Issue Position: Protecting Women's Rights

Issue Position

Women across the country only earn 80 cents for every dollar a man does. While our state has one of the lowest wage gaps in America, Michaelle believes it is time we pass the New York State Fair Pay Act. This bill would make it unlawful to pay different wages to employees doing the same job on the basis of gender, race, or national origin. It is crucial to have women in positions of power to enact legislation to safeguard women's' rights.

Moreover, even on the 100th anniversary of the women's suffragist movement, women are still pushing for their reproductive and bodily rights. Michaelle has been at the forefront of this fight here in NY and has received a 100 percent rating from Planned Parenthood Empire State for her work to protect women's reproductive healthcare.

In late 2019, Michaelle crafted the first legislation in the nation that would establish a ban on the practice of virginity testing and would impose harsh penalties on any doctor in the state who attempted to perform such testing. She had passed similar legislation earlier that year to ban the practice of performing non-consensual pelvic examinations in 2019, a practice that was common in teaching medical institutions.

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