NOW President Terry O'Neill sent this letter (PDF) to President Obama urging that he "make a commitment to lead an effort to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Women's Rights Treaty."

Despite what might seem like insurmountable circumstances, Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin, Anne Marie Coriolan, and Myrna Narcisse courageously fought for the recognition of women's rights in Haiti. Tragically, all four died in the Feb. 14 earthquake.

Beyond the Jan. 12 earthquake, there is another story about disaster in Haiti, and it relates to the horrendous social problems that Haitian women have dealt with for decades and which must be resolved if the country is ever to recover and prosper.

CEDAW promotes not only women's empowerment, but also a foundation for peace and justice around the world. Women in the U.S. and around the world have already waited 30 years for the world's superpower to sign onto this important treaty. Demand President Obama and the Senate RATIFY WOMEN! by prioritizing and passing CEDAW without restrictions.

Ask President Obama to take leadership to ratify CEDAW, the critically important women's rights treaty. President Obama should call upon the U.S. Senate to conduct hearings and finalize ratification of CEDAW. Sign our petition (to be delivered at the end of March, Women's History Month) or use our talking points in the background section to call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or fax them at (202) 456-2461.

The National Organization for Women refuses to compromise on our most basic principles. We will not accept a health care bill that trades off the rights and needs of some women for the benefit of others. And we will never stop fighting for the right of every woman to have equal access to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion.

To illustrate the need for health care reform, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) told the story of a woman who wore dentures that belonged to her sister before she passed away. Rush Limbaugh called it the "sob story of the day" and joked "well what's wrong with using a dead person's teeth? Aren't the Democrats big into recycling? . . . So if you don't have any teeth, so what? What's applesauce for? Isn't that why they make applesauce?"

NOW/PAC is proud to announce the endorsement of Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y., 14th Congressional District), Elaine Marshall (D-N.C., U.S. Senate) and Joe Sestak (D-Pa., U.S. Senate).

"The President's proposal to revive health care reform from its current state of paralysis needs major revision," according to Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women. "Although his proposal is an improvement over the status quo on issues such as affordability and accountability of insurers, the effort fails because it embraces the same harmful that are in the Senate health care bill."

The Olympics in Vancouver aren't even over, so why is NOW already looking toward the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia? Because that's the next opportunity for the Winter Games to take that final step toward gender equality.

It's been 16 years since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act and more than a decade since a U.N. Special Rapporteur examined violence against women in the United States. This year, the National Organization for Women urges that the U.S. invite…

Get ready for a great time in Boston! The 2010 NOW National Conference will take place at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers July 2-4. More information coming soon -- in the meantime, please save the date.

Even though CBS aired the ad, your support helped us mobilize NOW activists around the country. With our allies, we activated hundreds of thousands to protest the ad -- and in the process we've raised awareness of the escalating threats to women's right to have access to safe, legal abortion.

In January, NOW was invited by The Economist to participate in an online debate about the status of women in the developed world.

The National Organization for Women's Political Action Committee is proud to announce the endorsement of Betsy Dennigan (D-RI, 2nd Congressional District), Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI, 1st Congressional District) and Natalie Mosher (D-MI, 11th Congressional D…