RIP Rep. Louise Slaughter, progressive champion of women's rights
March 16, 2018 1:45 PM   Subscribe

VOX: Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), who at 88 years old was the oldest member of the House of Representatives, has died. Slaughter, who was the top Democrat on the powerful Rules Committee, which determines how bills are voted on the House floor — and the only woman to ever chair that committee — fell at her residence in Washington, DC, and suffered a concussion last week. She was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment, where she died, her office confirmed Friday morning.

NEW YORK TIMES
Louise Slaughter, 16-Term Liberal Congresswoman, Dies at 88
Louise M. Slaughter, a liberal Democrat who represented an upstate New York district in Congress for more than three decades, pushing to protect health privacy and abortion rights and playing a key role in the passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, died on Friday in Washington. She was 88 and in the midst of her 16th term in the House.

WASHINGTON POST: Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, N.Y. Democrat who championed women’s rights, dies at 88 Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a folksy New York liberal who championed women’s rights and American manufacturing for more than three decades as a Democratic congresswoman, and who became a top lieutenant for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the first and only woman to lead the powerful Rules Committee, died March 16 at a hospital in Washington. She was 88 and the oldest sitting member of Congress.

USA TODAY: Here's what you need know about Rep. Louise Slaughter's congressional legacy Slaughter was a co-author of the Violence Against Women Act, the landmark 1994 legislation that was the first comprehensive law to address sexual assault and domestic violence against women.

Just a few years before, she was in the group of congresswomen who marched over to the Senate and demanded that it delay confirming Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court because of sexual harassment allegations from Anita Hill.

MODERN HEALTHCARE: Lawmaker and microbiologist Louise Slaughter dies at 88 It took 14 years for Slaughter to pass the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which bans carriers and employers from using a person's family medical history showing hereditary illness to hire or fire. The legislation was passed in 2008, and was hailed by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) as "the first civil rights bill of the new century."

In the early 1990s, Slaughter pushed the first major federal funding for breast cancer research at the National Institute of Health — $500 million. Her efforts to repair the medical research imbalance that emphasized clinical trials on diseases that affect white men rather than those that hit women and minorities disproportionately led to the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993.

WKYT: Rep. Louise Slaughter, New York congresswoman born in Kentucky, dies at 88 Slaughter was born in the small city of Lynch, Kentucky, which is in eastern Harlan County. She later moved to Monticello as a child before receiving her master's degree at the University of Kentucky where she became a microbiologist.

The Democrat eventually moved to New York for her professional career before getting into politics. She would serve in local and state politics in the Empire State before being elected to the U.S. House in 1986.
posted by pjsky (37 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by valkane at 1:50 PM on March 16, 2018


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I know a handful of disability rights advocates, housing advocates, HIV/AIDS advocates, in Rochester, NY and they are heartbroken today. She was a force for good.
posted by gauche at 1:52 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


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posted by strixus at 2:03 PM on March 16, 2018


I was at RIT in 1986 when she first ran for congress. She came to campus to talk at the beginning of her campaign, and I was really impressed with her. I was even more impressed as she withstood an onslaught of brutal attacks to eke out a victory.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 2:03 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by Smart Dalek at 2:06 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by homunculus at 2:13 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by tobascodagama at 2:19 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by djseafood at 2:39 PM on March 16, 2018


One of the truly good ones for real.

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posted by tzikeh at 2:45 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by Splunge at 2:54 PM on March 16, 2018


She was a great asset for Rochester and I can't imagine who's going to replace her.
posted by tommasz at 2:54 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


...receiving her master's degree at the University of Kentucky where she became a microbiologist.

In addition to her other attributes Slaughter represented 33% of the scientists in Congress. The House now only has one chemist and a physicist. The Senate, nobody.
posted by LeLiLo at 3:03 PM on March 16, 2018 [8 favorites]


What a legacy!

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posted by TedW at 3:15 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by Caduceus at 3:47 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by evilDoug at 3:50 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by sammyo at 4:49 PM on March 16, 2018


That is just pathetic LeLiLo, though it also explains so, so much.
posted by rokusan at 4:51 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by mrmurbles at 4:53 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by brundlefly at 5:03 PM on March 16, 2018


In addition to her other attributes Slaughter represented 33% of the scientists in Congress.

Physical scientists. There are several social scientists as well.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:20 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by rhizome at 5:21 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by glhaynes at 5:23 PM on March 16, 2018


What a breadth of works.

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posted by clew at 5:23 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by caliche at 5:51 PM on March 16, 2018


Such a loss.

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posted by seyirci at 6:08 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by camyram at 6:33 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by bryon at 6:54 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:01 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by bitter-girl.com at 8:11 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:05 PM on March 16, 2018


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posted by AlSweigart at 1:16 AM on March 17, 2018


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posted by saysthis at 2:26 AM on March 17, 2018


A family member worked for her for a few years. Slaughter did good work and I’m proud of my family member’s role in that.
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posted by sciencegeek at 2:30 AM on March 17, 2018


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posted by filtergik at 5:02 AM on March 17, 2018


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posted by steady-state strawberry at 5:20 AM on March 17, 2018


She was my representative. I was so lucky to have had her. I watched the debate she was in with her Challenger last year and she was so casually brilliant and confident and charming. She will be sorely missed.
posted by SeedStitch at 7:33 AM on March 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by one teak forest at 4:47 PM on March 17, 2018


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