gender, sexuality, and reproductive rights

Abortion is the voluntary termination of a pregnancy.

See: Alternative Reproductive Technology (ART). 

[Last reviewed in November of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]

Cisgender (abbreviated as cis) is a type of gender identity in which the gender that the person identifies matches the gender assigned at birth. The prefix “cis” means “on the side of” in Latin. 

Compare: transgender

See also: gender identity

Overview:

Employment discrimination laws seek to prevent discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, physical disability, and age by employers.

Sterilization eliminates a person's ability to procreate, typically through surgical procedures. Enforced sterilization, also known as compulsory sterilization, refers to forcibly sterilizing an ethnic group as part of a systematic attack against that particular group. Widespread or systematic enforced sterilization is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to prevent unequal pay based on gender in jobs that require “equal skill, effort, and responsibility and which are performed under similar working conditions.” The Act fundamentally changed the nature of pay for women, which on average earned less than two-thirds of their male counterparts in 1963.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution intended to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. It was first introduced in Congress in 1923 and passed by both houses in 1972.

An equal opportunity employer is generally considered an employer that does not discriminate in the employment context based on characteristics proscribed in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as interpreted by the U.S.

The Fair Housing Act and the fair housing amendments refer to Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and later additions. Title VIII as set forth in 1968 prevented discrimination based on race, religion, and national origin in the selling and renting of housing. The Act did not apply to individuals selling or renting three or less houses and apartments.

Feminist jurisprudence is a philosophy of law based on the political, economic, and social issues of equality. As a field of legal scholarship, feminist jurisprudence began in the 1960s. It now holds a significant place in U.S.