tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31577531786060135702024-03-13T11:30:35.871-04:00Feminist MajorityAnnie Shieldshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412620795977178110noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-35901236149620333512012-05-30T17:52:00.016-04:002012-06-01T17:13:51.686-04:00HERvotes Blog Carnival: It’s Time to Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act!<em>By Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment at the </em><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/"><em>National Women’s Law Center</em></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWP6xZHq-5NjV_GFTOmAKDU7RDG-NMxFr3MQamui84auw0gxbyUlU3kL5o5JJ30iXJ18KIOrqhK9q-ARTjrKzWaeSkTLy7sv_d6rc-LamvIK8RbWogp0D4hmtwLMEe9OTvwBU119jEY8U/s1600/signing.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 199px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5748449004408122914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWP6xZHq-5NjV_GFTOmAKDU7RDG-NMxFr3MQamui84auw0gxbyUlU3kL5o5JJ30iXJ18KIOrqhK9q-ARTjrKzWaeSkTLy7sv_d6rc-LamvIK8RbWogp0D4hmtwLMEe9OTvwBU119jEY8U/s200/signing.jpg" /></a>For this 14th #HERvotes blog carnival, we’re blogging about <a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-issues/employment/equal-pay">equal pay</a> and the need for the Paycheck Fairness Act – which will be on the Senate floor for a vote next week.<br /><br />Why do we need the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA)? It would update the 50-year-old law by providing incentives to employers to pay women fairly. It also would ban employers from retaliating against their employees who choose to share salary information with their coworkers.<br /><br />It’s time for Congress to stand up for the rights of working women and to advance fair pay! The PFA is pending in the 112th Congress, with a vote expected in the Senate on June 5. It has twice passed the House, and it fell just two votes short of a Senate vote on its merits in the last Congress. This is a commonsense bill that would help women and their families – especially in this tough economy.<br /><br />So please join us in supporting the PFA today! Start by <a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/time-jam-phones">calling you Senators today</a> and urge them to vote for it. After you’ve called, read and share the blog posts below. We’ll be tweeting about this blog carnival all day with the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23HERVotes">#HERvotes</a> and we encourage you to join us!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.org/" target="_blank"><em>#HERvotes</em></a><em>, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the women’s movement’s major advances, many of which are at risk in the next election.<br /><br />Part of the </em><a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank"><em>#HERvotes</em></a><em> blog carnival.</em><br /><br /><br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 222px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 40px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5748448570079667106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWVo-lsy-C2TBGWO0Nvt6_aSyKOCdcXF5iOggdSYXfCkeO3fFRggrP2JiYH1XRq01E_wEX2xmx87XsZxf1o0szaHqI5eUkuk_vYl1fMeLE7SX4YMfxtShw0BxSJMxsxOrrZu__G-VpV8/s320/HERvotes.jpg" />Read More:<br /><a href="http://blog-aauw.org/2012/05/31/i-didnt-get-equal-pay-you-should/" target="_blank">I Didn't Get Equal Pay. You Should</a>- Lilly Ledbetter, via AAUW<br /><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/advancing-paycheck-fairness-for-latinas-means-advancing-immigrant-and-reproductive-rights/" target="_blank">Advancing Paycheck Fairness for Latinas means Advancing Immigrant and Reproductive Rights</a>- Natalie D. Camastra, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/restoring-some-reality-paycheck-fairness-debate" target="_blank">Restoring Some Reality to the Paycheck Fairness Debate</a>- Fatima Goss Graves, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/paycheck-fairness-makes-political-personal" target="_blank">Paycheck Fairness Makes the Political Personal</a>- Alison Channon, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/closing-wage-gap-about-fairness-not-magic" target="_blank">Closing the Wage Gap Is About Fairness, Not Magic!</a>- Samantha Lint, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.socialworkblog.org/advocacy/2012/05/nasw-supports-the-paycheck-fairness-act/" target="_blank">NASW Supports the Paycheck Fairness Act</a>- National Association of Social Workers<br /><a href="http://www.equalrights.org/downloads/pdf/PaycheckFairnessBlog.pdf" target="_blank">If Our College Graduates Can’t Fight For Fair Pay, Who Can?</a> (PDF) - Jamie Dolkas, Equal Rights Advocates<br /><a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/31/salary-negotiation-powerful-women-and-the-wage-gap/" target="_blank">Salary Negotiation, Powerful Women and the Wage Gap</a>- Katherine Birdsall, Feminist Majority Foundation<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/raise-minimum-wage-and-narrow-wage-gap" target="_blank">Raise the Minimum Wage and Narrow the Wage Gap</a>- Abby Lane, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://wow-blog.org/2012/05/31/paycheck-fairness-does-not-have-to-be-an-oxymoron/#more-771" target="_blank">Paycheck Fairness Does Not Have to be an Oxymoron</a>- Malak Yusuf, Wider Opportunities for Women<br /><a title="Permanent Link to America’s Women and Families Deserve a Vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act" href="http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/index.php/2012/05/deserve-a-vote-on-the-pfa/" rel="bookmark" target="_blank">America’s Women and Families Deserve a Vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act</a>- Sarah Crawford, National Partnership for Women & Families<br /><a href="http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/2012/05/30/paycheck-fairness" target="_blank">The Facts Behind the Call for Equal Pay</a>- Christine Miranda, NOW<br /><a href="http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/31/families-the-wage-gap-and-the-economy/" target="_blank">Families, the Wage Gap, and the Economy</a>- Caitlin Highland, Feminist Majority Foundation<br /><a href="http://hervotes.org/2012/05/31/stimulate-the-economy-pay-women-fairly/" target="_blank">Stimulate the Economy: Pay Women Fairly</a>- Linda Meric, 9to5, National Association of Working Women<br /><a href="http://youngwomenmisbehavin.com/2012/05/30/hervotes-blog-carnival-equal-pay-and-the-single-woman/" target="_blank">HERvotes Blog Carnival: Equal Pay and the Single Woman</a>- Elisabeth Gehl, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation<br /><a href="http://www.womensorganizations.org/?p=112&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=114" target="_blank">The Wage Gap: Collective Change, Not Choice</a>- Maggie Fridinger, National Council of Women's Organizations<br /><a href="http://www.womensorganizations.org/?p=107&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=114" target="_blank">The Paycheck Fairness Act: Telling the Truth About Workforce Equality</a> - Dani Nispel, National Council of Women's Organizations<br /><a href="http://hervotes.org/?p=1019" target="_blank">Paycheck Equality: It’s Not a Suggestion, It’s the Law</a>- Anny Bolgiano, Coalition of Labor Union Women<br /><a href="http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/31/women-of-color-the-wage-gap-and-the-paycheck-fairness-act/" target="_blank">Women of Color, the Wage Gap and the Paycheck Fairness Act</a>- Katherine Birdsall, Feminist Majority Foundation<br /><a href="http://blogs.rj.org/rac/2012/05/30/a-jewish-call-for-equal-pay/" target="_blank">A Jewish Call for Equal Pay</a>- Ian Hainline & Katharine Nasielski, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism<br /><a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/justice-for-working-women/" target="_blank">Justice for Working Women</a>- Miri Cypers, Jewish Women International<br /><a href="http://www.fem2pt0.com/2012/05/29/old-and-broke-blame-the-career-wage-gap/" target="_blank">The Paycheck Fairness Act: For When Women are Old and Broke</a>- Kate McGuinness, Fem2.0<br /><a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/31/the-relationship-between-unequal-pay-and-other-forms-of-gender-discrimination/" target="_blank">The Relationship Between Unequal Pay and Other Forms of Gender Discrimination-</a> Debra Miller, Feminist Majority Foundation</p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-2917493628225967132012-05-17T11:12:00.006-04:002012-05-18T10:41:43.169-04:00HERvotes Blog Carnival: National Women’s Health Week<p><em>By Cindy Pearson, co-founder of </em><a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/" target="_blank"><em>Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need</em></a></p> <p>For the 13th <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival, we’re celebrating National Women’s Health Week. The federal government launched National Women’s Health Week ten years ago in an effort to improve women’s health by building awareness about thing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDJUKqBV_dTTvLE6ZXUxJF0jKmNvSFZnVtIMqFhAHMIpzpbUxZOdJDUGljGIoruNSf71dAjJMWQQebID1lVPqNrCY0fDe02-DvbcyO31hTHSCPku-aXLBZA-DDK9UWY_Uq-SofGDd6MY/s1600/superhero-breast-exam-1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDJUKqBV_dTTvLE6ZXUxJF0jKmNvSFZnVtIMqFhAHMIpzpbUxZOdJDUGljGIoruNSf71dAjJMWQQebID1lVPqNrCY0fDe02-DvbcyO31hTHSCPku-aXLBZA-DDK9UWY_Uq-SofGDd6MY/s320/superhero-breast-exam-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5743523371862257170" border="0" /></a>s like exercise, healthy eating and the importance of regular check-ups.</p> <p>It’s nice to have our government speaking out about the importance of our health, but we know that it takes more than just awareness to insure that all women are healthy. It takes access to high quality affordable <a id="_GPLITA_1" title="Powered by Text-Enhance" href="http://hervotes.org/2012/05/17/hervotes-blog-carnival-national-womens-health-week/#">health care</a> services. For too many women, <a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/17/hervotes-blog-carnival-national-womens-health-week/#" style="text-decoration:underline" id="_GPLITA_0" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">health care</a> hasn’t been affordable, especially reproductive health services. That’s starting to change, thanks to the new health law. This week’s #HERvotes blog carnival will focus on the importance of the preventive well-woman services of the Affordable Care Act.</p> <p>You may already know that the Affordable Care Act requires new <a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/17/hervotes-blog-carnival-national-womens-health-week/#" style="text-decoration:underline" id="_GPLITA_1" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">health plans</a> to cover contraceptive counseling and methods without any co-payments. But did you know that plans will also be required to cover breast feeding supplies? And screening for <a id="_GPLITA_0" title="Powered by Text-Enhance" href="http://hervotes.org/2012/05/17/hervotes-blog-carnival-national-womens-health-week/#">domestic violence</a>? These are just a few of the new preventive services that will be covered for women starting later this year.</p> <p>The #HERvotes blog carnival will feature stories about how real women and their families are already benefiting from the new women’s health services and information on new parts of the Affordable Care Act that will be implemented in August 2012.</p> <p>You can participate by telling your own story and by sharing the posts below on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/#%21/hervotes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> (using the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search/%23HERVotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a>) and other social media.</p> <p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em><em><em> </em><br /></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hervotes.org/wp-admin/hervotes.org" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" height="40" width="222" /></a></p> <p><strong>Read More:</strong></p><p><a href="http://blog-aauw.org/2012/05/17/celebrate-womens-health-week/">New Reasons to Celebrate Women’s Health Week</a>- Beth Scott, American Association of University Women</p><p><a href="http://www.womensorganizations.org/?p=79&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=114">Who’s Afraid of the Ob/Gyn? Lack of Communication Between Women and their Doctors</a>- Dani Nispel, Program and Policy Intern, National Council of Women’s Organizations</p><p><a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/national-womens-health-week-pledging-to-take-care-of-ourselves/">National Women’s Health Week: Pledging to Take Care of Ourselves</a>- Ann Rose Greenberg, Marketing Coordinator, Jewish Women International</p> <p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/womens-health-week_b_1516030.html">Celebrating Women’s Health Week as a Grandmother</a>- Nancy K. Kaufman, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women</p> <p><a href="http://hervotes.org/2012/05/15/get-your-womens-health-checkup-today-its-covered/" target="_blank">Get your women’s health checkup today. It’s covered!</a>- Lois Uttley, Co-Founder, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need</p> <p><a href="http://www.lwv.org/blog/league-recognizes-national-women%E2%80%99s-health-week" target="_blank">League Recognizes National Women’s Health Week</a>- Stephanie, League of Women Voters</p> <p><em><a href="http://www.hervotes.org/" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a>, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the <em>major advances of the </em>women’s movement, many of which are at risk in the next <a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/17/hervotes-blog-carnival-national-womens-health-week/#" style="text-decoration:underline" id="_GPLITA_2" title="Powered by Text-Enhance">election</a>.</em></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-66003691734246144932012-04-23T17:52:00.014-04:002012-04-25T18:11:35.067-04:00HERvotes Blog Carnival: Tell Congress to Reauthorize VAWA<em>by Eleanor Smeal, </em><a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/wp-admin/feminist.org" target="_blank"><em>Feminist Majority Foundation</em></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0CozYEo2BPXVVhFw1F9ktTpLjMzIyS_kl1VYfDUJwWjABIH2KzxfwmZI_0wkr3NnH4lGmQdD53VukXH-EycBpj6dwAD3WSHaYnZMRXAe2TUf5lzAr04qQDWMg1SxXmQENmx7PmhYZQU/s1600/VAWA.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 236px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 197px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5734718633866502610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0CozYEo2BPXVVhFw1F9ktTpLjMzIyS_kl1VYfDUJwWjABIH2KzxfwmZI_0wkr3NnH4lGmQdD53VukXH-EycBpj6dwAD3WSHaYnZMRXAe2TUf5lzAr04qQDWMg1SxXmQENmx7PmhYZQU/s320/VAWA.jpg" /></a>For the eleventh #HERvotes blog carnival, we’re joining together to urge the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).<br /><br />Domestic violence results in over two million injuries every year. Three women die every day in the United States as the result of domestic violence. Since the passage of VAWA in 1994, the rate of intimate partner violence has declined by 67%. VAWA provides services to victims of violence and has improved the criminal justice response to violence against women.<br /><br />VAWA expired December 31, 2011. Finally, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in February to move VAWA to the Senate floor. But the Senate committee vote was strictly on party lines – 10 Democratic members voting yes and 8 Republicans voting no.<br /><br />Now the VAWA Reauthorization will finally be voted on this week by the whole Senate. Currently, 61 Senators (53 Democrats and 8 Republicans) are co-sponsoring the Reauthorization. HERvotes is urging all Senators to vote yes. Eliminating violence against women is not… must not… be a partisan issue.<br /><br />HERvotes urges Congress to reauthorize this landmark legislation and extend VAWA’s lifesaving programs and services for another five years.<br /><br />Join us by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes), and other social media.<br /><br />Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 222px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 40px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5734718194190540658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEingcvAGwmFzN-iFdBE-tZreLzx3KQBzvytiMbFq1eQKf9VqZcdH8QDbCk5-2h8rmz6_mq3vWYwpbn00g-cOrlFbw9N84qPC3Y2yQGJffQBxjJF2hIFrjKlnWRoGcJ0K58E9ks37V48C6k/s320/HERvotes.jpg" /> <strong>Read More:</strong><br /><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/25/strengthening-violence-against-women-act" target="_blank">Strengthening the Violence Against Women Act</a>- Lynn Rosenthal, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women<br /><a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2012/04/25/why-the-violence-against-womens-act-impacts-to-college-women/" target="_blank">Why the Violence Against Women Act Impacts College Women</a>- Francesca Witcher, Feminist Majority Foundation<br /><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/04/24/vawa-furthers-homosexual-agenda-says-concerned-women-for-america/" _mce_href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/04/24/vawa-furthers-homosexual-agenda-says-concerned-women-for-america/">Group Opposes VAWA Because Act Helps Lesbians</a> -Ben Atherton-Zeman, Ms.<br /><a href="http://www.ywcablog.com/2012/04/24/senate-playing-politics-with-violence-against-women/" _mce_href="http://www.ywcablog.com/2012/04/24/senate-playing-politics-with-violence-against-women/">Why is the U.S. Senate is Playing Politics with Violence Against Women?</a>- Gloria Lau, YWCA USA<br /><a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/the-violence-against-women-act-fact-versus-fiction/" _mce_href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/the-violence-against-women-act-fact-versus-fiction/">The Violence Against Women Act: Fact vs. Fiction</a>- Miri Cypers, Jewish Women International<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/violence-against-women-act-2012_b_1339525.html" _mce_href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/violence-against-women-act-2012_b_1339525.html">The Struggle to End Violence Against Women Encounters a Road Block</a>-Nancy K. Kaufman, National Council of Jewish Women<br /><a href="http://www.now.org/issues/media/hall-of-shame/index.php/violence-against-women/newsweek-glamorizes-women-s-submission" _mce_href="http://www.now.org/issues/media/hall-of-shame/index.php/violence-against-women/newsweek-glamorizes-women-s-submission">Newsweek Glamorizes Women's Submission</a>-Lisa Bennett, NOW<br /><a href="http://hervotes.org/2012/04/24/congress-rocking-back-the-clock-for-women/" target="_blank" _mce_href="http://hervotes.org/2012/04/24/congress-rocking-back-the-clock-for-women/">Congress Rocking Back the Clock for Women</a>- Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women<br /><a href="http://wow-blog.org/2012/04/24/vawa-reauthorization-and-economic-security-for-survivors/#more-722" target="_blank" _mce_href="http://wow-blog.org/2012/04/24/vawa-reauthorization-and-economic-security-for-survivors/#more-722">VAWA Reauthorization and Economic Security for Survivors</a>- Sarah Gonzalez Bocinski, Wider Opportunities for Women<br /><br /><strong>Read our Previous Posts:<br /></strong><a href="http://www.abanow.org/2012/02/a-critical-tool-to-save-lives-vawa/" target="_blank">A Critical Tool to Save Lives: VAWA</a> -Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III, American Bar Association<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/02/03/violence-is-a-cycle-we-must-reauthorize-vawa/" target="_blank">Violence Is a Cycle: We Must Reauthorize VAWA</a> -John Roach, Break the Cycle<br /><a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2012/02/06/calling-for-the-reauthorization-of-vawa/" target="_blank">Calling for the Reauthorization of VAWA</a>- Brandi Callaghan, Feminist Majority Foundation<br /><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/immigration-intimate-partner-violence-and-the-violence-against-women-act/" target="_blank">Immigration, Intimate Partner Violence, and the Violence Against Women Act</a> -Anjela Jenkins, Law Students for Reproductive Justice Fellow, blogging for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-bork/teen-dating-violence_b_1247773.html" target="_blank">Teen Dating Violence</a> -Christine Bork, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/02/02/hey-congress-how-about-giving-half-the-population-some-love/" target="_blank">Hey Congress, How About Giving Half the Population Some Love?