A year since women marched across the world in protest of Trump, many view his presidency as ‘the worst we’ve ever seen for women’

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

On the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States last January, millions of women took to the streets in pink-knitted “pussy hats” in protests that marked the birth of the so-called “resistance” to the incoming administration.

One year later, the #MeToo movement has spawned a moment of reckoning around sexual misconduct and gender equality. The unprecedented dialogue has brought down powerful men from entertainment, media and politics, while signaling the beginning of a transformational period for women in the workplace that has been decades in the making.

The sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump – the full list Read more

But between the bookends, women’s rights advocates have had to contend with the first year of the Trump presidency, which they view as a return to restrictive policies on abortion and contraception. And for every man whose career is cut short amid allegations of misconduct, there is the juxtaposition of Trump holding the highest office in the nation despite standing accused by as many as 17 women of sexual assault. He denies the claims.

On Friday, almost one year to the day since he was inaugurated, Trump will become the first sitting president to address the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion gathering on the National Mall in Washington.

“This administration is the worst we’ve ever seen for women and families,” said Kaylie Hanson Long, a spokeswoman for Naral Pro-Choice America, a pro-choice advocacy group.

“Its attacks on reproductive freedom are relentless, under the radar and aren’t supported by the majority of Americans who believe abortion should remain legal.”

Q&A Who are the 20 women accusing Donald Trump of assault and harassment? Show Hide Jessica Leeds Ivana Trump Jill Harth Kristen Anderson Lisa Boyne Cathy Heller Temple Taggart Mariah Billado Karena Virginia Bridget Sullivan Tasha Dixon Melinda McGillivray Jennifer Murphy Rachel Crooks Natasha Stoynoff Ninni Laaksonen Jessica Drake Samantha Holvey Summer Zervos Cassandra Searles Read the full details of the 20 accusations here

Much of Trump’s first year in office has been dedicated to undoing the work of his predecessor, from rescinding the requirement in Barack Obama’s healthcare law that employers provide contraception coverage, to rolling back a rule introduced under his predecessor designed to close the gender pay gap.

In one of his first acts, Trump – surrounded by a large group of men in what became a notorious photograph – reinstated a “global gag rule” policy that restricts the US government from providing funds to international family-planning organizations that offer abortion-related services. He later expanded it, affecting nearly $9bn in funding to combat global health issues such as HIV/Aids, Zika and malaria.

Trump has also backed proposals to defund Planned Parenthood and signed Republican-passed legislation that paved the way for state and local governments to block abortion clinics from receiving federal funds.

To some observers, Trump’s actions are the natural byproduct of “unified Republican control” in Washington.

“It’s not necessarily just because of Donald Trump,” said Jennifer Lawless, the director of American University’s Women and Politics Institute. “It’s because of a Republican White House and two Republican chambers in Congress.”

Indeed, Republicans have led efforts – albeit to mixed success – to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature healthcare reform. They have also sought to advance legislation to curtail abortion rights, with the president’s blessing.

The House of Representatives approved a 20-week abortion ban in October, although the Senate does not appear to have the votes to send the bill to the president’s desk.

There are also subtle yet substantive ways in which the Trump administration has sought to redefine how women’s reproductive issues are considered in government policy.

It was reported in December that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was banned from using the word “fetus”, among other terms such as “transgender” and “science-based”, in its 2018 budget documents. Analysts suggested other parts of the Department of Health and Human Services might also be subject to the ban, which could undermine the development of materials examining the effects of the Zika virus on a developing fetus.



Pro-choice advocates similarly saw a draft strategic plan released by the HHS in September as notable in part for its conspicuously coded language. The proposed plan, which would encompass 2018-2022, contained several references to life “beginning at conception” and to “the unborn”. The phrasing marked a departure from previous administrations, which proponents of women’s reproductive rights believe provided Trump’s HHS with “a license to discriminate”.



The most influential cultural shift in women’s reproductive rights could arguably be in the work of the federal courts, where judicial vacancies are poised to be filled by Trump nominees who overwhelmingly consist of white males.

Trump inherited nearly double the number of court vacancies of his predecessor, in part because Republicans successfully blocked Obama from filling many of those seats. Among Trump’s picks for federal courts are a nominee who likened the “personhood” for fetuses to the rights of Native and African Americans, and another who questioned the legality of abortion.



At the highest level, the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the supreme court prompted fears among advocates over the future of Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 supreme court ruling that legalized abortion in the US.

In replacing the late justice Antonin Scalia, Gorsuch restored the conservative tilt to the supreme court after Republicans denied Obama a vote on Merrick Garland, the nominee of his choice. Should Trump oversee another vacancy, a long-running campaign to restrict abortion rights could find affirmation in the nation’s highest court.

Gorsuch reluctantly declared Roe v Wade “the law of the land” after relentless questioning by Democrats at his confirmation hearing. But he also argued it was a “precedent” and has sided with conservatives on the issue of religious freedom in the broader context of women’s reproductive rights.

During his tenure on the US court of appeals for the 10th circuit, Gorsuch ruled that closely held, for-profit businesses were not required to cover contraception on religious grounds. The decision was later upheld by the supreme court.

Among the most notable examples of the correlation between the views of Trump appointees and administration policy was the case of an undocumented, pregnant teenager, which became the subject of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union last year.

The teenager, whose identity was protected, was blocked from obtaining an abortion by Scott Lloyd, who was appointed by Trump to head the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Although the courts ultimately sided with the teenager, previous articles penned by Lloyd revealed a record of controversial views on abortion and contraception – including his belief that women who receive federally funded birth control should be forced to sign a pledge that they will not have an abortion.



Lawless said while Trump’s record might leave advocates dismayed, if not unsurprised, the rallying cry behind #MeToo has brought rare consensus around the issue of sexual harassment.

Although Republicans have thus far ignored the allegations against Trump, bipartisan legislation has emerged in Congress to overhaul how sexual misconduct claims are handled on Capitol Hill.

“There’s no question the behavior is being condemned right now,” Lawless said.

Trump to give anti-abortion March for Life a rare presidential thumbs up Read more

“The Women’s March did a lot to catalyze activists and generate a sense of momentum. Coupled with social media, it provided this fertile ground for the MeToo movement to emerge and ultimately sustain itself.”

Groups such as Emily’s List, which work to elect pro-choice Democratic women to public office, have cited a boom in female candidates for office in the Trump era.

“In the year since Trump has been inaugurated, women have responded by marching, organizing, building movements, voting and running for office,” said Christina Reynolds, a spokeswoman for Emily’s List.

“They’ve pushed back against a White House and Republican Congress driving an agenda that hurts families and their communities, and come November, those women will replace them in office.”

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