Senator Jo Anna Dossett, D-Tulsa, is set to address a notable national convergence of female policymakers at the 50th Anniversary of Women in Public Life Symposium at the University of Texas at Austin's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Scheduled for November 14, the gathering will spotlight issues critical to women's roles in governance, including political representation and key policy areas like paid family medical leave and contraceptive access.
The symposium is expected to feature keynote addresses and in-depth breakout sessions, with figures such as former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, in attendance. According to a statement from the Oklahoma Senate, Dossett will participate in a program titled "Contraception Crossroads: Building Bipartisan Bridges" at the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium, discussing the recent success of Senate Bill 176 in Oklahoma, which broadens access to contraceptive pills.
"I’m humbled to share the story of SB 176, especially in the presence of so many women who have worked from both sides of the aisle to improve the status of women in public life," Dossett said. The senator emphasized the collective effort that underpinned the bill's passage, stating, "And, of course, that wouldn’t be without due credit to every member of the Oklahoma Legislature, female and male, Democrat and Republican, who found it within themselves to help the bill become law."
This year's event marks an important commemoration of the first Women in Public Life Conference, initiated in 1975 by the then First Lady of the U.S., Lady Bird Johnson. With the theme "A Bipartisan Path Forward," the organizers aim for participants to depart with a reinvigorated determination to work collaboratively on policies that advance the common good, according to the Oklahoma Senate.