</a> -Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women<br /><a href="http://www.blackwomenshealth.org/news/2012/01/31/womens-health-news-internal/hervotes-blog-carnival-violence-against-women-act/" target="_blank">“It’s a Good Time To Be a Black Woman? Well, Not So Good When It Comes To Violence”</a>- Angela Sutton, Black Women’s Health Imperative<br /><a href="http://nwpcblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/combating-domestic-violence-call-to.html" target="_blank">Combating Domestic Violence: A Call to Reauthorize VAWA</a>- Mallen Urso, National Women’s Political Caucus<br /><a href="http://www.ncjw.org/insider/client/index.cfm/2012/1/31/Taking-the-Violence-Against-Women-Act-to-Higher-Ground#more" target="_blank">Taking the Violence Against Women Act to Higher Ground</a>- Emily Alfano, NCJW<br /><a href="http://blog-aauw.org/2012/01/31/reauthorize-vawa-now/" target="_blank">Tell Your Senator to Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act Now- </a>Elizabeth Owens, AAUW<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/why-vawa-is-a-queer-issue/" target="_blank">Why VAWA is a Queer Issue-</a> Terra Slavin, L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and Sharon Stapel, New York City Anti-Violence Project<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/universities-should-support-vawa/" target="_blank">Universities Should Support VAWA-</a> Melissa Siegel, loveisrespect.org National Youth Advisory Board<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/students-against-datingdomestic-abuse/" target="_blank">Students Against Dating/Domestic Abuse</a>- Sara Skavroneck, loveisrespect.org National Youth Advisory Board<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/loveisrespect-org-national-youth-advisory-board-against-violence/" target="_blank">Loveisrespect.org- National Youth Advisory Board Against Dating Violence</a>- Kevin Mauro, loveisrespect.org National Youth Advisory Board<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/teenage-dating-violence-and-vawa/" target="_blank">Teenage Dating Violence and VAWA</a>- Nikki Desario, loveisrespect.org National Youth Advisory Board<br /><a href="http://youngwomenmisbehavin.com/2012/01/31/joining-forces-women-veterans-speak-out-the-trenches-remembered/" target="_blank">Joining Forces – Women Veterans Speak Out: The Trenches, Remembered</a>- Joan Grey, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation<br /><a href="http://www.socialworkblog.org/advocacy/2012/01/violence-against-women-act-up-for-reauthorization/" target="_blank">Violence Against Women Act up for Reauthorization</a>- National Association of Social Workers<br /><a href="http://elfladyschronicles.blogspot.com/2012/01/wake-up-people-domestic-violence-is.html" target="_blank">Wake up, People! Domestic Violence is an Epidemic!</a>- Donna Pantry, Elf Lady’s Chronicles<br /><a href="http://wowonline.org/HowEconomicInsecurityEnablesAbuse.asp" target="_blank">Recession and Women: How Economic Insecurity Enables Abuse</a>- Donna Addkison’s, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW)<br /><a href="http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/2012/01/30/more-bipartisan-support-needed-for-violence-against-women-act" target="_blank">More Bipartisan Support Needed for Violence Against Women Act</a>- Terry O’Neill, Say It Sister- NOW’s Blog for EqualityFeminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-51975955243332700572012-03-20T12:22:00.012-04:002012-03-26T14:38:17.111-04:00HERvotes Blog Carnival: What Health-Care Reform Means to Women<em>By Cindy Pearson, co-founder of </em><a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/" target="_blank"><em>Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need</em></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKRDaVkBMVGVRWtHn9LFbmlJAuC78ZRF98xp-adUKWQm3n1gFN8dc4NMpmbyPCCulxaVOPeeeoEXpHrb-CqyV5I6IbWrB5AD0Ngo8pPAIliKNu7hAqMX3XiEvkp0LtWwopAUG4DXfwhQ/s1600/Pres+Obama+Signing+Affordable+Care+Act.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 203px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721986955105465362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKRDaVkBMVGVRWtHn9LFbmlJAuC78ZRF98xp-adUKWQm3n1gFN8dc4NMpmbyPCCulxaVOPeeeoEXpHrb-CqyV5I6IbWrB5AD0Ngo8pPAIliKNu7hAqMX3XiEvkp0LtWwopAUG4DXfwhQ/s320/Pres+Obama+Signing+Affordable+Care+Act.jpg" /></a>For the tenth <a href="http://hervotes.org/" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival, we’re celebrating the second anniversary of the new health-reform law, the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.<br /><br />Why are women so excited about the ACA? Well, for a start, the law <a href="http://www.countdowntocoverage.org/" target="_blank">has already started</a> removing barriers to health care and improving services for <a href="http://www.nationalpartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_health_reform_anniversary" target="_blank">millions of women</a> and our families, helping us access the care we need to stay healthy.<br /><br />This week’s #HERvotes blog carnival is going to raise women’s voices all across the country. We will tell our stories of how the Affordable Care Act has helped us, what is still wrong with our health care system and what we’re doing to make a difference. We will express our anger about the insurance company abuses–such as charging us more than men for our health insurance–that will continue until the ACA is fully implemented. And perhaps most importantly, we’ll share why this important advance for women should be upheld by the Supreme Court when it <a href="http://floridaindependent.com/73226/supreme-court-to-start-hearing-floridas-challenge-to-health-care-reform-this-week" target="_blank">takes up the Affordable Care Act</a> next week.<br /><br />Please join us in lifting our voices–because we all have something to gain from the Affordable Care Act.<br /><br />You can participate by telling your own story and by sharing the posts below on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/#%21/hervotes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> (using the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search/%23HERVotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a>) and other social media.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.org/" target="_blank"><em>#HERvotes</em></a><em>, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the women’s movement’s major advances, many of which are at risk in the next election.<br /></em><br /><br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 222px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 40px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721987502780012466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdlPEElNyT3w20ilt6PfrhXAcylZyMe8TGkE7LEdEUvaDLskeoBlBl6cc6rPXacjfTRzOk-MXVFppsZLhgp27ehdLXUVezWpA_In0YpWCnfP5tV2-G-Y46TC7h9LWwsJN_gGRG2czLtg/s320/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" /> <strong>Read more</strong>:<a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/20-days-of-aca-health-insurance-access-for-young-latina-adults/" target="_blank"><br /></a><a href="http://napawf.org/2012/03/as-aca-faces-a-supreme-court-challenge-who-is-at-stake/" target="_blank">As ACA Faces a Supreme Court Challenge, Who Is at Stake?</a>- Shivana Jorawar, NAPAWF<br /><a href="http://standupforhealthcare.tumblr.com/">Stand Up For Health Care Tumblr</a>- NARAL Pro-Choice America<br /><a href="http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/index.php/2012/03/10-things-to-love-about-aca-2/">10 Things to LOVE About the Affordable Care Act</a>- Debra Ness, National Partnership for Women and Families<br /><a href="http://familyvaluesatwork.org/media-center/celebrate-second-anniversary-of-affordable-care-act">Celebrate Second Anniversary of Affordable Care Act</a>- Family Values @ Work<br /><a href="http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/03/21/hope-health-care-equality">The Affordable Care Act: Hope for Health Care Equality For All</a>- Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health via RHRealityCheck<br /><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/20-days-of-aca-health-insurance-access-for-young-latina-adults/" target="_blank">Health Insurance Access for Young Latina Adults - </a>National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<br /><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/20-days-of-aca-health-reform-to-expand-reach-of-community-health-centers/" target="_blank">Health Reform to Expand Reach of Community Health Centers</a>- National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<br /><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/20-days-of-aca-no-co-pay-for-pregnancy-care-is-good-for-latina-moms-and-babies/" target="_blank">No Co-pay for Pregnancy Care is Good for Latina Moms and Babies</a> - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/20-days-of-aca-medicaid-to-serve-6-million-more-latins/" target="_blank"><br />Medicaid to Service 6 Million More</a> - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/20-days-of-aca-prevention-saves-latinas-lives/" target="_blank"><br />Prevention Saves Latinas' Lives</a> - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/20-days-of-aca-insurance-protection-for-latinas-with-pre-existing-conditions/" target="_blank"><br />Insurance protections for Latinas' with Pre-Existing Conditions </a>- National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/20-days-of-aca-cervical-cancer-prevention-for-latinas/" target="_blank"><br />Cervical Cancer Prevention for Latinas -</a> National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/20-days-of-aca-no-co-pays-for-stihiv-testing/" target="_blank"><br />No Co-Pays for STI/HIV Testing</a> - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/20-days-of-aca-showing-love-for-women-mothers-and-babies/" target="_blank"><br />Showing love for women, mothers and Babies - </a>National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<br /><a href="http://www.ywcablog.com/2012/03/20/the-affordable-care-act-turns-2-no-baby-step-for-women/" target="_blank">The Affordable Care Act Turns 2 – No Baby Step for Women</a>- Gloria Lau, YWCA USA<br /><a href="http://oursilverribbon.org/blog/?p=652" target="_blank">Why It's Time for Women's Rights</a>- Sophia Yen and Ellen Shaffer, Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign<br /><a href="http://www.womenarewatching.org/article/20-million-women-and-countingtwo-years-of-the-affordable-care-act" _mce_href="http://www.womenarewatching.org/article/20-million-women-and-countingtwo-years-of-the-affordable-care-act">20 Million Women and Counting ...Two Years of the Affordable Care Act</a>- Jacqueline M., Planned Parenthood Action Fund<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/thank-you-aca-protecting-our-country%E2%80%99s-well-being-protecting-students" target="_blank">Thank you, ACA: Protecting Our Country’s Well-being by Protecting Students</a>- Andrea Alajbegovic, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/new-options-those-chronic-illness" target="_blank">New Options for Those with Chronic Illness</a>- Dania Palanker, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://blogs.rj.org/rac/2012/03/20/affordable-care-act/" target="_blank">Affordable Care Act: A Necessity for Women's Health</a>- Katharine Nasielski, Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/how-aca-helping-my-family" target="_blank">How the ACA is Helping My Family</a>- Sarah Robinson, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/limbo-college-graduate" target="_blank">The Limbo of a College Graduate</a>- Brittany Papalia, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://nwpcblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/preventative-care-protect-affordable.html" target="_blank">Preventative Care: Protect the Affordable Care Act</a>- Mallen Urso, National Women's Political Caucus<br /><a href="http://www.ncjw.org/insider/client/index.cfm/2012/3/20/Why-I-Support-the-Health-Care-Law">Why I Support the Health Care Law</a>- Amy Cotton, National Council of Jewish Women<br /><a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/rwv-hervotes-campaign" target="_blank">Where Would Women be Today without the Landmark Programs that were Enacted Over the Last 45 Years to Protect and Advance Women’s Health?</a>- Raising Women's Voices<br /><a href="http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/2012/03/20/the-impact-of-the-aca-on-one-young-woman" target="_blank">The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on One Young Woman</a>- Lindsay Yancich, NOW<br /><a href="http://blog-aauw.org/2012/03/20/we-need-affordable-care/" target="_blank">Why We Need the Affordable Care Act-</a> Julie Seger, AAUW<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-keenan/healthcare-supreme-court_b_1364777.html" target="_blank">Healthcare Stories the Supreme Court Needs to Read</a>- Nancy Keenan, NARAL Pro-Choice America<br /><a href="http://www.blogforchoice.com/archives/2012/03/todays-story-on.html" target="_blank">Today's Story on How Health Reform Helps Women</a>- NARAL's Blog for Choice<br /><a href="http://youngwomenmisbehavin.com/2012/03/20/hervotes-blog-carnival-gen-y-women-benefit-from-the-affordable-health-care-act/" target="_blank">HERvotes Blog Carnival: Gen Y Women Benefit from the Affordable Health Care Act- </a>Business and Professional Women's Foundation<a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/celebrating-the-2nd-anniversary-of-the-affordable-care-act-a-momsrising-member-stories-blog-carnival/" target="_blank"></a><br /><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/celebrating-the-2nd-anniversary-of-the-affordable-care-act-a-momsrising-member-stories-blog-carnival/" target="_blank">Celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act!-</a> Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, MomsRising<br /><a href="http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/AFY_Sarah/2012/3/20/2-Year-Anniversary-of-the-Affordable-Care-ActWhats-In-It-for-Young-People" target="_blank">2 Year Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act-What’s In It for Young People?-</a> Sarah Audelo, Advocates for Youth<br /><a href="http://www.socialworkblog.org/advocacy/2012/03/the-affordable-care-act-and-womens-health/" target="_blank">The Affordable Care Act and Women’s Health</a>- National Association of Social Workers<br /><a href="http://genpol.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Health Reform: Winning for Women</a>- Tara Mancini, WIN's Women’s Health Policy Network<br /><a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/two-years-later-reflections-on-the-landmark-health-care-law/" target="_blank">Two Years Later, Reflections on the Landmark Health Care Law,</a> Miri Cypers, Jewish Women International<br /><a href="http://www.blogforchoice.com/archives/2012/03/real-stories-on.html" target="_blank">Real Stories on Why Health-Care Reform Helps Women</a>,Thomas Dollar, NARAL Pro-Choice America *updated daily*<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.org/" target="_blank"></a><br /><em>Photo of Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, from Wikimedia Commons.</em></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-80066902075581077072012-03-20T10:13:00.000-04:002012-03-20T12:20:31.759-04:00Two Years Later, Reflections on the Landmark Health Care Law<em>by Miri Cypers, </em><a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/"><em>JWI</em></a><em> Senior Policy and Advocacy Specialist</em> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WLNQqM-pvtWLAKU0DDwbngnqNCjGoPD1S4G4m7uS0Rb6r-xZn9qNX_jIkpoDSot62WJ0uT5Y4jY4MwKBYXAn9dkITaCOnPSqv0t5CeHwZ6zEMvbKMWJ2QqnaTc-rbBfVBJ8BN8qDJa8/s1600/health+insurance.bmp"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 173px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722014407927336578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WLNQqM-pvtWLAKU0DDwbngnqNCjGoPD1S4G4m7uS0Rb6r-xZn9qNX_jIkpoDSot62WJ0uT5Y4jY4MwKBYXAn9dkITaCOnPSqv0t5CeHwZ6zEMvbKMWJ2QqnaTc-rbBfVBJ8BN8qDJa8/s320/health+insurance.bmp" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div>Two years ago this week, Congress voted in support of the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview#healthcare-menu">Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act</a>, the landmark health care reform bill, and sent the legislation to President Obama’s desk to sign. This came after months of heated debate in Washington DC and throughout the nation which showcased the complex and often vitriolic nature of the political landscape in the United States. Ultimately, the passage of this historic bill affirmed the right of every American to quality, affordable health coverage and served as an especially important victory for women and their families.<br />So what gains has the Affordable Care Act made since its passage two years ago? Now, over 20 million women across the U.S. have received preventive health care services, from mammograms to colonoscopies, without co-pays. Soon, this coverage will include other critical preventive health care services, like well-women visits, contraception, and domestic violence screenings- all available without additional costs to women. Now, 2.5 million young adults are insured because of the health care law which allows them to stay on their parents’ insurance plan until the age of 26. Now, nearly 500,000 Americans who were denied coverage have insurance. The list goes on and on.<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/resource/how-affordable-care-act-helps-women">Women are already benefitting from the ACA and these positive trends will only continue</a>. As women and as activists, we must continue to protect this historic law by dispelling myths and staying informed and active advocates. The health care law is a tremendous achievement for women and their families and despite strong opposition, we will not turn back now.</div><br /><br /><br /><div><em>Cross-posted with <a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/two-years-later-reflections-on-the-landmark-health-care-law/">Jewish Women International</a></em></div><br /><br /><br /><div><em>Part of the <a onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes']);" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.<br /><a onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.hervotes.org/']);" href="http://www.hervotes.org/" target="_blank"></a></em></div><br /><a href="http://hervotes.org/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 222px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 40px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722013887132139986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqsfU18rv2A4zcCEYxqruTyjGTxPcb9JH7ki01y-axVYvQyNEIjcREAXgGPENFWfqJlEeIxGWgDRugcTkNXRrNoESO_bXGD6DKLinXP5HRkK1qPB309hmTNbnhzKkFYcsS92Xv4bpSVE/s320/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" /></a> </div></div>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-47044556372169071472012-01-31T16:49:00.011-05:002012-02-21T16:14:17.108-05:00HERvotes Blog Carnival: No Religious Exemption for Birth Control Coverage<em>by Kim Gandy, Feminist Majority Foundation<br /></em><br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 196px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703918107638026690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqcF-h5UK7lqgGUWydnq74T8ZZJoerBd1GEHSa98XGZqwiOJ5Kv9IB7tQ1IQAPuEAZ7tzJrOk-qxg_x3meLkbr_gsbTICG27Zaf47Vis8kDRBi3VKI-fq-1Ho85hur8UJBJE7FC0MtuM/s320/pills.jpg" />Despite enormous pressure from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Obama Administration recently decided not to broaden the religious exemption for contraceptive coverage under the Preventive Care package of the Affordable Care Act. This demand for additional exemptions, would have denied millions of American women contraceptive coverage, including students, teachers, nurses, social workers, and other staff (and their families) at religiously-connected or affiliated schools, universities, and hospitals, as well as agencies and institutions like Catholic Charities.