Saturday, January 11, 2025 | 2am
In 2024, a ballot initiative to protect reproductive rights by guaranteeing the right to abortion in the Nevada Constitution passed overwhelmingly, reinforcing a 1990 voter vote that guaranteed the right to abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. .
But in Nevada, the ballot initiative must pass twice before it becomes law. So Nevadans will be asked again to approve this initiative in 2026, but the work is far from over.
As Silver State Equality plans its 2025 civil rights commitment, the organization recognizes that human rights are indelibly linked to advances in affordable child care, home and community-based health care, reproductive rights, and paid family leave. I am aware that there is. We are committed to electing and working with leaders who fight for these fundamental rights. We are also honored to work with Caring Across Generations, a national organization whose slogan is “Our Family.” our future. We decide. ”
The freedom of individuals to decide whether and when to expand their families, how to define family, and how to care for their loved ones is paramount to the well-being of individuals and communities. Continued attacks on abortion care and transgender rights divide us and distract us from other pressing issues, such as quality education, affordable child care, and a shortage of the care workforce. The purpose is to It’s time to pass policies that give our children the best start in life and give our aging loved ones the chance to enjoy their golden years. This includes policies that protect abortion care, expanded paid family leave, affordable child care, and aging and disability care.
• Home and community-based care: People shouldn’t have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a loved one, which is why an overwhelming majority of voters support expanding Medicare to cover long-term home health care, including 91% of Democrats and 86% of Republicans. This is supported by the fact that Nursing care services, according to the Data For Progress report.
For families to thrive, they need robust paid family and medical leave. The United States is one of the only countries in the world without a national paid leave policy. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that as of March 2023, only 27% of civilian workers had access to paid family leave through their employer, and only 27% of civilian workers had access to short-term disability insurance through their employer. 41% of the respondents. Only 6% of minimum wage workers have access to paid leave through their employer.
One in five Americans provides unpaid care to an adult. Almost one in four working mothers returns to work within two weeks of giving birth. Additionally, one in five retirees leaves their workplace earlier than planned to care for a sick family member in line with universal paid leave.
• Reproductive health rights: Not only bodily autonomy is at stake, but also access to essential medical care and the right to choose whether and when to have children. When people are empowered to take control of their own reproductive health care, they gain more control over their economic security and build healthier communities.
• Chosen Family: Government definitions of family often do not reflect the wide diversity of family structures in our country and can be particularly harmful to members of the LGBTQ+ community. The lack of policies that enable care for selected family members (those who are considered family members but have no legal or biological relationship) is a major challenge for LGBTQ+ people, who already have less access to care from traditional family structures. It’s causing more harm to people. Modern American families are diverse and their composition changes over time. Therefore, for family caregiving policies to be effective, they need to be flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of caregiving relationships.
• Affordable child care: In the United States, many families with young children struggle to find affordable, high-quality child care. Nearly 74% of Nevada children ages 0-5 do not have access to licensed child care, according to a 2023 report from the Nevada Governor’s Workforce Development Commission. According to Child Care Aware’s 2022 report, two-thirds of the population nationwide lives in infant and toddler neglect areas, and there is an undersupply of licensed child care slots for 3.6 million children nationwide. It is said that there is.
According to a report by the Council for a Strong America, the United States loses an estimated $122 billion annually in income, productivity, and revenue as a result of limited access to affordable child care. According to the report, 85% of primary caregivers say childcare challenges reduce their work hours and productivity. 64% said they were late to work. 58% reported missing a full day of work. 53% reported feeling distracted while working. Childcare also impacts how much or if parents work, with 33% switching from full-time to part-time, 26% of parents reporting quitting their job due to childcare issues, and a further 23% reported being fired.
According to the First Five Years Fund poll, 93% of voters think it is important that working parents with young children can find and access quality child care programs, and 74% of voters Most respondents said they believed in increasing funding for child care and early childhood. Education programs are an important priority and a good use of tax dollars.
Silver State Equality with the understanding that we must all work together to elect representatives who are in tune with the needs of all residents and respect their freedom to decide what is best for their families and their futures. and its allies are already looking forward to this election. 2025 and 2027 Nevada Legislature.
Andre Wade is the state director of Silver State Equality, a statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization in Nevada.
