June is a time to reflect on women's advances

On June 18, 1873, suffragist Susan B. Anthony was fined for attempting to vote in the presidential election. On June 18, 1928, aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and on June 18, 1983, astronaut Sally Ride became the first woman in space.

With our nation's first woman presidential nominee receiving three million more votes than her male opponent in 2016 and with the #MeToo movement causing some in our nation to become "woke," there has been incremental progress for women's rights since 1873, but not nearly enough.

In 2019, women have yet to be granted equality protection under our Constitution. Since first being introduced in 1923 to create gender- equality protection, the Equal Rights Amendment still has not been approved by enough states to become law.

In 2019, there is a push by religious extremists and authoritarian conservatives to rescind the right of women to make their own health care choices, and equality in pay for women is far from being achieved.

Now we have a president who has boasted of grabbing women by their genitals, defends other sexual predators and uses social media to insult and denigrate women.

In 2019 on June 18, we had a misogynistic, narcissistic president and a complicit Republican Congress composed mostly of weak men who whine that "progressive" is a nasty word. The antonym for progressive is regressive - we voters must stand against regressive attacks on women and our democracy.

Jane Cox

Wheaton