AFL-CIO Political Portal

Feminist Daily News 7/27/2006: Labor Unions Oppose Anti-Choice Ballot Initiative
Feminist leaders successfully convinced California unions this week to take a stand against an anti-choice measure that will be on the California ballot this November. If passed, Proposition 85 would amend the California state constitution to prohibit abortions for young women under the age of 18 – unless a physician notifies her parent or guardian in writing or she obtains a court order to waive the required notification. A similar measure, Prop. 73, was defeated by voters last year in a Special Election.

A feminist presence at the California Labor Federation’s 2006 Biennial Convention aided in the AFL-CIO Executive Council reversing its original “no recommendation” stance on Proposition 85 to a solid “vote no” for the November ballot. “It’s very rare for the executive council to reverse its decision,” said Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers and Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) board member. “Labor is very top-down; workers usually do what their leaders tell them to do. We had some of the big unions on our side, but we needed a two-thirds vote … This is a smashing victory for the feminist movement.”

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