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>The Catholic Bishops are now leading a backlash against this decision, and women are speaking out. Because of the Affordable Care Act, millions of women who may have been denied access to birth control will now have full access under their health insurance plan, with no co-pays or deductibles, beginning in August 2012. Birth control is the number one prescription drug for women ages 18 to 44 years. Right now, the average woman has to pay up to $50 per month for 30 years for birth control. As a result, many women have had to forgo regular use of birth control and half of US pregnancies are unplanned.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Women of all faiths are employed by hospitals and schools that are owned by religious interests, and they should not be denied equal health care coverage. We urge the Obama Administration to continue to stand strong for women’s health care.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Join us by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes), and other social media.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 222px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 40px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703917404680190130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj18ytehj7uiBqmyUi_aC9PETsEwLBEaBUgmZK6NH2ZZRMmVyBOsr8o5vLkNLnQo1OuocvdKX1kGCi8nc03qP6-HGvF2drCXYY_qte39xtXiwFX7NP7YFd0ibzd4-O2irzXuppX7A6H66A/s320/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><strong>Take Action: </strong></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><strong><br /></strong>Join the <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1400/letter/?letter_KEY=1418" target="_blank">Feminist Majority Foundation in chastising</a> the Washington Post for repeatedly running editorials attacking the Obama administration’s decision.<br />Join <a href="http://action.nwlc.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=13360&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&autologin=true">The National Women's Law Center</a> and <a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/contracpt-is-preventn-thankyou">Raising Women's Voices</a> in thanking Kathleen Sebelius for making the right decision.<br />Join <a href="http://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/thank_you_obama/">UltraViolet</a> in thanking President Obama and Secretary Sebelius.<br /><a href="https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#%21/petition/stand-strong-support-new-no-cost-birth-control-policy/HM8jg7Y4" target="_blank">Thank</a> the Obama administration directly on WhiteHouse.gov.<br />Join the <a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5734/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9522">National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health</a> in telling President Obama you support birth control without co-pays.<br />Join The <a href="https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=745" target="_blank">National Women's Law Center</a> in telling your senator to reject extreme legislation.<br />Join The <a href="http://www.cluw.org/" target="_blank">Coalition of Labor Union Women</a> in telling the Senate that you oppose S.2043.<br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><strong>Read More</strong></p><br /><p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-rowefinkbeiner/sex-contraception-motherh_b_1290013.html" target="_blank">Sex, Contraception, Motherhood & The Current Madness </a>- Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Mom's Rising</p><a href="http://www.newdeal20.org/2012/02/14/the-long-history-of-the-war-against-contraception-71990/" target="_blank">The Long History of the War Against Contraception-</a> Ellen Chesler, New Deal 2.0<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/2012/02/14/five-big-facts-on-birth-control-not-nearly-enough-discussed-by-men-in-the-mainstream-media" target="_blank">Five Big Facts on Birth Control Not Nearly Enough Discussed by Men in the Mainstream Media</a>- Erin Matson, NOW</p><br /><br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/congressional-members%E2%80%99-statements-contraceptive-coverage-rule-not-based-fact" target="_blank">Congressional Members’ Statements on Contraceptive Coverage Rule Not Based in Fact</a>- Mara Gandal-Powers, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.ncjw.org/insider/client/index.cfm/2012/2/8/Mission-Accomplished-With-Komen-Now-Its-Time-to-Save-Birth-Control-Coverage" target="_blank">Mission Accomplished With Komen: Now It's Time to Save Birth Control Coverage!</a>- Sammie Moshenberg, National Council of Jewish Women<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/protect-womens-health-tell-your-senators-reject-extreme-legislation" target="_blank">Protect Women's Health: Tell Your Senators to Reject Extreme Legislation</a>- Judy Waxman, National Women's Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.fem2pt0.com/2012/02/13/i-dont-use-birth-control-but-i-want-access-to-it/" target="_blank">I Don’t Use Birth Control, But I Want Access To It</a>- Abigail Collazo, Fem 2.0<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/this-weeks-attack-on-women-deny-contraceptives-take-action/" target="_blank">This Week’s Attack on Women: Deny Contraceptives! Take Action!!</a>- Carolyn Jacobson and Carol S. Rosenblatt, Coalition of Labor Union Women<br /><a href="http://www.blogforchoice.com/archives/2012/02/would-you-like.html" target="_blank">Would You Like an Unplanned Pregnancy with that Burrito?</a>- Jen Wang, NARAL's Blog for Choice<br /><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/02/08/hervotes-boehner-ups-the-threat-against-contraception-coverage/">HERvotes: Boehner Ups the Threat Against Contraception Coverage</a>- Ms. Blog<br /><a href="http://oursilverribbon.org/blog/?p=668">Do Republicans Have Sex?</a>- Silver Ribbon Campaign<br /><a href="http://www.religiousinstitute.org/sites/default/files/press_releases/major-mainstream-religious-leaders-support-white-house-on-contraceptive-coverage-in-health-care-refo.pdf">Major Mainstream Religious Leaders Support White House on Contraceptive Coverage In Health Care Reform</a>- Religious Institute<br /><a href="http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/AFY_Sarah" target="_blank">The Fight Millennials Never Expected: Birth Control</a>- Sarah, Advocates for Youth<br /><a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/rwv-hervotes-campaign/2012/2/8/an-unholy-alliance-between-the-bishops-and-the-right-wing-at.html" target="_blank">An Unholy Alliance Between the Bishops and the Right-Wing Attack Machine</a>- Amy Allina, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need, National Women’s Health Network<br /><a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/an-equal-just-world-a-womans-right-to-control-her-own-reproductive-health/" target="_blank">An Equal & Just World: A Woman’s Right to Control Her Own Reproductive Health</a>- Hannah Sherman, Jewish Women International<br /><a href="http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Margaret and Helen on the Issues</a>- Margaret and Helen<br /><a href="http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/news/op-eds/2012/ReligiousfreedomCatholicbishops.asp">Religious Freedom in the Crosshairs of Catholic Bishops</a>- Catholics for Choice<br /><a href="http://nwpcblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/co-pay-for-birth-control-not-under-my.html" target="_blank">Co-Pay for Birth Control? Not Under my Conscience Clause</a>- Bettina Hager, National Women's Political Caucus<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/select-media-coverage-catholics-supporting-contraceptive-coverage-under-the-aca/" target="_blank">Select Media Coverage: Catholics Supporting Contraceptive Coverage Under the ACA</a>- Complied by Catholics for Choice<br /><a href="http://www.womenarewatching.org/article/seven-things-you-and-the-media-need-to-know-about-birth-control-" target="_blank">Seven Things You (and the Media) Need to Know about Birth Control</a> -Jacqueline M., Planned Parenthood Action Fund's Women Are Watching Blog<br /><a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/02/01/2974528/obamas-contraception-exemption.html" target="_blank">Obama's contraception exemption puts my patients at risk</a> -Dr. Jennifer H. Tang, <a href="http://www.prch.org/" target="_blank">Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health</a>; Letter to the Editor, The Charlotte Observer<br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/letters/story/2011-12-01/contraception-mandate-health-reform/51555114/1?loc=interstitialskip">Contraception mandate doesn't force use</a> -Bernice Durbin, Letter to the Editor, USA Today<br /><a href="http://prch.org/insurance-coverage-birth-control-and-women-employed-religious-institutions">Why All Employers Should Provide Insurance Coverage for Birth Control</a> -Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health<br /><a href="http://reporepro.lsrj.org/2012/02/03/delays-and-barriers-to-accessing-bc-at-georgetown/">Delays and Barriers to Accessing BC at Georgetown</a> -Sandra Fluke, Georgetown University Law Students for Reproductive Justice<br /><a href="http://reporepro.lsrj.org/2012/02/03/how-to-host-a-birth-control-clinic-in-3-easy-steps/">How to Host a Birth Control Clinic in 3 Easy Steps</a> -Emily T. Wolf, Fordham Law Students for Reproductive Justice<br /><a href="http://womenslawproject.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/obama-administration-ensures-a-wide-range-of-contraceptive-insurance-coverage-even-at-religiously-affiliated-institutions/">Obama Administration Ensures a Wide Range of Contraceptive Insurance Coverage, Even at Religiously-Affiliated Institutions</a> -Women's Law Project<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/birth-control_b_1245143.html" target="_blank">Birth Control and Government: The Right of Refusal Should Belong to Women </a>-Nancy K. Kaufman, National Council of Jewish Women<br /><a href="http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/index.php/2012/02/through-the-looking-glass/">Through the Looking Glass on Contraception Coverage</a> -Debra Ness, National Partnership for Women & Families<br /><a href="http://profaithandprochoice.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/for-the-sisters/">For the Sisters</a> -Megan Lieff, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice<br /><a href="http://rwwv.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/thank-you-obama-standing-with-all-wome/">Thank you, Obama, For Standing with ALL Women on Important Health Care Issues</a> -Lacy Langbecker, the Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nita-chaudhary/kathleen-sebelius-plan-b_b_1241653.html">Birth Control Matters</a> -Nita Chaudhary and Shaunna Thomas, UltraViolet<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/would-you-let-someone-make-your-contraceptive-decisions-you-didn%E2%80%99t-think-so" target="_blank">Would you let someone make your contraceptive decisions for you? Didn’t think so</a> -Mara Gandal-Powers, National Women’s Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/highs-and-lows-birth-control-access-coverage" target="_blank">The Highs and Lows on Birth Control Access Coverage</a> -Stephanie Drahan, National Women’s Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/hey-media-it%E2%80%99s-about-health-women-and-families" target="_blank">Hey Media: It’s about the Health of Women and Families</a> -Leila Abolfazli, National Women’s Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/women-childbearing-age-take-your-talents-elsewhere" target="_blank">Women of Childbearing Age: Take Your Talents Elsewhere</a> -Jill C. Morrison, National Women’s Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/my-health-not-pork-chop" target="_blank">My Health Is Not a Pork Chop</a> -Dania Palanker, National Women’s Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/rwv-hervotes-campaign/2012/2/2/single-18-year-old-female-desperately-seeking-affordable-and.html" target="_blank">Single 18 year-old female. Desperately seeking affordable and accessible contraception.</a> – Keely Monroe, National Women’s Health Network<br /><a href="http://www.socialworkblog.org/advocacy/2012/02/nasw-supports-hhs-decision-on-womens-rights/" target="_blank">NASW Supports HHS Decision on Women’s Rights</a> -National Association of Social Workers<br /><a href="http://nwpcblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/fight-against-catholic-attack-on.html" target="_blank">Fight Against the Catholic Attack on Preventative Healthcare for Women</a> -Mallen Urso, National Women’s Political Caucus<br /><a href="http://reporepro.lsrj.org/2012/02/01/the-impact-of-a-religious-exemption-for-birth-control-to-university-students/" target="_blank">The Impact of a Religious Exemption for Birth Control to University Students</a> – Emily T. Wolf, Fordham Law Students for Reproductive Justice<br /><a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/rwv-hervotes-campaign/2012/2/1/were-not-giving-up.html" target="_blank">We’re Not Giving Up!</a> – Amy Allina, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need, National Women’s Health Network<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/maryland-women-have-a-right-to-birth-control/" target="_blank">Maryland Women Have a Right to Birth Control</a>- Leni Preston, Maryland Women’s Coalition for Health Care<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-d-greenberger/plan-b-obama-sebelius_b_1247222.html" target="_blank">Critics Get It Wrong on Contraceptive Coverage</a>- Marcia D. Greenberger, National Women’s Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/one-more-time%E2%80%A6" target="_blank">One More Time…</a>- Jill Morrison, National Women’s Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/breaking-news-access-no-cost-birth-control-secured" target="_blank">Breaking News: Access to No-Cost Birth Control Secured</a>- Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center<br /><a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/raisingwomensvoices-blog/" target="_blank">What Difference does a Co-Pay Make? Plenty!</a>- Cindy Pearson, Raising Women’s Voices<br /><a href="http://npalliance.org/blog/2012/01/26/the-greatest-advance-for-women-in-a-generation/" target="_blank">The Greatest Advance for Women in a Generation-</a> Jean Silver-Isenstadt, MD, PhD, National Physicians Alliance<br /><a href="http://www.blogforchoice.com/archives/2012/01/fail-on-birth-c.html" target="_blank">#Fail on Birth Control from The Washington Post</a>- Thomas Dollar, NARAL Pro-Choice America<br /><a href="http://www.blogforchoice.com/archives/2012/01/response-to-was.html" target="_blank">Response to Washington Post Criticism of Contraceptive Coverage</a>- Nancy Keenan, NARAL Pro-Choice America</p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-80111946085584619252012-01-31T11:14:00.007-05:002012-02-14T14:46:58.611-05:00HERvotes Blog Carnival: Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act<em>by Emily Alfano, National Council of Jewish Women</em><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNyIo4dXXRQ2bXU25IklDwZ1rS9_EDOsow2Vt71MYJdQt8AENBh8o_l39dNqLXRkmQA_XDqpAncRhu2Iin_yVwuXbWYICQu33JWGgW1hV5PblXifNyk_C9WOp2wVauGCuKqDok-28k0SI/s1600/Landing+Page.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 287px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703830869880985090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNyIo4dXXRQ2bXU25IklDwZ1rS9_EDOsow2Vt71MYJdQt8AENBh8o_l39dNqLXRkmQA_XDqpAncRhu2Iin_yVwuXbWYICQu33JWGgW1hV5PblXifNyk_C9WOp2wVauGCuKqDok-28k0SI/s320/Landing+Page.jpg" /></a>For the eighth #HERvotes blog carnival, our coalition of women's groups is joining forces for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey found alarming rates of sexual violence, stalking, and domestic violence. One in 4 U.S. women has been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner, and nearly 1 in 5 has been raped in her lifetime.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider legislation that would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the largest policy effort aimed at responding to and preventing these crimes. First passed in 1994, VAWA supports comprehensive, cost-saving responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. Since its passage in 1994, more victims report domestic violence to the police and the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence against women has decreased by 53 percent.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>HERvotes supports VAWA’s lifesaving programs and services and urges Congress to reauthorize and improve VAWA’s critical programs for five more years.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Let’s spread the word and make sure Congress hears our voices.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Join us by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes), and other social media.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em><em><em></em><br /></em></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" alt="" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" width="222" height="40" /></a><strong></strong></p><br /><br /><p><br /><strong>Take Action:<br /></strong><a href="http://action.now.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5338" target="_blank">National Organization for Women</a> petition to Congress</p><br /><br /><p><br /><strong>Read more: </strong></p><br /><p><a href="http://www.abanow.org/2012/02/a-critical-tool-to-save-lives-vawa/" target="_blank">A Critical Tool to Save Lives: VAWA</a> -Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III, American Bar Association<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/02/03/violence-is-a-cycle-we-must-reauthorize-vawa/" target="_blank">Violence Is a Cycle: We Must Reauthorize VAWA</a> -John Roach, Break the Cycle<br /><a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2012/02/06/calling-for-the-reauthorization-of-vawa/" target="_blank">Calling for the Reauthorization of VAWA</a>- Brandi Callaghan, Feminist Majority Foundation<br /><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/immigration-intimate-partner-violence-and-the-violence-against-women-act/" target="_blank">Immigration, Intimate Partner Violence, and the Violence Against Women Act</a> -Anjela Jenkins, Law Students for Reproductive Justice Fellow, blogging for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-bork/teen-dating-violence_b_1247773.html" target="_blank">Teen Dating Violence</a> -Christine Bork, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/02/02/hey-congress-how-about-giving-half-the-population-some-love/" target="_blank">Hey Congress, How About Giving Half the Population Some Love?