On the 106th anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment, Doug Jones celebrated Women’s Equality Day by recognizing the generations of women who fought for the right to vote and the ongoing fight for equal opportunity in Alabama and across the country.
“On Women’s Equality Day, we honor generations of women who fought for a basic right that should never have been denied to them: the right to have an equal voice in our democracy,” Jones said. “They refused to accept that the way things had been was the way things had to be, and our country is better because of it.”
The 19th Amendment was adopted on August 26, 1920, but it was not applied to all women: Black women across Alabama and the South continued to face barriers to the ballot until the Voting Rights Act was passed decades later. “We should celebrate how far we’ve come, but we also have to remember our history,” Jones said.
More than a century later, Jones said the fight for women’s equality continues.
“Equality of opportunity means women should be able to earn a living wage comparable to their male counterparts, raise a family and live a healthy life,” Jones said. “We have to do better when it comes to maternal and infant health, make childcare more affordable and protect women’s freedom to make their own decisions about their reproductive health, IVF and contraception. Even with voting rights, the Tommy Tuberville-backed SAVE America Act threatens to create new barriers to voter registration, including for married women whose names no longer match their birth certificates.”
“Equality was never achieved by one election, one law or one generation. It takes people who refuse to accept that the way things have been is the way things have to be. That’s how Alabama and this country move forward.”
