Gloria Steinem, who emerged as a central figure in the feminist movement after attending a 1969 meeting on abortion rights, died on Wednesday at age 92. Her entry into activism was catalyzed by her own experience with an illegal abortion in London at age 22, which she shared publicly decades later. The feminist movement she helped lead fundamentally transformed American society and institutions across multiple decades.
The landscape for women’s participation in American life has shifted substantially since Steinem’s early activism. Female labor force participation has grown from under 50% in the mid-1960s to approximately 58% for women 20 and older, with participation reaching 77% among women aged 25 to 54. Women now hold 152 seats in Congress, compared to only 11 in the 1960s. Legal protections expanded through legislation including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, eliminating discriminatory lending practices and pregnancy-based employment terminations.
However, Steinem lived to witness what advocates characterize as a significant reversal of reproductive rights. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, and 13 states have since implemented total or near-total abortion bans, with four additional states restricting abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. Alongside these legal changes, conservative activists and policymakers have launched efforts promoting traditional gender roles and increased childbearing.
The Heritage Foundation and Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have promoted policies and rhetoric encouraging women to prioritize marriage and family over career advancement. Conservative figures argue that feminism has harmed both women and men by devaluing family pursuits. Some proposals, such as investment accounts for couples marrying before age 30, reflect these priorities. Women’s advocacy organizations counter that expanded paid family leave and affordable childcare represent genuine family support, and argue that reproductive restrictions and anti-feminist messaging are fundamentally about limiting women’s autonomy and life choices.
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