Dear Mr. or (hopfeully) Madam (#ImWithHer) President,

Everyone is well aware that Women’s rights are already hotly debated topics within the United States, and I am writing this to you to simply voice my adolescent, liberal oppinons on some of these issues.

Let’s begin with a woman’s right to an abortion and the funding of Planned Parenthood. Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973 and this monumental decision acknowledged a woman’s right to an abortion, which was a major gain in the feminist movement and showed signs of true progression. However, lately there has been poltical talk of overturning this decision which would be a colossal step backwards in the fight for women’s rights and equality. Hillary Clinton once said that an abortions are very difficult and private matters that should be decided by the woman herself; the government should have no say in that incredibly hard and intimate decision. In addition to the struggle to maintain this right, a new threat has emerged against Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood was founded in 1916 and is a nonprofit that works to help women and provide reproductive health services. Lately there has been a large movement to defund Planned Parenthood which would be an incredibly harmful action that would impact millions all over the nation. This nonprofit organization is a safe place for women to receive abortions; however, they do much more than just that. To cut funding for Planned Parenthood would be to cut funding from a major source of sexual and overall health educations which poses a great risk to the innumerable people that turn to this organization in times of need. In the fight for women’s rights it is crucial that both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood are defended because without them, the physical health and safety of women would be at risk.

Next on my list of frustrations is the issue of the pay gap between women and men. Nearly half of the national workforce is made up of women, yet they make significantly less than men by earning 80 cents to every dollar a man earns. This might have seemed like an acceptable statistic during the 1950’s era of the nuclear family when women were expected to simply be housewives, but this is 2016 and the times have drastically changed. Women now receive more college and graduate degrees than men and are the equal, if not sole, source of income for many families across the nation. Which is why it is absolutely baffling that women are facing such an unjustifiable discrimination based solely on their gender. Women have made great strides in the workforce and have shattered the glass ceiling by filling jobs in previously male dominated fields, and now the next step in the fight for eqaulity is to close the gender wage gap. In no way is it acceptable that a woman be payed less for equal, and sometimes superior, work.