</a> -Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women<br /><a href="http://www.blackwomenshealth.org/news/2012/01/31/womens-health-news-internal/hervotes-blog-carnival-violence-against-women-act/" target="_blank">“It’s a Good Time To Be a Black Woman? Well, Not So Good When It Comes To Violence”</a>- Angela Sutton, Black Women’s Health Imperative<br /><a href="http://nwpcblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/combating-domestic-violence-call-to.html" target="_blank">Combating Domestic Violence: A Call to Reauthorize VAWA</a>- Mallen Urso, National Women’s Political Caucus<br /><a href="http://www.ncjw.org/insider/client/index.cfm/2012/1/31/Taking-the-Violence-Against-Women-Act-to-Higher-Ground#more" target="_blank">Taking the Violence Against Women Act to Higher Ground</a>- Emily Alfano, NCJW<br /><a href="http://blog-aauw.org/2012/01/31/reauthorize-vawa-now/" target="_blank">Tell Your Senator to Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act Now- </a>Elizabeth Owens, AAUW<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/why-vawa-is-a-queer-issue/" target="_blank">Why VAWA is a Queer Issue-</a> Terra Slavin, L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and Sharon Stapel, New York City Anti-Violence Project<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/universities-should-support-vawa/" target="_blank">Universities Should Support VAWA-</a> Melissa Siegel, loveisrespect.org National Youth Advisory Board<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/students-against-datingdomestic-abuse/" target="_blank">Students Against Dating/Domestic Abuse</a>- Sara Skavroneck, loveisrespect.org National Youth Advisory Board</p><br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/loveisrespect-org-national-youth-advisory-board-against-violence/" target="_blank">Loveisrespect.org- National Youth Advisory Board Against Dating Violence</a>- Kevin Mauro, loveisrespect.org National Youth Advisory Board<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2012/01/31/teenage-dating-violence-and-vawa/" target="_blank">Teenage Dating Violence and VAWA</a>- Nikki Desario, loveisrespect.org National Youth Advisory Board<br /><a href="http://youngwomenmisbehavin.com/2012/01/31/joining-forces-women-veterans-speak-out-the-trenches-remembered/" target="_blank">Joining Forces – Women Veterans Speak Out: The Trenches, Remembered</a>- Joan Grey, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation<br /><a href="http://www.socialworkblog.org/advocacy/2012/01/violence-against-women-act-up-for-reauthorization/" target="_blank">Violence Against Women Act up for Reauthorization</a>- National Association of Social Workers</p><br /><br /><p><a href="http://elfladyschronicles.blogspot.com/2012/01/wake-up-people-domestic-violence-is.html" target="_blank">Wake up, People! Domestic Violence is an Epidemic!</a>- Donna Pantry, Elf Lady's Chronicles</p><br /><br /><p><a href="http://wowonline.org/HowEconomicInsecurityEnablesAbuse.asp" target="_blank">Recession and Women: How Economic Insecurity Enables Abuse</a>- Donna Addkison’s, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW)</p><br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/2012/01/30/more-bipartisan-support-needed-for-violence-against-women-act" target="_blank">More Bipartisan Support Needed for Violence Against Women Act</a>- Terry O'Neill, Say It Sister- NOW’s Blog for Equality</p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-43249763198758140782011-12-08T15:44:00.006-05:002011-12-12T10:30:40.846-05:00HERvotes Blog Carnival: Protecting Unemployment Benefits<em>by Hannah Gordon, <em></em><em><a href="http://feminist.org/" target="_blank">Feminist Majority Foundation</a></em></em><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi043OnDLCstgW6NIkkgY2ABY_mBtyThb2giNkaB4pzX7KiCnFx0hAXDRqWvLjMhNhFPMKMmwSvDCdOh6D8mskCWurY1DTmIVFrMqRMQUe04TxFBvFphl9MZQCYycULmElVXPXwJdw0oTs/s1600/UI.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 406px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 280px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683801267375035378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi043OnDLCstgW6NIkkgY2ABY_mBtyThb2giNkaB4pzX7KiCnFx0hAXDRqWvLjMhNhFPMKMmwSvDCdOh6D8mskCWurY1DTmIVFrMqRMQUe04TxFBvFphl9MZQCYycULmElVXPXwJdw0oTs/s400/UI.jpg" /></a>Welcome to the seventh #HERvotes blog carnival on the need to protect women and employment during these tough economic times, with a focus on the importance of extending Unemployment Insurance (UI) before the December 31st deadline. <br /><p>It is critical that Congress acts before the end of this calendar year to renew federal UI. The loss of this lifeline will hurt over 6 million people and their families who stand to lose their benefits during 2012.</p><br /><p>If Congress fails to extend the benefits, women will suffer. According to Dr. Adriana Kugler, chief economist for the Department of Labor, 2.2 million women will lose their benefits if UI is not extended. Many others will be affected too, including 500,000 Latinos and 400,000 Latinas, 1.2 million African Americans (including 500,000 African American women), and millions of children.</p><br /><p>UI must be extended in order to protect American families. 1.8 million struggling families will be immediately kept afloat. This will have a positive impact on our overall economy too; studies show that every $1 spent on unemployment insurance stimulates $2 in growth in the U.S. economy.</p><br /><p>Extending unemployment insurance must be a vital priority for Congress. For many American families and many American women, the protection of their benefits is crucial.</p><br /><p><strong>Join us by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes), and other social media.</strong></p><br /><p>Let’s spread the word and make sure Congress hears our voices.</p><br /><p>The blog posts below include personal stories and more information on why unemployment insurance is critical. Happy reading and thanks for joining in the fight to protect women’s economic welfare.</p><br /><p><em>#HERvotes, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the women’s movement’s major advances, many of which are at risk in the next election. We are very excited HERvotes is growing in membership and reaching millions of people.</em></p><br /><p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em><em><em></em><br /></em></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img class="aligncenter" alt="" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" width="222" height="40" /></p><br /><p><a href="http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/index.php/2011/12/congress-must-protect-the-lifeline-women-and-families-depend-on/" target="_blank">Congress Must Protect the Lifeline Women and Families Depend On</a>- Vicki Shabo, National Partnership for Women and Families</p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-rowefinkbeiner/thanksgiving-poverty-unemployment-insurance_b_1111537.html" target="_blank">A Day Of Thanks & Of Aspiration: No Child Should Be Hungry On Thanksgiving, Or On Any Day</a> - Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Mom'sRising.org <br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/2011/12/08/no-time-for-games-extend-unemployment-insurance" target="_blank" _mce_href="http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/2011/12/08/no-time-for-games-extend-unemployment-insurance">No Time for Games: Extend Unemployment Insurance</a>- Katie Kopania, Say It Sister- NOW's Blog for Equality</p><br /><p><a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/the-cycle-of-abuse-and-financial-security/" target="_blank">The Cycle of Abuse and Financial Security</a>- Lauren Levine, Jewish Women International<span style="COLOR: rgb(136,136,136)"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/looking-jobs-don%E2%80%99t-exist-hard-work" target="_blank">Looking for Jobs that Don’t Exist Is Hard Work</a> - Anna McClure, National Women's Law Center</p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/latinas-call-on-congress-to-extend-unemployment-insurance-set-to-expire-on-dec-31/" target="_blank">Latinas call on Congress to Extend Unemployment Insurance Set to Expire on Dec 31</a>- Natalie D. Camastra, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health</p><br /><p><a href="http://hmprescott.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/hervotes-blog-carnival-extend-unemployment-insurance/" target="_blank">Extend Unemployment Insurance!</a>- Heather Munro Prescott, Knitting Clio</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.ncjw.org/insider/client/index.cfm/2011/12/8/At-the-Edge#more" target="_blank">At the Edge</a>-Emily Alfano, National Council of Jewish Women</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2011/12/08/women-and-families-need-unemployment-insurance-benefits-extended-now/" target="_blank">Women and Families Need Unemployment Benefits Extended Now!-</a> Carol Rosenblatt, Coalition of Labor Union Women</p><br /><p><a href="http://unemployedworkers.org/sites/unemployedworkers/index.php/site/stories/juli_from_wisconsin" target="_blank">I may lose my home because I can’t find work</a>- Juli from Wisconsin, unemployedworkers.org</p><br /><p><a href="http://sincitysiren.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/i-want-my-pay-equity/" target="_blank">I Want My Pay Equity</a>-Emmily Bristol, Sin City Siren</p><br /><p><a href="http://drenergy4u.blogspot.com/2011/12/as-part-of-hervotes-blog-carnival-on.html" target="_blank">Women and Unemployment</a>- Dren</p><br /><p><a href="http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/04/05/women-black-workers-hard-hit-by-attacks-on-public-employees/" target="_blank">Women, Black Workers Hard Hit By Attacks on Public Employees</a>- Tula Connell, AFL-CIO</p><br /><p><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/08/09/even-in-a-recession-flex-makes-dollars-and-sense/" target="_blank">Even in a Recession, Flex Makes (Dollars and) Sense</a>- Nanette Fondas, MomsRising.org</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/unemployment-insurance-in-the-1930s-and-today/">Unemployment Insurance in the 1930s and Today</a>- Michael J. Wilson</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/and-now-about-those-mega-rich-alleged-job-creators%E2%80%A6/">And Now, About Those Mega-Rich Alleged Job Creators…</a>- Lily Eskelsen, National Education Association</p><br /><p><a href="http://wp.me/p8U5Z-2Cd">Congress Should Act Now to Extend Unemployment Insurance</a>- Beth Scott, American Association of University Women</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.nclr.org/index.php/about_us/news/blog/the_99_and_our_homes/" target="_blank">The 99% and Our Homes</a>- Nancy Wilberg-Ricks, National Council of La Raza</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.iwpr.org/blog/2011/12/05/small-steps-forward-in-job-gains-but-not-enough-to-close-gender-gap/" target="_blank">Small Steps Forward in Job Gains, But Not Enough to Close Gender Gap</a>- Caroline Hopper<strong>, </strong>Institute for Women’s Policy Research<strong><br /></strong></p><br /><p><a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/12/squash_amash_march_planned_by.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+grpress+%28The+Grand+Rapids+Press+Latest+News+%7C+MLive.com%29" target="_blank">‘Squash Amash’ March Planned by Grand Rapids Group over Unemployment Benefits Debate</a>- Garret Ellison, mlive.com</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.unemployedwoman.com/2011/11/21/9220/" target="_blank">Unemployment and Taxes</a>- Andrew Brusnahan, UnemployedWoman.com</p><a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/10/12/unemployed-blogger-finds-humor-in-rich-poor-divide/" target="_blank">Unemployed Blogger Finds Humor In Rich/Poor Divide</a>- Claire Gordon, AOL.com <br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/i-am-%E2%80%98occupying%E2%80%99-d-c-for-my-children-and-future-generations/" target="_blank">I Am ‘Occupying’ D.C. for My Children and Future Generations</a>- Linda Evans</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/when-my-husband-faced-unemployment/" target="_blank">When My Husband Faced Unemployment</a>- Karoline, Mom’s Rising</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/unemployment-insurance-is-the-least-we-can-offer-working-families/" target="_blank">Unemployment Insurance is the LEAST We Can Offer Working Families-</a> Elisanta “Lisa” Batista</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/without-unemployment-insurance-my-family-would-have-to-choose-which-bills-to-pay/" target="_blank">Without Unemployment Insurance, My Family Would Have To Choose Which Bills to Pay</a>-<em> Teresa “Tigger” Rey</em>, Mom’s Rising</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/good-education-good-experience-still-unemployed/" target="_blank">Good Education. Good experience. Still Unemployed</a>- Theresa Witt</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/holiday-fear/" target="_blank">Holiday Fear</a>- Christy Jones, AAUW</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/unemployment-congress-and-people-me" target="_blank">Unemployment, Congress, and People Like Me</a>- Danielle Jackson, National Women’s Law Center</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/more-must-pass-legislation-women-pathways-back-work-act" target="_blank">The Pathways Back to Work Act: A Must-Pass Piece of Legislation for Women</a>- Julie Vogtman, National Women’s Law Center</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/happy-holidays-congress-it%E2%80%99s-time-extend-ui" target="_blank">Happy Holidays, Congress! It’s Time to Extend UI</a>- Julie Vogtman, National Women’s Law Center</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/%E2%80%9Cno-christmas-congress%E2%80%9D-unless-ui-extended-0" target="_blank">“No Christmas for Congress” Unless UI is Extended</a>- Anna McClure, National Women’s Law Center</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/november%E2%80%99s-drop-unemployment-news-leaves-vulnerable-groups-behind" target="_blank">November’s Drop in Unemployment News Leaves Vulnerable Groups Behind- </a>Abby Lane, National Women’s Law Center</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.ywcablog.com/2011/12/08/action-alert-tell-congress-to-extend-unemployment-insurance/" target="_blank">Action Alert: Tell Congress to Extend Unemployment Insurance-</a> YWCA USA</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/navigating-unemployment/" target="_blank">Navigating Unemployment</a>- Jen, Mom’s Rising</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/women-the-economy-and-unemployment-insurance/" target="_blank">Women, the Economy, and Unemployment Insurance</a>- Angel Savoy, Metro DC Chapter, Coalition of Labor Union Women</p><br /><p><a href="http://youngwomenmisbehavin.com/2011/12/08/hervotes-blog-carnival-unemployment-insurance-good-for-people-good-for-the-country/" target="_blank">Unemployment Insurance, Good For People, Good For Country</a>- Sherry Saudners, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.socialworkblog.org/advocacy/2011/12/women-and-the-unemployment-crisis/" target="_blank">Women and the Unemployment Crisis</a>- National Association of Social Workers</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/?p=443" target="_blank">Surviving a Corporate War on the Middle Class</a>- Verlene Jones, Seattle Washington, Coalition of Labor Union Women</p><br /><p><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/12/08/extend-benefits-but-dont-stop-there" target="_blank">Extend Unemployment Benefits, But Don’t Stop There-</a> Lindsay Beyerstein, Ms. Magazine Blog</p><br /><p><a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2011/12/08/tough-job-market-for-recent-college-grads/" target="_blank">Tough Job Market for Recent College Grads</a>- Corrina Beall, Feminist Majority Foundation</p><br /><p><a href="http://opinionessoftheworld.com/2011/12/08/women-the-economy-and-unemployment-insurance/" target="_blank">Women, Sexism, Racism & the Economy: Why Congress Needs to Reauthorize Unemployment Insurance-</a> The Opinioness of the World</p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-4262615247478652842011-12-08T14:20:00.001-05:002011-12-08T14:22:31.367-05:00Women, Black Workers Hard Hit by Attacks on Public Employees<span style="font-style: italic;">by Tula Connell, AFL-CIO</span><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRCqACmtYXfDbLWq3QeKAU5kUNGaIHeYST0LAzvkKiIKnfy9oECbj0ER-Lp5mUY95hjbUcUKWfnl7X7H6DL_BFZIiFMaWF9JaTBLC4nYYG55wIpM_zNB9RT7zIlGsGaY1J8g6jj3SpGE/s1600/woman%2527s+work+is+never+done.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRCqACmtYXfDbLWq3QeKAU5kUNGaIHeYST0LAzvkKiIKnfy9oECbj0ER-Lp5mUY95hjbUcUKWfnl7X7H6DL_BFZIiFMaWF9JaTBLC4nYYG55wIpM_zNB9RT7zIlGsGaY1J8g6jj3SpGE/s400/woman%2527s+work+is+never+done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683839978880830114" border="0" /></a>The <a href="http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/04/01/jobs-increase-by-216000-in-march/" target="_blank">improved jobs figures </a>out last Friday obscured the ongoing decline in public-sector jobs. As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics noted when releasing the March unemployment data:</p> <blockquote><p>Employment in local government continued to trend down over the month. Local government has lost 416,000 jobs since an employment peak in September 2008.</p></blockquote> <p>The loss of such jobs is important because the nation’s well-being depends not only on job numbers increasing, but on the creation of <strong>quality jobs</strong>—those that pay decent wages and enable people to attain or maintain a middle-class life. According to National Employment Law Project (<a href="http://www.nelp.org/" target="_blank">NELP</a>), the new jobs being created aren’t as good as the ones that have been lost. NELP found that jobs in lower wage industries, such as retail and food preparation, made up 23 percent of the jobs that were lost in the recent recession. Yet they made up 49 percent of the jobs the economy has gained in the past year. As the BBC Business <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12940054" target="_blank">puts it</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>In other words, it appears that while people may finally be returning to work, they have to work for less pay.</p></blockquote> <p><span id="more-49445"></span></p> <p>In contrast, jobs in the public sector have provided such economic stability. They have also made it possible for some of the nation’s most economically marginalized—women and minorities—to achieve financial security often denied them in the private sector.</p> <p>So attacks on public employees hit women and black workers especially hard.</p> <p>Susan Feiner, professor of economics and of women’s and gender studies at the University of Southern Maine, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/29-3" target="_blank">writes that:</a></p> <blockquote><p>employees at the federal (43 percent female), state (53 percent female) and local (61 percent female) levels have been able to better resist the wage reductions, benefit cuts and mass lay-offs that giant multinational corporations have visited upon employees over the last decade.</p></blockquote> <p>Yet Feiner finds that “while women represented 57 percent of the public-sector work force at the end of the recession,”</p> <blockquote><p>women lost the vast majority—79 percent—of the 327,000 jobs cut in this sector between July 2009 and February 2011, according to a January report by the Washington, D.C.-based National Women’s Law Center.</p></blockquote> <p>Steven Pitts, labor policy specialist at the <a href="http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/" target="_blank">University of California-Berkeley Labor Center</a>, writes today about the striking results of his new research brief, Blacks and the Public Sector. In sum:</p> <ul><li>The public sector is the single most important source of employment for African Americans.</li><li>During 2008-2010, 21.2 percent of all black workers were public employees, compared with 16.3 percent of non-black workers. Both before and after the onset of the Great Recession, African Americans were 30 percent more likely than other workers to be employed in the public sector.</li><li>The public sector is also a critical source of decent-paying jobs for black worker. For both men and women, the median wage earned by black employees is significantly higher in the public sector than in other industries.</li><li>Prior to the recession, the wage differential between black and white workers was less in the public sector than in the overall economy.</li></ul> <p>As California Progress Report <a href="http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/" target="_blank">writes</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>For blacks and others, “the best anti-poverty program is union organizing,” the <a href="http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/blackworkers/overview.shtml" target="_blank">UC Berkeley Labor Center</a> notes on its website.”