For generations, conversations about women’s rights have been derailed by demands to prioritize men’s comfort, reputations, or emotional reactions.
For generations, conversations about women’s rights have been derailed by demands to prioritize men’s comfort, reputations, or emotional reactions.
Whenever women raise issues that directly affect their bodies, safety, careers, or futures, someone inevitably redirects the spotlight—insisting that men’s feelings, fears, or frustrations deserve center stage.
This inversion of concern turns women’s realities into side notes and men’s narratives into the headline. It is time to name that pattern for what it is: a distraction that keeps women fighting for rights others take for granted.
Women deserve a public dialogue that stays rooted in women’s lives, needs, and lived experiences—not one that treats their humanity as negotiable or secondary.
1. Access to Abortion & Reproductive Choice
In some states, a woman can make medical decisions about her own pregnancy with her doctor.
In others, she may:
need to travel hundreds of miles
face waiting periods
undergo mandatory counseling designed to discourage her
or be denied care entirely
The same medical procedure can be legal, restricted, or criminalized depending on state lines — altering a woman’s bodily autonomy overnight.
2. Birth Control Access & Emergency Contraception
Some states require insurance to cover contraception, allow pharmacists to prescribe it, and protect access in schools and clinics.
Others allow pharmacists and doctors to refuse to provide it based on personal belief.
This means a woman’s ability to prevent pregnancy can depend on the beliefs of a stranger behind a counter.
3. Paid Family Leave & Maternity Leave
Only a handful of states guarantee paid leave for childbirth, caregiving, or recovery.
In many states, a woman must choose between:
healing after birth
caring for her baby
or keeping her job
Her ability to rest, recover, and bond with her child is treated as a privilege instead of a right.
4. Workplace Protections During Pregnancy
Some states require employers to offer simple accommodations such as:
extra bathroom breaks
lighter lifting duties
seating options
modified schedules
Other states provide minimal protection, forcing pregnant women to:
hide symptoms
skip prenatal care
or risk their jobs
A pregnancy should not be something a woman must “power through” in silence.
5. Domestic Violence Protections
In some states, protections include:
emergency shelter access
firearm surrender laws for abusers
legal advocates
relocation assistance
financial compensation
In weaker states, Survivors are trapped by gaps in funding, legal loopholes, or systems that prioritize the abuser’s rights over the woman’s safety.
A woman’s survival should not depend on luck or geography.
6. Maternal Healthcare Access & Safety
The U.S. has some of the highest maternal mortality rates among industrialized nations — but not evenly.
In states with limited hospitals, maternity wards, midwives, or postpartum care, a routine pregnancy can become life-threatening.
A woman’s chances of surviving childbirth should not shift just because she crossed a state border.
7. Equal Pay Protection & Wage Transparency
Some states prevent employers from asking about salary history, require transparency in job postings, and penalize pay discrimination.
Others leave women guessing — and guessing costs money.
A woman doing the same job as a man can legally walk away with thousands less depending solely on location.
8. Sexual Harassment & Workplace Rights
Survivors’ abilities to report harassment, sue employers, or seek protection vary.
In some states:
contractors and interns are covered
the statute of limitations is longer
employers are held accountable
In others, women must navigate systems designed to exhaust them into silence.
9. Childcare Support & Affordability
Some states subsidize childcare, cap costs, or ensure high-quality early education programs.
Others leave families alone with impossible prices.
A woman’s ability to work, study, or escape an abusive partner can hinge on whether she can safely leave her child in someone’s care.
10. Rights of Survivors to Seek Justice
Statutes of limitations for:
rape
sexual assault
domestic abuse
child sexual abuse
vary wildly.
In some states, Survivors have time to process trauma before seeking justice. In others, the law demands immediate perfection from people who have been harmed — or shuts the door forever.
11. Rape Kit Testing & Backlog Accountability
In some states, rape kits are tested promptly, tracked transparently, and linked to systems that help Survivors pursue justice. In others, kits sit untested for years—sometimes decades—while perpetrators remain free. Whether a survivor’s evidence is processed or ignored depends on state priorities, funding, and political will. A woman’s truth should not expire on a shelf.
12. Equal Rights in the State Constitution
Only some states explicitly ban sex-based discrimination in their founding documents.
In states without such guarantees, women must hope courts interpret equality generously.
Hope is not a legal strategy. Rights without enforcement are decorations, not protections.
Why This List Matters
These aren’t abstract debates.
They determine:
who gets to rest
who is believed
who can flee danger
who can afford to live
who is treated as fully human
Men do not lose rights when they cross state lines.
Women do.
That is the imbalance feminist/womanist work is trying to correct.