Patricia Schroeder, a former representative for the Democratic party from Colorado, reportedly passed away at the age of 82 as a result of complications following a stroke.
According to her daughter Jamie, Schroeder suffered a stroke and was then taken to a hospital in Celebration, Florida, where she passed away on Monday evening.
According to the archives of the House of Representatives, Schroeder was a member of the Military Services Committee during her 24 years of service in the House of Representatives.
She won her first election in 1972 as a fervent opponent of the Vietnam War, which helped her to win that election. She was one of only 14 women to serve in Congress at the time and the first woman to be elected from Colorado and serve in her committee assignment.
Schroeder was the first person in her family to have a college degree; she earned her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Minnesota in 1961. Schroeder was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1940.
"women seemed to make many congressmen antsy. 'It’s really funny if two women stand on the House floor,' she said. 'There are usually at least two men who go by and say, ‘What is this, a coup?’ They’re almost afraid to see us in public together." https://t.co/WUrRHiqwLe
— Lauren Fox (@FoxReports) March 14, 2023
She then continued her education by enrolling in the legal program at Harvard University, where she was one of just 15 female students in a class of 500 total students.
She received her degree in 1964 and then began working as an attorney in Denver, Colorado, where she remained for a number of years.
Schroeder made his first foray into politics in 1972, when he ran for a position in the United States House of Representatives representing Colorado’s First Congressional District.
She was the first woman from Colorado to be elected to Congress as a result of her victory in the election. She eventually became a member of the House, where she served from 1973 to 1997, having been re-elected 11 times.
Schroeder was an outspoken supporter of women’s rights all during her tenure serving in Congress.
She was a co-sponsor of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which made it illegal for employers to discriminate against women who were pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
She also advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment, which, if passed, would have altered the Constitution to ensure that all people, regardless of gender, are afforded the same legal protections.
Schroeder was also an advocate for civil rights and fought apartheid in South Africa.
She was a founding member of the House Progressive Caucus and was a staunch opponent of military action by the United States in Central America as well as the Gulf War.
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