</p></blockquote> <p>And so moves by Republican governors like Scott Walker in Wisconsin and John Kasich in Ohio to shred the ability of public employees to bargain for a decent middle-class life are also specifically targeting the ability of women and black workers to remain in the economic mainstream.</p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted with <a href="http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/04/05/women-black-workers-hard-hit-by-attacks-on-public-employees/">AFL-CIO Blog</a></span></p><p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em><em><em></em><br /></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" /></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-11099628141846547902011-12-08T13:58:00.004-05:002011-12-08T14:19:24.718-05:00Unemployment Insurance is the LEAST We Can Offer Working Families<span style="font-style: italic;">by Elisanta “Lisa” Batista</span><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWErf8IG0DzAXZU7_2y9Vq3Z_kLfSL4Irm1VVdzkH3eVzXpTNI-3jWl2wPuEJbRNyF1qdvA2DqSxK1fDTW5cSiB4gIXdyXj6OQ3y1qpjhOoI-zSdlgAPHcnheZI7s-3VyId5VZy5VaQbA/s1600/job+posting.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWErf8IG0DzAXZU7_2y9Vq3Z_kLfSL4Irm1VVdzkH3eVzXpTNI-3jWl2wPuEJbRNyF1qdvA2DqSxK1fDTW5cSiB4gIXdyXj6OQ3y1qpjhOoI-zSdlgAPHcnheZI7s-3VyId5VZy5VaQbA/s400/job+posting.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683839138433923106" border="0" /></a>The reason I say “working” families is because this economy is much more complicated than “working” and “unemployed.” There are many families like ours, struggling, even though we both technically have jobs. We are both in our 50s, have no retirement savings and are living paycheck to paycheck.</p> <p>A year ago, my husband who was our family’s main breadwinner lost his job at a manufacturing plant. This is an industry that has been hammered in the present economy.</p> <p>Thanks to the extension of unemployment insurance a year ago, my husband was<br />able to continue to pay the bills for a while longer. Then he took a job at another<br />plant that, unfortunately, pays less than half of his previous position. There are<br />many workers like him.</p> <p>Even when times are tough, we try to count our blessings. We are fortunate to have health insurance through our jobs and I am lucky to work for a company that has allowed me to work extra hours for more pay. I am also allowed a flexible schedule when a family emergency arises. Both my daughter, who has debilitating neuropathy, and my mother-in-law, who has Alzheimer’s disease, live with us. It’s tough.</p> <p>That’s why it is important that we not forget about our workers, especially this holiday season. Making sure that workers have unemployment insurance while they are looking for a job is the <em>least</em> we can do for hardworking families and will help stimulate our economy for everyone.</p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted with <a href="http://www.momsrising.org/blog/unemployment-insurance-is-the-least-we-can-offer-working-families/">Mom's Rising</a></span></p><p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em><em><em></em><br /></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" /></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-76069226877656252252011-12-08T13:55:00.003-05:002011-12-08T13:58:12.423-05:00Congress Should Act Now to Extend Unemployment Insurance<span style="font-style: italic;">by </span>Beth Scott, <a href="http://blog-aauw.org/"><span style="font-style: italic;">American Association of University Women</span></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymzvgZVmtm8LYjicSI45sLgZIGxe_5nE68_YXv8nvZNQuOO5lUt0YHHzbocVgjYRbo7MyueV8_euqHGSdZ725AutZnnM96sY2_6RjjzGpKKaI2haOznJZiRL3oybxnmYEe5ZXVSdX2QM/s1600/filing+a+claim.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymzvgZVmtm8LYjicSI45sLgZIGxe_5nE68_YXv8nvZNQuOO5lUt0YHHzbocVgjYRbo7MyueV8_euqHGSdZ725AutZnnM96sY2_6RjjzGpKKaI2haOznJZiRL3oybxnmYEe5ZXVSdX2QM/s400/filing+a+claim.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683833241019728850" border="0" /></a>As Congress tries to wrap up before taking its holiday break, a major issue it needs to deal with is the extension of <a href="http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/unemployment-insurance/">federal unemployment insurance</a> (UI). AAUW urges Congress to extend UI. We are <a href="http://www.aauw.org/act/issue_advocacy/principles_priorities.cfm#principles">committed</a> to promoting the reduction of poverty, and UI plays a key role in reducing poverty and helping our economy recover. <p>UI provides basic benefits to Americans who have lost their jobs and are retraining or looking for another job. For many, UI benefits are the only way they can afford to stay in their homes and stay above water financially. Congress has until December 31 to renew UI, and if these benefits are not renewed or if their renewal is delayed, millions of Americans will be hurt. In January alone, more than <a href="http://www.wlox.com/story/16181494/millions-of-american-could-lose-unemployment-benefits-in-january">2 million</a> people would lose their benefits, and millions more would have this critical lifeline cut off in the near future — more than 6 million would lose their benefits during 2012.</p> <p>UI is particularly important for women, as the last few years have been especially unkind to them. <a href="http://pewsocialtrends.org/2011/07/06/two-years-of-economic-recovery-women-lose-jobs-men-find-them/">According</a> to the Pew Research Center, “Employment trends during the recovery have favored men over women in all but one of the 16 major sectors of the economy.” In November 2011, women <a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm">gained</a> more than half (65,000) of the 120,000 new jobs reported, yet analysis <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=uiw87zaab&et=1108930056187&s=6862&e=001ydwbmuPKZ4EQRUUoangvzyYqqhVKU8uk7ljW9VJAzr31SjXpcm5LRiunM24fUT1Aew1idf952I0gICsUIPqO1LhSqoXYCC-yzCwPIq5ceHXdnE-sQV_3jkFFbe0lnbkb1uCqIz1sVr2wN3VwD5dMd1Rs6VMdrYpu9W9WoL7uFeh1v69-pbkiw8LkFavQlZ-JDVF-WJT_h6M=" target="_blank">shows</a> a wide job gap of 1.5 million jobs between men and women. Single mothers in particular are struggling — their unemployment rate is 12.4 percent, compared with the national average, 8.6 percent. Unemployment insurance benefits help these families survive while unemployed parents retrain for new careers or look for new jobs.</p> <p>But UI doesn’t just benefit families struggling to make ends meet; it’s also good for our economy.<strong> </strong>Extending UI will immediately help millions of families stay afloat, and they will, in turn, spend that money in our struggling economy. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/business/economy/as-government-aid-fades-so-may-the-recovery.html?pagewanted=all">Studies</a> show that UI benefits are usually spent, not saved, and as a result, every $1 spent on employment insurance stimulated $2 in growth in the economy.</p> <p>Not extending UI would have a devastating impact on American families and on our economy. Extending UI is not just a matter of simple fairness but the key to families making ends meet and to our nation’s economic recovery.</p> <p>If you want to show that you value this protection for American families, then join us as we begin ramping up for My Vote, the AAUW Action Fund’s new voter education and turnout campaign.</p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted with <a href="http://blog-aauw.org/2011/12/08/extend-unemployment-insurance/">AAUW Dialog</a></span></p><p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em><em><em></em><br /></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" /></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-53998217910362301552011-11-30T16:54:00.004-05:002011-11-30T16:57:12.062-05:00Sad Reality: New President, Same Fight<span style="font-style: italic;">by Stephanie Drahan, National Women’s Law Center</span><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmwcWbSvg17uZEJqO55nShWXnkXPngRe7dHXv3_FA8PTBvJgjZGEiedJ3zkRDzRtrKfypnoiBq5n4gig3uS5ZPO4W_2OI555a5GtS6_aQlyOX-Ssez_nst07cWDafBJ6B-W0dEdQwv8s/s1600/women+for+obama.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmwcWbSvg17uZEJqO55nShWXnkXPngRe7dHXv3_FA8PTBvJgjZGEiedJ3zkRDzRtrKfypnoiBq5n4gig3uS5ZPO4W_2OI555a5GtS6_aQlyOX-Ssez_nst07cWDafBJ6B-W0dEdQwv8s/s400/women+for+obama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680911155837431842" border="0" /></a></p><p>In 2008 when then Senator Barack Obama was still campaigning for the presidency and there were notions that the Bush administration would offer a parting shot to women’s groups and the reproductive health community, <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/news/17454-clinton-murray-vow-end-to-abortion-rule">Obama’s take on the proposed regulation to expand religious restrictions was clear</a> –</p> <p><em>“We need to restore integrity to our public health programs, not create backdoor efforts to weaken them. I am committed to ensuring that the health and reproductive rights of women are protected.”</em></p> <p>But now, here we are three years later, and under President Obama, we are still having a very similar fight. </p> <p>In August, <a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/big-news-women%E2%80%99s-health-%E2%80%93-birth-control-without-co-pays-now-reality">we secured a huge victory</a> when a set of preventive health services were adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to be covered by all new health insurance plans without co-payments included contraception. But even then, <a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/help-us-make-sure-all-women-can-get-birth-control-without-co-pay">we were disappointed by the inclusion of an exemption for certain religious employers</a>. Our supporters helped us send nearly 15,000 messages to HHS expressing our opposition to the refusal language included in this groundbreaking rule.</p> <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/us/bishops-renew-fight-on-abortion-and-gay-marriage.html?_r=4&hp">But religious institutions are pressuring</a>, President to expand the refusal language to exclude a broader range of instituions. Before Thanksgiving, we gathered nearly 10,000 messages from our supporters opposing both the original exemption and any expansion of it.</p> <p>But that may not be enough! We need to continue to keep the pressure on. Please make sure your friends, family, peers, and colleagues know that the President is under pressure to the refusal language and that women may lose the coverage they gained this summer and encourage them to get involved. You can call the White House directly 1-888-534-5471 to register your opposition or <a href="https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=728&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=riki46noi2.app205b">send the President an email</a>.</p> <p>If the current language is expanded, more than a million women may lose coverage for birth control that we fought so hard for. We can’t let that happen. <a href="https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=728&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=riki46noi2.app205b">Tell President Obama that <strong><em>all</em></strong> women need access to affordable birth control!</a></p> <p>To learn more about why denying contraceptives harms women, check out our <a href="http://www.nwlc.org/resource/denying-coverage-contraceptives-harms-women">factsheet</a>.</p><p><em><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted with the <a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/sad-reality-new-president-same-fight">National Women's Law Center</a></span><br /></em></p><p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" /></a></div>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-18682558017330828022011-11-30T16:49:00.001-05:002011-11-30T16:51:39.226-05:00Fight Against an Expanded Religious Exemption that Denies Birth Control Coverage<p><span style="font-style: italic;">by Dren Asselmeier, <a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/oncampus/blog/archive/">Center for Inquiry on Campus</a></span> </p><p>I have my own opinions about birth control and whether it should be made available at no cost to women who want to have control over their reproduction, but I think that there is something that we can do to solve this issue that is more decisive than weighing our biased and subjective opinions. We need to look to unbiased sources. It is imperative that we turn to science and critical thought in order to study and truly understand the implications of the decision we are going to make. </p> <p> </p> <p> <img alt="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/uploads/on_campus_blog/Bishopplease1.jpg" src="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/uploads/on_campus_blog/Bishopplease1.jpg" title="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/uploads/on_campus_blog/Bishopplease1.jpg" align="left" width="220" height="223" /> </p> <p> Why do Catholic bishops have any say in what we do as a matter of public health? Are they doctors? Have they studied society in order to understand what happens when birth control is outlawed or available only at prohibitive costs to some women? Do they think that the rights of women, and all people, are more important than faith? I can not possibly speak for all Catholic bishops; in fact, you might be surprised to find out that I have never met one. Regardless, it is very unlikely that in his free time any Catholic bishop has decided to study science, sociology, or public health to an academic and professional level at which other experts in such fields could consider the bishop an authority on those topics. Bishops may have studied some things outside of faith and may be academically knowledgeable people, but I am going to assume that being a bishop means studying and regarding faith and religious doctrine above every other area of study. </p> <p> Because their expertise is in faith and understanding of religious texts, I think that bishops should have absolute say over church doctrine. If they think that everyone should wear those cool hats to church and high-five as they eat crackers, that’s perfectly fine and well within their right as bishops (I think). No philosophy or religion or worldview, however, has the right to deny people medicine, to be allowed to hurt others, to repress women, or to take away the rights that are mandated by our government. I think that a religious exemption in order to avoid providing mandated health care is unacceptable because we do not have a religious government. We have to trust in professionals who study actual outcomes and efficacy of social programs to make important societal decisions. We have to look to what is best for society and not what is best according to one religion that bases its knowledge on a creed written several hundred years ago. Plus, if we allow for religious organizations to deny some healthcare to their employees because it upsets their religious views, then where is the line drawn? Is it okay for religious organizations to deny some rights but not others? </p> <p> I don’t want to spend too much time on hypothetical situations, but what if we allowed other religious exemptions, like honor killings? What if we decided that it was okay for Mormon organizations to not provide healthcare to black people because of the Curse of Cain Doctrine, which some have interpreted to mean that black people are cursed? What if we determined that it was okay for a man to kill his son for being disobedient, as the Bible states he should (Deuteronomy 21:18–21)? We, as a society, do not allow religious conviction to excuse murder, rape, theft, oppression, or the denial of rights to our citizens where there are laws to criminalize these things. No matter how much someone thinks that he or she is acting justly based on faith, that individual is not allowed to infringe on the rights of others. Okay, why not? Well, we have laws that exist for all people. Everyone is subject to laws and to the judicial system no matter what they believe. We have a secular government which means that no one religion is allowed to exercise its rules over anyone else if those rules contradict our laws. Period. Being an American means you have rights no matter what religion you are, and the case of basic health care should be no exception. </p><p> <img alt="https://secure3.convio.net/cfi/images/content/pagebuilder/11055.jpg?t=1322684108736" src="https://secure3.convio.net/cfi/images/content/pagebuilder/11055.jpg?t=1322684108736" title="https://secure3.convio.net/cfi/images/content/pagebuilder/11055.jpg?t=1322684108736" align="right" width="150" height="147" /> </p><p> If the Catholic bishops said that they have proof of no-cost birth control hurting society in a real, tangible, measurable way that can be observed by science, then I think that we, as responsible thinkers and people who care about the wellbeing of our society, would have to ask scientists and scholars to look at more data and use universal systems of gaining knowledge in order to come to a conclusion. Scientific fields such as sociology and public health have already considered the question of whether easy access to birth control causes more pregnancies, more unwanted children, and other outcomes that most of us would agree are bad for society. Look for news sources that state information from studies and not from religious organizations whose motives are to make people live according to a particular faith: </p> <blockquote style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: none; padding: 0px"><p> </p><p> “About half of all pregnancies in Colorado and across the country are unplanned or unwanted, and many of those result in abortion, according to government reports.” <em>From <a href="http://www.healthpolicysolutions.org/2011/08/10/free-birth-control-will-it-reduce-unwanted-pregnancies/">Health Policy Solutions</a></em> </p> </blockquote> <blockquote style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: none; padding: 0px"><p> </p><p> “Two new studies taking different methodological approaches arrive at the same conclusion: Unintended pregnancy costs U.S. taxpayers roughly $11 billion each year. Both estimates are conservative in that they are limited to public insurance costs for pregnancy and first-year infant care, and both studies conclude that the potential public savings from reducing unintended pregnancy in the United States would be huge. A related new study provides first-ever estimates of unintended pregnancy for each state, and a starting point for future efforts to monitor states’ progress toward reducing unintended pregnancy.” “Contraceptive use is critical to couples’ ability to reconcile their sexual lives and their childbearing goals.” <em>From <a href="http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2011/05/19/index.html">a study by the Guttmacher Institute</a>; the second from <a href="http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/ib_0599.html">another study by the Guttmacher Institute</a></em> </p> </blockquote> <blockquote style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: none; padding: 0px"><p> </p><p> “Despite the advances that have been made in contraception over the past fifty years, an estimated 150 million women worldwide cannot get the birth control they desire. In many parts of the world most young women become mothers before they are 20 years old. A woman who bears children at a younger age tends to have more children over all, is less able to care for them, and is more likely to suffer ill health.” <em>From the <a href="http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/about/default.asp">Our Bodies Ourselves</a> health resource center (it has a list of sources <a href="http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/resources.asp?id=18">here</a>)</em> </p> </blockquote> <blockquote style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: none; padding: 0px"><p> </p><p> “Laws limiting teenagers’ access to contraceptive services and information fail to reduce sexual activity and increase the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), according to two studies” <em>From <a href="http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2005/01/18/index.html">The Alan Guttmacher Institute</a></em> </p> </blockquote> <p> I don’t want to only cite the sources that reinforce my opinion because that would go against my original premise of counting on authorities to help us make important decisions, but I did not find any information stating that greater access to birth control would have negative consequences for the United States. There may be other studies that I don’t know about; furthermore, many of the studies I did find relate to abstinence-only education, or birth control statistics for specific groups and not the broader population (but they are also positive). The point is that it is not my decision to make, nor should it be a decision made by the Catholic bishops or any other member of clergy or any average layperson. Matters of medicine and public health need to be handled by doctors, scientists, and other professionals whose only goals are to make our society as prosperous, happy, safe, and healthy as it can be. </p> <p> The Center for Inquiry released an alert asking supporters to urge President Obama to keep religion our of reproductive health care regulations. Read that alert and see how to get your voice to President Obama <a href="http://action.centerforinquiry.