Today is International Women's Day, "a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women." Yet as we learn all too often, these neutral-sounding words really mean: a day to celebrate liberal women advancing progressive policy goals.
As 2016 RNLA National Policy Conference speaker, Network of enlightened Women President, and conservative female attorney Karin Agness Lips reminds us, Republican, conservative, and libertarian women are stereotyped, attacked, and not welcomed by modern feminists:
“If you would gather a group of leaders in the women’s empowerment movement, their definitions would vary dramatically,” Lips says. “The problem with modern-day feminism is that it lacks a universally agreed upon definition, and that it’s been co-opted by political liberals and progressives as a vehicle to pass their political agenda.”
Lips, who is also a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, believes in what she calls “opportunity feminism, which seeks to maximize women’s opportunities to build fulfilling and meaningful lives they want to build.” . . .
“Too often, in my experience, and for a lot of women on campus, once you speak out as a conservative, you turn in your ‘woman card‘ and you don’t count anymore,” Lips says. “[Liberals] attack conservative women, often with a vitriol expressed more for conservative women than men.” Indeed, there are those left-of-center talking heads who guard their political beliefs as viciously as some on the right.
Ms. Lips' "opportunity feminism" fits within the broader framework of conservative and libertarian values of greater individual freedom and less government regulation and is therefore better for women and everyone else as well:
She says this version of feminism prioritizes maximizing opportunities and choices for women, rather than seeing them as victims "that need every interaction regulated."
Opportunity feminism prioritizes equality of opportunity over equality of outcome, meaning that so long as women have the same opportunities as men in education, the workplace and politics, it doesn’t matter if they are represented in equal numbers.
"I'm hoping that that's going to be a way for conservative women to reclaim the feminist title," said Agness Lips. "The left claims they are the women's empowerment movement and they're not. And our policies are actually better for women."
In a world where law students disrupted Christina Hoff Sommers' Federalist Society speech at the Lewis and Clark Law School in the name of anti-fascism on Monday (the sheer ignorance of relatively recent history displayed by these supposedly educated law students--our future colleagues in the practice of law--is frightening), we are immensely grateful to have conservative and libertarian female attorneys who can provide a good example on International Women's Day. Women who can think independently, fight for good policies, and be strong leaders, supporting the rule of law, without attacking our country. RNLA women leaders like:
- Co-Chair Joanne Young
- Vice President for Communications Harmeet Kaur Dhillon
- Former Chair Kimberly Reed
- Vice President for Membership Audrey Perry Martin
- Vice President for Washington, D.C. Operations Claudia Hrvatin
- Board of Governors member Kathleen Jones Goldman
- Board of Governors member Heather Heidelbaugh
- Board of Governors member Anne Lewis
- Board of Governors member Beverly Weiss Manne
- Board of Governors member Nancy Taylor
- Arkansas Chapter Chair Bilenda Harris-Ritter
- Hawaii Chapter Chair Adrienne King
- Pennsylvania Southeastern Chapter Chair Linda Kerns
- Tennessee Chapter Chair Linda Knight
As Republican female attorneys are bombarded with messages about "equality" and progressive policy goals that women must embrace to be welcomed in the modern women's movement, remember that we conservative and libertarian women are not alone. We may not be as (obnoxiously) vocal as many highly educated liberal women, but we are capable, we are many, our ideas are better, and we are having an enormous impact on the policies and future of our country.
Today, the RNLA recognized the new officers and members of the Board of Governors elected at its recent annual board meeting:
RNLA President Elliot Berke stated: “I welcome our new and returning
board members, as well as our new and returning officers to what I expect to be
an historic year for the RNLA. It’s an
honor to serve as your President during this important time in our history.”
RNLA Executive Director Michael Thielen agreed: “I am honored to work for
and with these distinguished Republican attorneys. I am especially pleased that, after having
our first female chair last year in Kimberly Reed, there are now four women
officers leading the RNLA. We look
forward to a strong year.”
Five new officers were elected for 2018. John Ryder of Memphis, Tennessee, was elected Chair. . . . Joanne
W. Young of Washington, DC, was elected Co-Chair. . . . Harmeet
K. Dhillon of San Francisco, California, was elected Vice
President for Communications. . . . Thomas
Wheeler of Indianapolis, Indiana was elected Vice President for Programming. . . . Audrey
Perry Martin of Sacramento, California was elected Vice President for Membership. . . .
Three new members of the Board of Governors were elected for 2018, joining
the 43 incumbent members of the Board of Governors.
Marc
Ellinger of Jefferson City, Missouri, . . . Linda A.
Kerns of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, . . . [and] Chris
Marston of Alexandria, Virginia . . . .
For more information about the new officers and members of the Board of Governors, please read the full press release here. The RNLA looks forward to an excellent year under these new leaders and the existing leadership they joined.
Last week, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California DISCLOSE ACT, AB 249, which by some standards makes California’s campaign-advertisement disclosure laws the toughest in the country.
This new law requires the three largest contributors (of $50,000 or more) to be listed on ballot measure ads and independent expenditures.
On video and TV, the disclosures must be displayed against a solid black background in a clear font that is not all-caps, fill the bottom third of the screen and stay up for a full five seconds during a 30 second ad. Each of the three major funders’ names must appear on a separate line. Disclosures on radio ads would need to be made with the same speed as the rest of the ad. Committees must keep track of donations on a daily basis to make this calculation. If the top contributors change, committees have five business days to make a new ad and update it. Top funders would have to be identified in TV, radio, online and print ads about ballot measures on the ad itself.
This law applies to print, online, TV, and radio ads as well as mass mailers and robocalls. It requires radio ads and robocalls to name the two largest funders.
It also requires that if the funds were earmarked, the “true” source of the funds be disclosed. However, California Fair Political Practices Commission chair Jodi Remke raised a red flag about the fine print tucked inside the bill – particularly how, for example, labor union earmarks are disclosed. Granted, the FPPC chair thought the bill might need to require additional disclosure requirements. But the new earmarking rules benefit labor unions – likely to the detriment of Republicans:
Critics of the bill, including
Republican Assemblyman Matthew Harper, R-Costa Mesa, who voted against it,
complain that it stacks the deck for Democrats by making an exception for
membership dues, helping the labor unions that fund Democrats’ campaigns.
If a member’s dues are used to
pay for a campaign, the organization — not the individual dues-payer — would
appear as the contributor as long as the total amount is below $500. Mullin and
others argue the change eases the paperwork burden for membership organizations
while making it easier for the public to follow the money. But Republicans have
cast the provision as union-friendly politics as usual.
“What this does is it creates a
massive, dark-money loophole that unions can drive through,” Harper said. “It’s
what Democrats do over and over again.”
Although Republicans may be currently outnumbered in the California legislature, that has not stopped the RNLA from working to set-up a robust lawyer organization in the state. On October 21, RNLA’s California Chapter is hosting National Republican Congressional Committee General Counsel Chris Winkelman at a MCLE event during the California Republican Party Convention in Anaheim. Mr. Winkelman will be discussing the lawyer's role protecting the integrity of elections. He will also highlight important Congressional races in 2018 and discuss how lawyers can help next November. We will also be introducing our statewide leadership and new California Regional Chairs. Register for the event here.
California’s RNLA Chapter is growing and recruiting lawyers around the state to help in 2018 races. If you haven’t already joined RNLA, now is the time!
By Audrey Perry Martin, RNLA California State Chapter Chair and Of Counsel to Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP.
