FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Ann Morse Hartner, Chair, Legislative Policy Committee
Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts
ahartner@rfglawyers.com

Elisabeth J. Medvedow, Executive Director
Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts
(617) 973-6666
medvedow@womensbar.org

WBA Unveils 2007 Legislative Agenda
WBA Leadership Meets with Legislators to Share Priorities

(BOSTON)– February 8, 2007 – The Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts (WBA) today unveiled its 2007 Legislative Agenda at its annual Legislative Breakfast with WBA leadership and legislators at the Massachusetts State House. The WBA also honored the newly-elected legislators.  

Each year, the WBA works to educate the state legislature on how key social and political issues facing the Commonwealth affect women and their families. The WBA monitors and advocates for legislation which reflects the organization’s mission of promoting a just society.

A continuing priority for the WBA in 2007 remains supporting the full implementation of the Goodridge decision on same sex marriage and opposing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Other of the WBA’s 2007 priorities include bills to end discrimination on the basis of gender in annuities, protect nursing women from discrimination in public accommodations, enact responsible welfare reform, modernize the property rights of surviving spouses, promote health education in schools, fund legal services, give rights to incarcerated pregnant women, and establish a work/family council. 

“We are very proud of the work we did last year, particularly in voicing our opposition to a constitutional amendment seeking to ban same-sex marriage,” said WBA President Kitty O’Connor. “We look forward to another year of working with legislators to effect positive legislative changes on behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

Other areas of special concern to the WBA include legislation regarding domestic violence, sexual assault, family law, family medical leave, childbirth issues, the special needs of incarcerated women, employment law, sexual harassment and other forms of workplace discrimination, legal services, diversity on corporate boards and in upper level management, state budget issues, privacy of counseling records, reproductive rights, welfare, children’s issues, elder law, civil/human rights and opposition to the death penalty. 

The WBA’s Legislative Policy Committee, chaired by Ann Morse Hartner, works to identify issues of concern throughout the year.  The group works alongside other advocacy organizations, provides testimony on the various issues on the WBA’s agenda and distributes information to its members and to political leaders.  The organization has also been called upon to assist with drafting legislation.

Hartner remarked, “Today starts another chapter in the WBA’s long history of marshaling our resources and legal training to lend a voice to causes that affect women.”

About the Women’s Bar Association
Formed in 1978 by a group of activist women lawyers, the Women’s Bar Association has grown to more than 1,000 women lawyers from around the state, committed to the full and equal participation of women in the legal system and a just society.