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=18683.0" title="http://action.centerforinquiry.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=18683.0">here</a>. </p> <p> To read other blog posts about the proposed expansion to the religious exemption for birth control coverage, visit the <a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2011/11/30/hervotes-blog-carnival-women-v-the-bishops/" title="http://www.hervotes.us/2011/11/30/hervotes-blog-carnival-women-v-the-bishops/">HERvotes blog carnival</a> page or check <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23hervotes" title="https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23hervotes">#HERvotes</a> on Twitter. Go to the <a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/hervotes-blog-carnival-%E2%80%93-fight-against-expanded-religious-exemption-birth-control-coverage" title="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/hervotes-blog-carnival-%E2%80%93-fight-against-expanded-religious-exemption-birth-control-coverage">National Women’s Law Center</a> to learn more about important women’s issues. <br /></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted with<a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/oncampus/blog/entry/dren_against_religious_exemption_to_bc_coverage/"> Center for Inquiry on Campus</a></span></p><p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" /></a></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-15555191428910230992011-11-30T15:12:00.003-05:002011-11-30T15:17:45.211-05:00Make the Promise of Preventative Care in the ACA Real for All Women<span style="font-style: italic;">by <a href="http://wiawh.org/">The Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health</a></span><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9osqvpKP70tRVxJoI3aZZ7-Ajny1s-udStK8kMZUdZtSS742W7mjHV8mNP6VZU9GZKNBfyjJcsgAIhLisDDKraTCJqXcLTMjUNdRd6WGv8rMuT04lsGT9jPRbkLsPzwxeHCw9gqP4v4g/s1600/rosaries+ovaries.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9osqvpKP70tRVxJoI3aZZ7-Ajny1s-udStK8kMZUdZtSS742W7mjHV8mNP6VZU9GZKNBfyjJcsgAIhLisDDKraTCJqXcLTMjUNdRd6WGv8rMuT04lsGT9jPRbkLsPzwxeHCw9gqP4v4g/s400/rosaries+ovaries.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680885419673367842" border="0" /></a></p><p>Back in August we were celebrating a win for women’s health – the recognition that contraception is prevention. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) required health insurers (for all new plans after August 1, 2012) to cover a number of women’s preventive health care services, including the full range of FDA-approved contraception, with no out-of-pocket costs, which is a huge step forward for fairness and improved health outcomes for women and their families. We blogged on that victory <a href="http://rwwv.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/a-big-step-forward-for-american-women-kathleen-sibelius-barbara-mikulski-and-the-future-of-contraceptive-equity/">here</a>.</p> <p>There was one glitch with this rule when HHS approved it, the Secretary took comments regarding a religious employer exemption for the contraceptive coverage provision of the rule. The Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s health responded strongly to this proposal, stating that no woman should be denied health care coverage because of the religious views of her employer. We emphasized that there is strong medical and public health consensus that contraceptive services are a critical part of women’s preventative care and that denying this benefit to some women because of their employer would fail to make real the promise of the Affordable Care Act for <em>all</em> women.</p> <p>Now this religious employer exemption is being held up in the White House. Catholic Bishops are using their influence to try to expand the religious employer exemption in the rule. This cannot happen.</p> <p>Wisconsin women have seen recent strides towards providing comprehensive reproductive health care and access to contraception in our state. In 2010, we became one of only 28 states to require health insurance plans that cover prescription drugs to include contraception.<a title="" href="http://rwwv.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/promise-of-preventative-care-real-for-all-women/#_ftn1">[1]</a> The Wisconsin law does not include any religious employer refusal clause. The HHS rule is, in fact, more limited in that way than the current Wisconsin law. For that reason, it is critical that the Federal Government does not lead Wisconsin backwards. Our current Governor included a provision repealing contraceptive equity in the state budget, and though it was removed due to its non-fiscal nature, it could be brought up later this legislative session. We need a strong federal rule – saying that contraception is prevention for all women.</p> <p><strong>Call (202-559-1164</strong><strong>) or <a href="https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=728">email</a> the White House today, to tell them that all women deserve access to affordable, comprehensive, preventative care.</strong></p> <p>This is the ACA provision most likely to impact women’s lives, and <a href="http://rwwv.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/two-thirds-of-americans-support-hhs-birth-control-more-education-and-advocacy-needed/">two thirds of Americans support it</a>. Tell the President not to weaken this important rule because of the pressure of a few, because nearly all sexually active women, regardless of their religious beliefs, use contraception at some point in their lives.</p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted with the <a href="http://rwwv.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/promise-of-preventative-care-real-for-all-women/">Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health</a></span></p><p><em>art of the </em><em><a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em> </p><p><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" height="40" width="222" /></a></p> <p>Check out the action petitions:</p> <p><a href="http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/actioncenter/alerts/CalltheWhiteHouseTelltheObamaAdministrationtoStandStrongWithWomen.asp" target="_blank">Catholics for Choice</a></p> <p><a href="https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=728" target="_blank">National Women’s Law Center</a></p> <p><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1400/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8787" target="_blank">Femini<em>s</em>t Majority Foundation</a></p> <p><a href="https://secure.ppaction.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=13879&s_src=refusal_c3_taf" target="_blank">Planned Parenthood Federation of America</a></p> <p><a href="http://action.prochoiceamerica.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=5059&s_src=2011_adv_bc4me_whitehouse_web" target="_blank">NARAL Pro-Choice America</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.prch.org/call-white-house%E2%80%9D" target="_blank">Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Healt</a>h</p> <p><a href="https://secure3.convio.net/ncjw/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1067" target="_blank">National Council of Jewish Women</a></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-38946781848940134202011-11-30T12:28:00.013-05:002011-12-01T14:24:21.425-05:00HERVotes Blog Carnival: Women v. the Bishops<em>by Kim Gandy, <a href="http://feminist.org/" target="_blank">Feminist Majority Foundation</a> </em><br /><em><br /></em><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNkzrFjoM6FtbWKBj92tqJaAnxIiPIPB2UYDe8SO3uAdyH_pT-FadMVIAhFauy2EJio6aqxi8hvEGQ0eWfBs47pnl6_3nZK7k00YakjaN8oM3nA9leMHeLgNOOxo9rCCEE9gGS4T2lcE/s1600/3+bishops.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 378px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 248px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680842231456721858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNkzrFjoM6FtbWKBj92tqJaAnxIiPIPB2UYDe8SO3uAdyH_pT-FadMVIAhFauy2EJio6aqxi8hvEGQ0eWfBs47pnl6_3nZK7k00YakjaN8oM3nA9leMHeLgNOOxo9rCCEE9gGS4T2lcE/s400/3+bishops.jpg" /></a>Welcome to the sixth #HERvotes blog carnival on the effort by the Catholic bishops to allow some institutions to refuse, under the Affordable Care Act, birth control coverage without co-pays to students and employeesof hospitals, universities, and other institutions, or other religious affiliated or connected institutions such as Catholic Charities.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Birth control coverage with no co-pays? Without a doubt one of the most popular benefits of the Affordable Care Act, the preventive care provisions for women require nearly every health insurance provider to cover contraception without any cost sharing.</p>Until now. Maybe. Because there’s a full court press from the Conference of Catholic Bishops (yes, reportedly even the Archbishops are weighing in) pressuring the White House to dramatically expand this refusal clause.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>The Catholic bishops want to exempt the health insurance of every religiously-connected or affiliated institution from this requirement, and millions of Americans would lose this benefit – students, teachers and staff at religiously-connected schools and universities; social workers, nurses, and other staff (and their families) at religiously-affiliated hospitals that employ thousands of people, huge organizations like Catholic Charities, and many more – regardless of the religious beliefs of those employees and students.</p>Although the pro-choice community opposed having any exemptions from contraceptive coverage, the guidelines issued by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius contained a narrow exemption that applied primarily to houses of worship. But the bishops want more. Much more.<br />If the bishops have their way, at least six million women with health insurance will lose this new contraceptive coverage benefit, for no reason other than where they work or go to school.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>We must keep the Affordable Care Act strong, and preventive care for women is critical.</p><strong>Join us by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes), and other social media.</strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>If we spread the word far enough we can make sure the White House hears women’s voices as strongly as they are hearing from the bishops.</p>The blog posts below share more reasons why we need to take action now. Happy reading and thanks for joining the fight to save contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care Act.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><em>#HERvotes, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the women’s movement’s major advances, many of which are at risk in the next election. We are very excited HERvotes is growing in membership and reaching millions of people.</em></p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" alt="" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" width="222" height="40" /></a> </p><br /><p><a href="http://blog.nationalpartnership.org/index.php/2011/11/birth-control-under-attack/" target="_blank">Birth Control Under Attack</a>- Debra Ness, National Partnership for Women and Families</p><a href="http://opinionessoftheworld.com/2011/11/30/catholic-bishops-attack-reproductive-rights/" target="_blank">Losing My Religion: Catholic Bishops Attack Reproductive Rights, Hoping to Undermine Birth Control Coverage</a>- Megan Kearns, Opinioness of the World<br /><a href="http://www.ncjw.org/insider/client/index.cfm/2011/11/30/Dont-Boss-My-Birth-Control" target="_blank">Don't Boss My Birth Control</a>- Amy Cotton, National Council of Jewish Women<br /><br /><a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/201111300018" target="_blank">Conservative Media Are Still Pretending That Catholics Don't Support Insurance Coverage For Contraception</a>- Marcus Feldman, Media Matters<br /><br /><a href="http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/2011/11/30/president-obama-don-t-cave-in-to-bishops" target="_blank">President Obama: Don't Cave in to Bishops</a>- Say It Sister, NOW's Blog for Equality<br /><br /><a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/oncampus/blog/entry/dren_against_religious_exemption_to_bc_coverage/" target="_blank">Fight Against an Expanded Religious Exemption that Denies Birth Control Coverage</a>- Dren Asselmeier, Center for Inquiry on Campus<br /><br /><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/latinas-urge-obama-administration-to-support-birth-control-access-for-all-women/" target="_blank">Latinas urge Obama Administration to Support Birth Control Access For All Women</a>- Rebecca Pleitez, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/conscience-clause-preserving-morality-or-creating-immorality" target="_blank">Conscience Clause: Preserving Morality or Creating Immorality?</a>- Liz Beaulac, National Women's Law Center<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/sad-reality-new-president-same-fight" target="_blank">Sad Reality: New President, Same Fight</a>- Stephanie Drahan, National Women's Law Center<br /><br /><a href="http://rwwv.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/promise-of-preventative-care-real-for-all-women/" target="_blank">Make the Promise of Preventative Care in the ACA Real for All Women</a>- The Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health<br /><br /><a href="http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/rwv-hervotes-campaign/2011/11/30/calling-on-president-obama-to-demonstrate-his-respect-for-wo.html" target="_blank">Calling On President Obama to Demonstrate His Respect for Women</a>- Amy Allina, Raising Women's Voices for the Health Care We Need<br /><a href="http://www.fem2pt0.com/2011/11/30/the-catholic-church-wasnt-on-my-ballot-whats-next-for-president-obama-and-birth-control/" target="_blank">The Catholic Church Wasn’t on My Ballot: What’s Next for President Obama and Birth Control </a>- Abigail Collazo, Fem 2.0<br /><br /><a href="http://mamasbitchin.com/2011/11/30/what-is-so-wrong-with-abstinence-education/" target="_blank" _mce_href="http://mamasbitchin.com/2011/11/30/what-is-so-wrong-with-abstinence-education/">What is So Wrong With Abstinence Education?</a> - Kat Sabine - the Bitch in the house<br /><br /><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/11/17/take-action-dont-let-the-catholic-church-deny-birth-control-coverage-to-millions/" target="_blank">Take Action: Don't Let the Catholic Church Deny Birth Control Coverage to Millions</a> - Holly L. Derr, Ms. Magazine<br /><br /><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/11/23/is-obama-caving-to-bishops-out-of-misplaced-gratitude/" target="_blank">Is Obama Caving to Bishops out of Misplaced "Gratitude"?</a> - Holly L. Derr, Ms. Magazine<br /><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecile-richards/the-other-99_b_1098313.html" target="_blank">The Other 99%</a> - Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, blogging on Huffington Post<br /><br /><a href="http://feministcampus.org/blog/index.php/2011/11/17/a-message-about-birth-control-from-the-71/" target="_blank">Message About Birth Control from the 71%</a> - Meghan Shalvoy, Feminist Majority Foundation<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2011/11/20/the-other-99-will-obama-betray-them" target="_blank">The Other 99%: Will Obama Betray Them? </a>- Carole Joffe, RHRealityCheck<br /><br /><a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/201111160025" target="_blank">Washington Post's Gerson Ignores Catholics' Opinions To Accuse The Obama Administration Of "Anti-Catholic Bias</a>"- M.F., Media Matters<br /><br /><a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/201111220016" target="_blank">Right-Wing Media Twist Pelosi's "Conscience" Comment To Claim She "Bash[ed] Catholics"</a>- C.R., Media Matters<br /><br /><br /><br /><p><a href="http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201111220006" target="_blank">Fox & Friends Hypes Gerson's Op-Ed To Accuse Obama Of Being "Anti-Catholic"</a>- Media Matters</p><a href="http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/womens-basic-health-coverage-is-not-for-sale/" target="_blank">Women’s Basic Health Coverage Is Not For Sale</a>- Miri Cypers, Jewish Women International<br /><a href="http://sherights.com/2011/11/30/tell-obama-to-protect-birth-control/" target="_blank">Tell Obama to Protect Birth Control</a>- Maureen Shaw, sherights<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/tell-president-obama-all-women-need-affordable-birth-control" target="_blank">Tell President Obama All Women Need Affordable Birth Control</a>- Judy Waxman, National Women's Law Center<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/my-employer-shouldnt-control-my-contraception-decisions" target="_blank">My Employer Shouldn't Control My Contraception Decisions</a>- Leila Abolfazli, National Women's Law Center<br /><br /><a href="http://hmprescott.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/blog-carnival-hervotes-against-the-bishops/" target="_blank">Blog Carnival: #HERVotes against the Bishops</a>- Heather Prescott, Knitting Clio<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2011/11/30/should-catholic-bishops-have-the-right-to-control-your-life/" target="_blank">Should Catholic Bishops Have the Right to Control Your Life?</a>- Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)<br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2011/11/30/an-open-letter-to-president-barack-obama/" target="_blank">An Open Letter to President Obama</a>- National Organization for Women<a href="http://www.fem2pt0.com/2011/11/30/the-catholic-church-wasnt-on-my-ballot-whats-next-for-president-obama-and-birth-control/" target="_blank"><br /></a><br /><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/11/30/should-organized-religion-have-more-rights-than-women/" target="_blank">Should Organized Religion Have More Rights Than Women?</a>- Georgia Platts, Ms. Magazine<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Check out the action petitions:</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/actioncenter/alerts/CalltheWhiteHouseTelltheObamaAdministrationtoStandStrongWithWomen.asp" target="_blank">Catholics for Choice</a> </p><a href="https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=728" target="_blank">National Women's Law Center</a><br /><br /><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1400/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8787" target="_blank">Femini<em>s</em>t Majority Foundation</a><br /><br /><a href="https://secure.ppaction.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=13879&s_src=refusal_c3_taf" target="_blank">Planned Parenthood Federation of America</a><br /><br /><a href="http://action.prochoiceamerica.