March 1, 2024 Press Release WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) released the following statement today marking the beginning of Women's History Month: “I join Marylanders and Americans across the country in commemorating Women’s History Month. Every March, we remember the women who came before us and the women today who continue to fight for a more equitable world. Throughout my career, I have supported them in that effort to help our nation come closer to realizing its founding promise of equality of opportunity. “As a proud founding Member of the Congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus, I have long stood up for mothers and their children. I've fought to address disparities not only in maternal health but also in the workplace. As House Majority Leader, I sought to build on the progress we made toward closing the gender pay gap with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act by bringing the Paycheck Fairness Act to the Floor four times. Although our Democratic-controlled House passed that bill each time, it has yet to become law. Democrats will not yield until it does. Additionally in the 117th Congress, I was proud to help secure the reauthorization of the historic Violence Against Women Act, just as I was proud to cosponsor the original legislation back in 1994. “Despite the progress we've made over the decades, women across the country today face grave threats to their health and freedom that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. From the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the radical Dobbs v. Jackson decision to Alabama’s recent Supreme Court decision that parents and providers going through in vitro fertilization (IVF) could be legally punished for trying to have a baby, Republicans have made it clear that they are committed to limiting women's constitutional right to make their own reproductive health care decisions. Last Congress, I worked to counter Republicans' extreme efforts to curtail women's rights by helping lead Democrats to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have enshrined the Roe precedent in federal law. We also passed the Right to Contraception Act in an effort to safeguard women's access to lifesaving reproductive care. Senate Republicans may have blocked these pieces of legislation, but Democrats' determination to codify Roe and protect access to contraception remains steadfast. “Women’s fight for reproductive rights is nothing new. Bessie Louise Moses, born in Maryland in 1893, fought tirelessly throughout her life to strengthen women's reproductive freedom and expand their access to contraception. Bessie organized the first contraceptive clinic in Maryland in 1927 and advocated for expanding contraceptive care throughout the state. Today, nearly 100 years later, her fight continues. Democrats stand united in our resistance to all attempts to criminalize abortion and undermine a woman's right to choose. We will not waver in our mission to restore Roe v. Wade, to close the gender pay gap once and for all, to end the shameful disparities in maternal health care, and to vanquish gender discrimination in all its forms.”