 1992

• Urges the inclusion of women and minorities, where appropriate, in all clinical trials performed by the National Institutes of Health and increased research on women’s health issues. Also supports carefully regulated fetal tissue transplant research. Cosponsored by the Section of Science and Technology.
  Approved as Amended February 1992

• Supports expansion of the Medicaid program to provide coverage for all children and all pregnant women with the family incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Jointly presented with the Section of Family Law and the Young Lawyers Division.
  Approved February 1990

• Opposes legislation restricting the confidential relationship between a pregnant woman and her physician, or regarding the decision to terminate a pregnancy before fetal viability or thereafter when the mother’s life is in jeopardy. Jointly presented with the Criminal Justice Section, the Commission on Women in the Profession, the Beverly Hills Bar Association and the National Association of Women Lawyers. Substitute policy Approved that the American Bar Association not support a particular viewpoint with respect to a decision to terminate pregnancy (8/90).
  Revised recommendation similar to (2/90) was cosponsored by Section and Approved (8/92).
  Approved February 1990

• Supports federal and state legislation establishing minimum requirements for reasonable, unpaid, job-protected family and medical leave for employees.
  Approved February 1988

• Condemns crimes of violence, including those based on bias or prejudice of race, religion, sexual orientation or minority status, and urges government officials to focus public attention on this growing national problem.
  Approved August 1987

• Recommends that state and federal education programs for judges include a course devoted to fairness and an analysis of race and stereotypes that may affect judicial decision-making. Presented jointly with the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, cosponsored by the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Law Student Division.
  Approved August 1986

• Opposes the provision of federal financial assistance for institutions that discriminate in any of their operations on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, age, or disability. Jointly presented with the Section of Litigation.
  Approved February 1986

• Urges the American Bar Association to continue to make substantial efforts to increase the participation of women and minorities in all levels of the Association.
  Approved as Amended August 1984

• Urges amendment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in public accommodations.
  Approved as Amended August 1980

• Supports, in principle, legislation that prohibits discrimination in the sale and rental of housing on the basis of race, color, creed, sex or national origin. Jointly presented with the Special Committee on Housing and Urban Development. Related recommendation sponsored by Section Approved (8/74, 8/87); Withdrawn (8/72).
  Approved as Amended February 1980

• Supports federal and state legislation to provide for abortion services for indigent women.
  Approved August 1978

• Supports federal, state and local efforts to combat the incidence, causes and effects of family violence and supports the implementation of programs to protect the victims of family violence.
  Approved February 1978

• Supports federal and state legislation assuring that prohibitions against sex discrimination in employment will also prohibit discrimination in pregnancy.
  Approved February 1978

• Continues to encourage full participation of women in ABA activities.
  Approved as Amended February 1976

• Urges the President of the United States, in making appointments to the federal judiciary, to take into consideration the fact that extraordinary few women now serve as federal judges.
  Approved as Amended August 1975

• Urges the prompt, vigorous and effective implementation and enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which promotes equal educational opportunity.
  Approved August 1975

• Supports the increase in the number of women and minority group employees in the correction systems of the nation. Jointly presented with the Commission on Correctional Facilities and Services.
  Approved August 1975

• Urges legislation prohibiting on the basis of sex in the sale and rental of housing and in the provision of related services or facilities. Related recommendations sponsored by Section Approved (2/80, 8/87); not Approved (8/72).
  Approved August 1974

• Supports legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex or martial status in the extension of credit.
  Approved February 1974

• Urges states to eliminate existing legal restrictions on access to contraceptive information, procedures and supplies.
  Approved August 1973

• Calls for a repeal of all laws that classify as criminal conduct any form of noncommercial sexual conduct between consenting adults in private.
  Approved August 1973

• Urges law schools and legal employers to encourage women in the legal profession.
  Approved August 1972

• Supports constitutional amendment calling for equal rights for women (ERA).
  Approved February 1972

• Urges establishment of a national center for family planning and population.
  Referred to the Section of Family Law August 1970

For more information, please visit the Committee on the Rights of Women Homepage.