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=5059&s_src=2011_adv_bc4me_whitehouse_web" target="_blank">NARAL Pro-Choice America</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.prch.org/call-white-house%E2%80%9D" target="_blank">Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health</a><br /><br /><a href="https://secure3.convio.net/ncjw/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1067" target="_blank">National Council of Jewish Women</a>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-38408717373495523042011-11-15T15:58:00.002-05:002011-11-15T17:03:07.182-05:00Correct. Protect. Respect. Promoting Economic Security with Safe Workplaces<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQofO2RrX69y5kAg6kIRswk89Bx8gJ2iPcZ32XLo1PcGvSiQm2pjcaFB1eNReJDgYRdHzO5WCSmi0No4Vb4I37Fqa2Fkr1DdlgVWu3GIFsIu__lHxuKSrkRhDHqe0TqN__u6CKDxjVv0Q/s1600/Rosie1940s.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQofO2RrX69y5kAg6kIRswk89Bx8gJ2iPcZ32XLo1PcGvSiQm2pjcaFB1eNReJDgYRdHzO5WCSmi0No4Vb4I37Fqa2Fkr1DdlgVWu3GIFsIu__lHxuKSrkRhDHqe0TqN__u6CKDxjVv0Q/s400/Rosie1940s.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675346467494843186" /></a><br /><p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; ">by <a href="http://www.wowonline.org/about/staff/DonnaAddkisonBio.asp">Donna Addkison</a>, President/CEO, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; "> </span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Women work. A lot of women work, making up 47% of the American workforce today. Two out three do so to provide the sole or a substantial part of a household income. Yet women in the workforce continue to be the targets of unwanted, unwelcome sexual harassment in the workplace. While the EEOC handles 10-12,000 cases every year, we know this is just the tip of the iceberg. Sexual harrassment threatens women's ability to provide financial support and economic security for themselves and for their families.</span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Ever heard the story of the woman on the road as a corporate trainer who had company salesmen appear at her hotel door in the nude? Or the one about the mid-level manager with a boss who continued to ask her out again and again and again in spite of her saying no? And the one about the woman working in construction who was subjected to physical intimidation along with the more subtle forms like 'pin-ups' of naked and nearly naked women in the onsite office? Probably not - estimates suggest that only 5-15% of incidents of sexual harassment are reported.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Why? The answers are as simple as they are complex. When your paycheck puts a roof over your family, food on the table, and gas in the car, how do you take on the bad behavior of those who have some level of authority over your work life? Do women sacrifice their jobs or their dignity? Or both?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">While women struggle to get a strong foothold in industries and careers with good pay and benefits, they often face the specter of sexual harassment in the workplace. How many women do you know who have their own stories to tell? How many mothers, sisters, and daughters have faced or fallen victim to sexual harassment? How many is enough?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Men and women - both bring value to the workforce. Let's create safe working environments where men and women are respected at work, protected from sexual harassment, and afforded opportunities to climb career ladders that lead to economic security for themselves and for those who depend on them.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246); "><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 128, 204); ">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em></p><p style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246); text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/"><img class="aligncenter" title="HerVotes" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; " /></a></span></p><p></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-57615116293228355992011-11-15T15:47:00.006-05:002011-11-15T17:20:40.752-05:00Preparing America's Future Workforce: Harassment and Bullying in Schools and How We Can Stop It<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMQZR9f9RS5jsvL1ScQ_ahIPTPSSJtiPEtG9GGWFaRByuIC8MqHyoQnsn1OBJJynLbS7SJ0uQmVu_SssPsoxXhYs_BUC1OtOau-OeOTSsZbOdvXSoh5Sz3TrVazMJXZoA4qFTyWDxlg8/s1600/40slibofcongresssmall.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMQZR9f9RS5jsvL1ScQ_ahIPTPSSJtiPEtG9GGWFaRByuIC8MqHyoQnsn1OBJJynLbS7SJ0uQmVu_SssPsoxXhYs_BUC1OtOau-OeOTSsZbOdvXSoh5Sz3TrVazMJXZoA4qFTyWDxlg8/s400/40slibofcongresssmall.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675351016099672482" /><i style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; ">by </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(74, 84, 123); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; text-decoration: none; "></span></i></a><i style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(74, 84, 123); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; text-decoration: none; "><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/profile/devi-rao">Devi Rao</a>, Fellow, National Women's Law Center</span></i> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; ">Sexual harassment in the workplace is <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sexual_harassment/index.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in;padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline: none">back in the news</span></a>, for better or worse. But any productive discussion about sexual harassment should include </span><b><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">harassment in schools</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; "> as well as the workplace, both of which are prohibited by federal civil rights laws.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; ">As <a href="http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/crossingtheline.cfm" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">a new study by the American Association of University Women</span></a> shows, sexual harassment in schools is a serious problem, one that deserves serious public attention. The study found that about half of students in middle or high school experienced some form of sexual harassment at school during the 2010-2011 academic year.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; ">In addition, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, charged with enforcing Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, has <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in;padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline: none">recently reiterated that what may be commonly referred to as “bullying” may actually be prohibited sexual harassment</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><i><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; ">But who’s left out?</span></i><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; "> Although some harassment and bullying of LGBT students may be covered by Title IX — if those actions are due to a student’s failure to conform to gender stereotypes — there is no federal law that prohibits discrimination solely based on sexual orientation or gender identity.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; ">This is a significant loophole in federal civil rights law; the AAUW study found that being called gay or lesbian in a negative way was the second most prevalent form of harassment. <a href="http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/2624.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in;padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline: none">And in a 2009 study by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network</span></a>, 84% of LGBT youth reported verbal harassment, 40% reported physical harassment, and 18% reported being assaulted at school in the previous year because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.75pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; ">But two pending bills could help solve this problem and provide much-needed protection to LGBT students.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; ">First<a href="http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1382"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">,</span></a> <a href="http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1382" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">the Student Non-Discrimination Act</span></a> (SNDA), introduced by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), would outlaw discrimination in public K-12 schools based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Senator Franken recently introduced SNDA — and then withdrew it for procedural reasons — during the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee markup of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDzrGCCkb0U" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">Franken gave a passionate and moving speech on the importance of SNDA</span></a>, and plans to offer it again on the floor of the Senate when the chamber as a whole takes up the ESEA.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; ">Second, the bipartisan (!!!) <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-506" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">Safe School Improvement Act</span></a> (SSIA), sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) and 32 co-sponsors, including Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), would require schools to undertake efforts to prevent bullying and harassment, including that on sexual orientation or gender identity. Senators Casey and Kirk introduced and then withdrew SSIA as an amendment to ESEA during the markup, but <a href="http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=6702" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">Sen. Casey plans to introduce it on the floor of the Senate</span></a>. The SSIA has <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1648" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">113 co-sponsors from both parties in the House</span></a> and<a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-998" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">SNDA has 147</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: inherit, serif; ">We need to ensure that Title IX, a historic advance in educational opportunities for women and girls, <a href="http://www.msmagazine.com/HERvotes/index.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">is protected against attack</span></a>. But at the same time, we need to <a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/congress-must-have-missed-memo-about-spirit-day"><span style="color:#4A547B;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in; padding:0in;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">extend existing civil rights protections to LGBT students</span></a>. All children deserve an education free from harassment. And if harassment is effectively addressed at school, there is hope that the employees of tomorrow will not face as much harassment in the workplace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "></p><p style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246); "><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 128, 204); ">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em></p><p style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246); text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/"><img class="aligncenter" title="HerVotes" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; " /></a></span></p><p></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-13414929116424235282011-11-15T14:59:00.007-05:002011-11-15T15:22:20.366-05:00Unions and Sexual Harassment<em>by Carol Rosenblatt, Executive Director, Coalition of Labor Union Women</em><br />At a time when women’s rights are under attack in so many areas – we need to be sure that sexual harassment is recognized and taken seriously. Candidates who seek our vote must be clear that they will support, enforce and strengthen protections for women on the job.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.cluw.org/">Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)</a> recently gathered information through personal interviews of CLUW officers, other union officials and online research to determine what unions have done to establish procedures on sexual harassment. What follows is an overview of the information we collected and examples of what workers experience on the job.<br /><br />In March 2009 the <a href="http://aflcio.com/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/leaders/ecmembers.cfm">AFL-CIO Executive Council </a>issued a statement on the Charter Rights of Working Women which stated in part…” the AFL-CIO will do all in its power to secure for women the rights set down in this Charter One of the provisions under “Access to employment and promotion” is: “Employers must be held responsible for ensuring women have a safe workplace free of all forms of violence and sexual harassment.” And in closing calls on its affiliated organizations and other progressive forces to commit themselves to the promotion and implementation of the principles set out in this Charter.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.afscme.org/">AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees)</a> has online “Sexual Harassment: It’s About Power” and includes:<br /><ul><br /><li>Don’t think it is your fault.</li><br /><li>Seek support from family and friends.</li><br /><li>Object. Speak to the harasser and be specific about what behavior you find unwelcome.</li><br /><li>Keep a log.</li><br /><li>Speak to your union steward.</li><br /><li>Speak to your supervisor.</li><br /><li>If these steps don’t solve the problem file a formal complaint with your state human rights agency or the EEOC.</li></ul><br /><a href="http://www.ueunion.org/">UE, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America’s</a> online “Fighting Back!” Information for workers and stewards states:“Every instance of sexual harassment will be unique and creating appropriate responses will require the Steward to be thoughtful, sensitive, and resourceful”Some of the suggestions they offer are:<br /><ul><br /><li>The Union should make all members aware that sexual harassment is illegal and the union will fight on behalf of its members to stop it.</li><br /><li>Make the employer post notices that sexual harassment is illegal.</li><br /><li>Many women are not sure who to turn to when they are being harassed.The union can appoint several stewards (some of whom should be women) who are well known and respected by the members to be a special committee to deal with sexual harassment. </li><br /><li>When dealing with the issue in grievance meetings make sure the victim isn’t harassed again by the company by being made to recount what happened in front of many bosses. Make the company show some sensitivity.</li><br /><li>Make the harasser pay for the crime, not the victim. Too often, the boss’s solution is to move the victim off of her job.</li></ul><br />Ray Bradford, the National Director of <a href="http://www.aftra.org/">The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)</a> Equal Employment Opportunities Department said that because many of their members do not have steady jobs, they fear that reporting sexual harassment may subject them to retaliation up to termination. Education is particularly important, utilizing Labor Radio, Twitter and Facebook in order to reach a larger and younger audience.<br /><br />And the casting couch is still alive and well in Hollywood, Gwyneth Paltrow, Megan Fox, Lisa Rinna and others have all talked publicly about their experiences.<br /><br />Janet Hill, CLUW’s National Vice President from the <a href="http://www.usw.org/">United Steelworkers </a>said the sexual harassment policy is incorporated in Civil Rights Guidelines that have been established to provide guidance for union members and leaders to help eradicate discrimination in the workplace. It is a pocket guide for Civil Rights Committees that exist in every local union and it explains how a member with a civil rights problem or grievance should proceed in accordance with the policy of the Union. A Committee on Sexual Harassment has been established that investigates complaints and develops educational programs for USW employees.<br /><br />Connie Cordovilla, Assistant Director of the <a href="http://www.aft.org/">American Federation of Teachers </a>Human Rights and Community Relations Department said the union urges its locals to pursue contract language which protects members from sexual harassment citing it as a form of discrimination and encourages and supports programs to further understand and combat sexual harassment. Schools are not required by law to provide sexual harassment training, but school districts that are found to have incidents of sexual harassment are viewed more harshly by courts than those who have extensive staff and student training.<br /><br />Carolyn J. Williams, the Director of the Human Services Department of the <a href="http://www.ibew.org/">International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers</a> informs us that in addition to training that is provided for business agents and stewards, a Women’s Conference takes place every two years that is attended largely by rank and file members and workshops on sexual harassment are part of the program. They also provide suggested contract language on sexual harassment to their locals, urging them to adopt.<br /><br />Sandra Burleson, Director of the Human Rights Department of the <a href="http://www.twu.org/">Transport Workers Union</a> expressed that transit companies should train employees on sexual harassment in the same manner as security training. Female bus drivers encounter passengers who flash or make physical contact. How to respond is important, yet reporting a customer still has to be done with care. The growing numbers of women in leadership in the union has helped as women members who experience sexual harassment find it easier to raise these issues with someone of the same gender.<br /><br />Georgi-Ann Bergamian, CLUW’s National VP for the <a href="http://www.uaw.org/">United Autoworkers</a> informs us that the international union demands that broad anti-discrimination language be included in all contracts and sexual harassment policies are established by a special bargaining convention that occurs every year.<br /><br />KC Wagner, Director of Workplace Studies of <a href="http://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> stated that employers usually have sexual harassment policies and some level of employee training. It is common practice for unions to train stewards. However, she stated that sexual harassment is still part of a continuum of violence towards women.<br /><br />We need to be vigilant in raising awareness about sexual harassment and doing all within our power to combat this ugly form of discrimination including making our expectations clear to any candidate seeking our support as the 2012 election cycle moves into high gear.Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-80136985270615567072011-11-15T11:29:00.007-05:002011-11-15T16:59:26.331-05:00HERVotes Blog Carnival: Fighting Sexual Harassment<p><em>By Eleanor Smeal, <a href="http://www.feminist.org/">Feminist Majority Foundation</a> President and </em><a href="http://www.msmagazine.com/">Ms. <em>Magazine</em></a> <em>Publisher</em></p><br /><br /><p></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAcBWwmBocQmoIc1yxnZ2qDTNAV7B4NtM9MUwyAM6BY8wxoyZD3neEL5Be0iDzxvAZTYLuiwD65E9NslH9dNtlrzFgmZpYBgchiNWR6oGVTat4yr57EPJUrVHlbc_DIM34L8-caKXIhY/s1600/sexual-harassment+large.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 380px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 252px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675260838951540162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAcBWwmBocQmoIc1yxnZ2qDTNAV7B4NtM9MUwyAM6BY8wxoyZD3neEL5Be0iDzxvAZTYLuiwD65E9NslH9dNtlrzFgmZpYBgchiNWR6oGVTat4yr57EPJUrVHlbc_DIM34L8-caKXIhY/s400/sexual-harassment+large.jpg" /></a>Welcome to the fifth <a href="http://www.hervotes.us/">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival. This time we're focusing on the need to keep strong the laws and public policies to end sex discrimination and sexual harassment in schools and in the workplace. <a href="http://www.hervotes.us/">HERvotes</a>, a multi-organizational campaign launched in August 2011, advocates that women must use our voices and votes to stop the ongoing attacks on the major advances of the women's movement. We are very excited that HERvotes is reaching a growing list of member groups and organizations and millions of people.