It’s no secret that Trump has a more than interesting track record regarding women and policies that may affect them. As he eases his position on Obamacare and other policies he argued for during his campaign, I wanted to look into the possible effects Trump policies may have on women when he becomes president.
First, there is a risk that women may be excluded from Combative roles in the military. Trump has publicly criticized the “overly” politically correct military development in recent years. Excluding women could very much happen considering an official law on the issue was never passed. Although Trump did comment on leaving it “up to the generals, admirals, and people on top.”
Second, there might be some improvement toward work-family policies, but there is debate whether that improvement will be adequate enough. Ivanka, Trump’s daughter, inspired several policies such as Childcare Reform and Paid Leave. If Congress allows his proposals to become law, families can take advantage of a tax deducation for child care as early as 2018. The Republican Congress might make such a policy very difficult to officially pass. Problems arise as Trump’s plan favors high-income families and will likely do little, if anything, for low-income parents. In terms of paid leave, Trump’s policy proposes six weeks paid leave to biological mothers only – so fathers, same-sex couple, and adoptive parents could face exclusion.
Third, we need to take a look at women’s healthcare. As Trump mulls over his supreme court appointment options, all eleven of them are Pro-Life. In terms of repealing Roe V. Wade, it seems unlikely even with the conservative appointments. Although overturn is strongly backed by Trump’s religious base, overturning disapproved of by thea decent majority of our country (59% in support of Pro-Choice) and harsh backlash would be inevitable. Repealing the Supreme Court decision on abortion, similarly to Same-Sex marriage, might be too risky. Trump’s vow to defund Planned Parenthood is a more realistic fear. Overall, he insists abortion rights should be left up to the states, and if a woman has a problem with that she can simply move to another state. Planned Parenthood stated a majority of their healthcare services support individuals who earn less than $19,000 a year. Again, we see the on-going burden faced by the growing poor.
Only time will tell as his presidency inches closer.
