Message from National NOW President Christian F. Nunes
March 22, 2024
Greetings Feminists,
Redistricting is a feminist issue—make that an urgent feminist issue.
Redistricting opens the door to manipulation of our elections by giving politicians the ability to choose their voters before the voters choose them. It doesn’t matter if constituents want abortion rights, gender equality, racial justice, voting rights, gun safety and safety for women from violence and sexual harassment when discriminatory maps poison the electoral process from the start.
No issue highlights this failure more than abortion. New research from the KFF Health Tracking Poll, found that “two-thirds of the public, including majorities of Democrats (86%) and independents (67%), support a law guaranteeing a federal right to abortion.” Only 9 percent believe that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, according to a poll conducted by the 19th News.
And yet, a majority of women now live in states considered “hostile” or “extremely hostile” to abortion rights, according to the Guttmacher Institute. And research shows that a pre-viability abortion ban is in place in nine of the ten states where public opinion favors abortion rights, but partisan gerrymandering and redistricting hijacks democracy.
The piracy began with the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County decision that gutted essential protections of the Voting Rights Act and opened the door to unchecked partisan gerrymandering. A further decision in 2019 ruled that courts had no role in settling disputes over partisan gerrymandering.
The result is that state legislatures are more partisan and dominated by extremist factions than ever before. Gerrymandering is a threat to women, people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and our overall democracy.
NOW members are energized about this year’s election because we know that our activism, energy and commitment at every level, from local elections to races for Congress, Senate and President, can turn the tide and put an end to discriminatory redistricting that turns back the clock for women.
In solidarity,
Christian
