Defend Women's Financial Independence - Protect ECOA

The Trump administration's Executive Order calling for an evaluation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) threatens to undermine women's financial independence and autonomy. The ECOA has been instrumental in preventing lenders from discriminating against women based on marital status since its amendment in 1976. Undermining this protection could allow a return to discriminatory lending practices that deny women equal access to credit and financial resources solely due to their gender. This order seems to prioritize an ideological opposition to "disparate impact" analyses over substantive equality and fairness. Disparate impact frameworks acknowledge that policies can have discriminatory effects even without explicit discriminatory intent. Dispensing with this principle would remove an important safeguard against inadvertent discrimination in lending and other spheres. I urge you to firmly oppose any efforts to weaken the ECOA or fair lending enforcement more broadly. Women's ability to obtain credit on equal terms is crucial for their economic empowerment and full participation in society. Turning back the clock on financial equality would represent a major setback for civil rights. Please stand strong in defending the ECOA and protecting women's hard-won financial independence against this misguided order.