Ellen Chesler's essay advocates immediate U.S. ratification of the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the UN's visionary global treaty for advancing women's rights and opportunities in all aspects of life--and insists that U.S. domestic law and foreign policy accord fully with the treaty's aspirations for civil, political, social, and economic equality for all women.

To read the entire essay please see: A Progressive Agenda for Women's Rights

Ellen Chesler is a senior fellow at the Open Society Institute, where she has directed its program on reproductive health and rights. She is author of Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America. This essay was taken from NDP's recent anthology What We Stand For: A Program for Progressive Patriotism.