Bloomer, as Elizabeth Cady Stanton saw her, represented a conservative stance. It was only with great effort and patience that she has been brought up to her present position. In her paper, she will not speak against the fugitive slave law, nor in her work to put down intemperance will she criticize the equivocal position of the church. But Bloomer changed into a reformer of whom Stanton could approve. Later, The Lily educated its audience about women's issues, served as a model for other suffrage publications, and published Elizabeth Cady Stanton's pieces.
Some historians credit it as the first newspaper in the United States owned and operated by a woman.
In any case, its pages proved a boon to women seeking to publish addresses and essays in support of suffrage for women. Moving west, she packed her reform impulses along with her material possessions. Like many reformers, she sought improvement in many areas of American life. In 1871 she became president of the Iowa Woman Suffrage Society and supported a legal code that ended the distinction between male and female property rights. From Iowa, Bloomer exercised her First Amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.