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The Equal Pay Act is passed by Congress, promising equitable wages for the same work, regardless of the race, color, religion, national origin or sex of the worker.
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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passes including a prohibition against employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.
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Executive Order 11246 prohibits sex discrimination by government contractors and requires affirmative action plans for hiring women.
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1971 Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation, 400 U.S. 542: The U.S. Supreme Court outlaws the practice of private employers refusing to hire women with pre-school children.
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1973 Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179: The U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects women’s right to terminate an early pregnancy, thus making abortion legal in the U.S.
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1975 Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522 (1975), denies states the right to exclude women from juries.
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The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women.
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The U.S. Supreme Court rules that excluding women from the draft is constitutional.
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1989 In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. the Supreme Court affirms the right of states to deny public funding for abortions and to prohibit public hospitals from performing abortions.
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1994 Congress adopts the Gender Equity in Education Act to train teachers in gender equity, promote math and science learning by girls, counsel pregnant teens, and prevent sexual harassment.
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2000 CBS Broadcasting agrees to pay $8 million to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit by the E.E.O.C. on behalf of 200 women.
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Hillary Clinton becomes the first First Lady to be elected to public office as a U.S. Senator from New York. Condoleezza Rice becomes the first black female Secretary of State.
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The Supreme Court upholds a ban on the “partial-birth” abortion procedure. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, a federal law passed in 2003, was the first to ban a specific abortion procedure.
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Hillary Clinton is the only First Lady to run for president.
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2013 The ban against women in military combat positions is removed; this overturned a 1994 Pentagon decision restricting women from combat roles.
