United States Senator Patty Murray

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has successfully helped provide life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of women and families since it was first passed into law in 1994.

One reason the bill has worked so well in protecting those at risk is that since its passage, every time Congress has reauthorized the bill they have worked in a bipartisan fashion to extend its protections to new groups of women.

That history, and the protections of millions of women are now at risk.

On April 26th, 2012, the U.S. Senate passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (S. 1925) by a bipartisan vote of 68-31. Once again, the legislation that was passed incorporated important new protections, including bolstering campus safety and extending protections to our tribal, immigrant and LGBT communities.

Unfortunately, the House of Representatives passed an ideological bill that not only excludes these at-risk populations but strips existing protections for vulnerable women.

The House should put ideology aside and pass the inclusive, bipartisan Senate-passed Violence Against Women Act.

Every moment the House continues to delay is another moment vulnerable women are left without the resources and protections they deserve.

We should all agree that where a person lives, their immigration status, or who they love should not determine whether or not perpetrators of domestic violence are brought to justice.

These women should not be made to wait.

It's time for Speaker Boehner to stand up against an ideology that would deny women protections from violence because of political reasons.

As the New York Times recently put it in an editorial: "House Republicans have to decide which is more important: protecting victims of domestic violence or advancing the harsh antigay and anti-immigrant sentiments of some on their party's far right. At the moment, harshness is winning."

Please join us in calling on Speaker Boehner to follow the lead of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.

Tell him it's time to provide new protections to millions of women by passing the inclusive, bipartisan Violence Against Women Act.

Sign the petition - @SpeakerBoehner: End the delay and pass the Senate's #RealVAWA!

Share your story.

Tell @SpeakerBoehner to end the delay and pass the Senate's #RealVAWA!