<br /><br />HERvotes <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/11/01/hervotes-blog-carnival-mississippi-personhood-amendment/">called attention</a> in early November to the dangerous personhood state constitutional amendment on the Mississippi ballot--which we're pleased to report was soundly defeated last week by a margin of 58-42 percent. Now, sexual harassment has emerged as an issue in the presidential primaries at the same time that a member organization of HERvotes, the <a href="http://www.aauw.org/">American Association of University Women</a>, has released <a href="http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/crossingtheline.cfm">a historic report</a> on the high levels of sexual harassment in our nation's schools.<br /><br />Sexual harassment has been ruled decisively by courts as a form of sex discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects people in the workplace from sex discrimination. Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 protects students, teachers, professors and staff in all educational institutions receiving federal funding from sex discrimination.<br /><br />Both of these federal laws, major advances of the women's movement, are under attack by members of Congress who seek to gut such protections and by Supreme Court <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-1074.ZS.html">decisions</a> that have weakened them.<br /><br />We must keep Title VII and Title IX strong. We have a right to know where policymakers stand on these issues.<br /><br />How to join the fight:<br /><br />*You can share the posts below on Twitter --using the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/search/hervotes">#HERvotes</a>--and on Facebook. If we spread the word far enough we can make sure Title VII and Title IX are enforced.<br /><br />* You can ask where candidates and policymakers stand on issues of Title IX, Tile VII and sexual harassment in the workplace and in educational institutions.<br /><br />The blog posts below share more reasons why we need to take action now. Happy reading, and thanks for joining the fight to end sexual harassment.<br /><br /><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em><br /><br /><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/"><img class="aligncenter" title="HerVotes" alt="" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" width="222" height="40" /></a>***<br /><br /><ul><br /><br /><li><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/11/15/bullying-vs-sexual-harassmentdo-you-know-the-difference/">Bullying Vs. Sexual Harassment–Do You Know the Difference?</a>, by Susan Strauss, <em>Ms. Blog</em></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://blog-aauw.org/2011/11/14/just-a-typical-day-at-school/">Just a Typical Day at School</a>, by Catherine Hill, <em>American Association of University Women</em></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/sexual-harassment-a-problem-for-latinas/">Sexual Harassment a Problem for Latinas</a>, by Rebecca Medina, <em>National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health</em></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://feministmajority.blogspot.com/2011/11/unions-and-sexual-harassment.html">Unions and Sexual Harassment</a>, Carol Rosenblatt, <em>Coalition of Labor Union Women</em></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://nwpcblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/sexual-harassment-in-technology-era.html">Sexual Harassment in the Technology Era: “Apps Against Abuse”</a>, Soojin Ock, <em>National Women's Political Caucus</em></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://www.wowonline.org/HERvotes.asp">Correct. Protect. Respect. Promoting Economic Security with Safe Workplaces</a>, Donna Addkison, <em>Wider Opportunities for Women</em></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/preparing-americas-future-workforce-harassment-and-bullying-schools-and-how-we-can-stop-it">Welcome to the Jungle: Sexual Harassment in College</a>, Bettina Hager, <em>National Women's Political Caucus</em></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://youngwomenmisbehavin.com/2011/11/15/hervotes-blog-carnival-so-sorry-rachel-there-is-still-sexual-harassment/">Sorry Rachel, There Still is Sexual Harassment</a>, Joan Grey,<em> Business and Professional Women’s Foundation</em></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erin-matson/cain-sexual-harassment-an_b_1093375.html">Cain, Sexual Harassment and the Campaign Against Women in Public Life</a>, Erin Matson, <em>National Organization for Women</em></li><br /></ul>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-63004497884502881922011-11-01T14:55:00.002-04:002011-11-01T14:57:23.868-04:00Why Mississippi’s ‘Personhood’ Measure Is a Threat to Women Everywhere<em>By Lauren Kalina, <a href="http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/">Advocates for Youth</a> Intern</em><p><em><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oPF1iAhwqppFtMajXcyMGFOiSlThMmPlYNgjuxXtV8Qmfg0-WOx4HLDNo26yw-F0Lna6vnvgGOh88_7BVxDPXRtK9tPG33upX2lkyGjtalZd7K-TKcu6d209wSet2fqHszJJDZyhqX8/s1600/Trust+Women.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oPF1iAhwqppFtMajXcyMGFOiSlThMmPlYNgjuxXtV8Qmfg0-WOx4HLDNo26yw-F0Lna6vnvgGOh88_7BVxDPXRtK9tPG33upX2lkyGjtalZd7K-TKcu6d209wSet2fqHszJJDZyhqX8/s400/Trust+Women.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670103377353656658" border="0" /></a></em></p><p>On November 8, the state of Mississippi will vote on ballot initiative 26, which will attempt to change the Mississippi constitution to define human life as beginning at conception. The actual text of the initiative is as follows:</p> <blockquote> <div>Section 33. Person defined. As used in this Article III of the state constitution, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”</div> </blockquote> <p>For the women of Mississippi, this initiative would attempt to ban abortion, certain types of birth control as well as treatment for infertility and miscarriage. This is a <em>major</em> violation of a woman’s reproductive rights. Additionally, Initiative 26 could have many more far-reaching, unforseen legal and political implications.</p> <p>Recently, many anti-choice presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney, have come out in support of this life-threatening measure. Romney, like many other conservative politicians, seems to be confused about just how extreme Initiative 26 is. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN2JeMSjg9c&feature=player_embedded">Here</a>, you can watch Rachel Maddow set men straight about how birth control works.</p> <p>Women’s access to birth control could be severly limited by Initiative 26 because this measure considers a fertilized egg as a human life. However, many forms of birth control prevents the implantation of fertilized eggs, therein creating a conflict. Maybe if our politicans had received better sex education they might understand this more thoroughly…</p> <p>This vote on November 8th is of particular importance to Mississippians, but should be of great importance to women all over the country. <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-09/us/mississippi.personhood_1_personhood-initiative-abortion-rights-groups-personhood-amendment?_s=PM:US">According to CNN</a>, Mississippi is the only state with a “personhood” initiative on the ballot this year. However, according to the CNN article, similar measures are being planned for next year in Florida, Montana and Ohio; and efforts in at least five other states are in the planning stages.</p> <p>A yes vote on this measure would open the floodgates for more bills such as this to be introduced in other states. <a href="http://www.votenoon26.org/home">Mississippians for Healthy Families</a> has created a coalition of organizations that oppose Initiative 26. The coalition includes: the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, The American College of Obstetrician Gynecologists and many more.</p> <p>Regardless of where you live, you can <a href="https://services.myngp.com/ngponlineservices/contribution.aspx?X=UYwJQsZCvBplR7NHD+c9hBDYMG41hf0KWk95m36aqP4%3d&b=567902">help make a difference</a> in the lives of women and families throughout Mississippi by <a href="https://services.myngp.com/ngponlineservices/contribution.aspx?X=UYwJQsZCvBplR7NHD+c9hBDYMG41hf0KWk95m36aqP4%3d&b=567902"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>donating today</strong></span></a> to the Vote No on 26 campaign. Your support will help the campaign’s grassroots efforts to prevent the passage of this harmful initiative.</p> <p><em>Crossposted from <a href="http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/LoKal/2011/10/31/Why-Mississippis-Personhood-Measure-is-Threat-to-Women-Everywhere">Amplify Your Voice</a>.<br /></em></p> <p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter" title="HerVotes" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" /></a></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-10235448154475331202011-11-01T14:28:00.003-04:002011-11-01T14:33:55.112-04:00Losing Your Rights Via Personhood<em>By Janet Hill, <a href="http://www.cluw.org/">Coalition of Labor Union Women</a>, National CLUW Vice President (<a href="http://www.usw.org/">United Steelworkers</a>)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKRCklfc-RI185X-4eJNsTXbnaVhwfdIbC22T9aUtjeFuU023oOcXPILhvWgGF78NIx_G8V4FQ6H_6yJXOX6gLGuxqEFMDodKGt8Lrxd-CUYyQOKg8eSfHe4NUUjCEN_AcvHplJg-rkM/s1600/fetal-personhood-fertilized-eggs.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKRCklfc-RI185X-4eJNsTXbnaVhwfdIbC22T9aUtjeFuU023oOcXPILhvWgGF78NIx_G8V4FQ6H_6yJXOX6gLGuxqEFMDodKGt8Lrxd-CUYyQOKg8eSfHe4NUUjCEN_AcvHplJg-rkM/s400/fetal-personhood-fertilized-eggs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670096183842794370" border="0" /></a><br /></em><p>Don’t be fooled by Initiative 26, Mississippi's the “personhood amendment." Government has gone too far and this amendment raises many disturbing questions about the status of women if enacted. The essential question to ask is, if a woman is lying unconscious in a burning building with a rack of embryos, which would be saved first? Initiative 26 would seem to imply the rack of embryos. Why else would Initiative 26 make it possible to deny lifesaving treatment to women? It raises serious questions about medical treatment of common problems such as ectopic pregnancies, infertility and even high-risk pregnancies. This could be why the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and Mississippi Chapter of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists <a href="http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20111028/NEWS/110280347/Battle-over-Personhood-initiative-Doctors-fear-interference">are opposed to</a> this initiative. Clearly it comes between the doctor and his or her patient. The Mississippi Nurses’ Association and the Mississippi State Medical Association oppose it as well.</p><p>Even more appalling, a girl raped by her father could be forced by the state to bear her father’s child because there are NO allowances for rape or incest. This goes against all of our society’s values. Perhaps this is why Catholic Bishops in several states <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/us/politics/personhood-amendments-would-ban-nearly-all-abortions.html?_r=1">oppose</a> this law.</p><p>Initiative 26 also poses this disturbing question: If a woman miscarries, no matter how early, no matter what the reason, does the personhood amendment allow her to be charged with murder? Keep in mind that between 50 and 70 percent of first-trimester miscarriages are caused by chromosomal abnormalities in the fertilized egg. Studies estimate that between 30 to 50 percent of fertilized eggs miscarry before or during implantation.</p><p>This amendment may radically change over 4000 laws in the state and cause strange lawsuits and criminal charges. It would also outlaw many common forms of contraception. Shouldn’t a state with the highest poverty rate and 31.9 percent of its children living in poverty be thinking about creating good paying jobs not more children? Over the past decade, the cost of raising a child to 18 for a two income middle class family rose 40% to $226,920. Then there is the $155 million a year price tag for Mississippi teen pregnancies, the nation’s highest teen pregnancy rate.</p><p>The folks in Colorado voted down the personhood amendments--twice. I encourage everyone in Mississippi to vote NO on Initiative 26, aka the “personhood amendment,” November 8. If you don’t live in Mississippi but have friends and family there encourage them to vote no. Make sure to contact your state representative in Mississippi and ask her or him how this amendment creates jobs when the average income went down and more women and children are slipping into poverty. Ask how this helps create jobs and, finally, tell him or her to quit wasting time and do something about the jobs crisis.</p><p><em>Part of the <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/"><img class="aligncenter" title="HerVotes" alt="" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" width="222" height="40" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: left;"><em>Cross-posted with <a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2011/11/01/losing-your-rights-via-personhood/">HERvotes</a><br /></em></p><p style="text-align: left;"><em>Photo from Flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/themonnie/2735689978/sizes/m/in/photostream/">themonnie</a> under Creative Commons.</em></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-11325495905790136202011-11-01T14:24:00.004-04:002011-11-01T14:32:53.066-04:00Wisconsin Rep Planning "Personhood" Bill to Criminalize Abortion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFXXGhp0Lr2zx9HAsfVhrOAR3P0lFIPChSBHA-9a3SOfHNcYqN6wCmsJcY0a6ycPtIVw8A-dVI_3M8FbrcfO11a80jho2IYpPtnXa3uupVHy45IY_E761jHyTiDV5bBlzER2Dw47utWs/s1600/I-am-a-person.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 343px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFXXGhp0Lr2zx9HAsfVhrOAR3P0lFIPChSBHA-9a3SOfHNcYqN6wCmsJcY0a6ycPtIVw8A-dVI_3M8FbrcfO11a80jho2IYpPtnXa3uupVHy45IY_E761jHyTiDV5bBlzER2Dw47utWs/s400/I-am-a-person.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670095424261238322" border="0" /></a><br /><em>By <a href="http://www.americanindependent.com/author/sofia">Sofia Resnick</a>, The American Independent</em><p><em></em>The “<a href="http://www.americanindependent.com/tag/personhood">personhood movement</a>” has recently grown legs in Wisconsin, where state Rep. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/contact/legislatorpages.aspx?house=Assembly&district=2">Andre Jacque</a> (2nd Assembly District) has promised to introduce a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would change the definition of a person to include “preborn” babies. The intended effect of “personhood” amendments is to criminalize abortion; many critics say such laws could also criminalize some forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization.</p><p>In a <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ypdlEZyarkM">YouTube video</a> on the recently launched website of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://personhoodwisconsin.com/">Personhood Wisconsin</a> — affiliated with <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.prolifewisconsin.org/">Pro-Life Wisconsin</a> and <a href="http://www.americanindependent.com/tag/personhood-usa">Personhood USA</a> — Jacque explains that his state’s constitution is flawed because in order to have access to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Wisconsinites must first be born.</p><p>He continues:</p><blockquote><p>“What this simply does is takes out that requirement that you be born to have these inalienable rights that I think we all should enjoy as human beings. Unfortunately, if you take a look at the possibilities of <em>Roe v. Wade</em> being overturned, we would not have constitutional protection for the unborn in Wisconsin. And that’s why I feel that short of having this change in the constitution and putting it before the voters, there will be the ability for an activist Wisconsin state Supreme Court to deny rights to people that clearly should have that kind of protection – all people, every person at all stages of development.</p><p>It really is something where if you take a look at the statute that we already have on the books here in Wisconsin, in terms of prohibiting abortion, that could be stripped away, and it’s important that we find a way to restore that guarantee to all Wisconsin citizens that their human dignity will be respected from the movement of conception until natural death.”</p></blockquote><p>According to Personhood Wisconsin, the amendment is “currently in drafting” but will be introduced this month. This week Personhood Wisconsin <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8888553.htm">unveiled</a> a <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.prolifewisconsin.org/images/PersonhoodWIBillboard.jpg">billboard </a>advertising the to-be-proposed amendment with pictures of humans at different stages of development and an all-caps message on the billboard reading: “YOU. ME. EVERYBODY. WE’RE ALL JUST GROWN-UP EMBRYOS.”</p><p>The billboard was designed by <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.youthdefence.ie/">Youth Defence</a>, an anti-abortion-rights media group based in Dublin, Ireland, and is sponsored by Pro-Life Wisconsin, 40 Days for Life of Green Bay, Personhood USA and Youth Defence. According to Pro-Life Wisconsin, it is currently located on Highway 41, south of Green Bay, but will move to a different location in Green Bay every three months.</p><p>“Demonstrating that at one point, all of us were just embryos, the personhood message is one we can all identify with,” said Pro-Life Wisconsin spokesperson Virginia Zignego in a <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8888553.htm">statement</a>.</p><p>On November 8, <a href="http://www.americanindependent.com/199908/planned-parenthood-worries-personhood-mississippi-could-spark-%e2%80%98national-movement%e2%80%99">Mississippians will vote</a> on whether to add a “personhood” amendment to their state constitution.</p><p><em>Excerpted from <a href="http://www.americanindependent.com/200564/new-personhood-billboard-in-wisconsin-promotes-upcoming-bill-to-criminalize-abortion">The American Independent News Network</a>.</em></p><p><em>Part of the <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/"><img class="aligncenter" title="HerVotes" alt="" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" width="222" height="40" /></a><em></em></p><p><em>Original photo of bowl and spoons from Flickr user <a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeofpei/2326349123/">gniliep</a> under <a target="_blank" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">Creative Commons 2.0</a>; text added.</em></p><p><em><br /></em></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-27383747189325211572011-11-01T12:52:00.002-04:002011-11-01T13:01:07.177-04:00HERvotes Takes On the Mississippi “Personhood” Amendment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibSxTHhJHsMKBSl1im7YLpYa0ZVDp2hVLdVXJyyykW2v0aum19CPg7EJldjD-NbPmfnau1FhE8SrvR0kohWPVoqLcC9B6dnA84Th_5CxRVwB8ZeTGo7ocu5SQm4CMXVNLb3vpCJRjawBw/s1600/mississippians-for-healthy-families-wide-300x204.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibSxTHhJHsMKBSl1im7YLpYa0ZVDp2hVLdVXJyyykW2v0aum19CPg7EJldjD-NbPmfnau1FhE8SrvR0kohWPVoqLcC9B6dnA84Th_5CxRVwB8ZeTGo7ocu5SQm4CMXVNLb3vpCJRjawBw/s400/mississippians-for-healthy-families-wide-300x204.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670073397454584386" border="0" /></a><br />By Eleanor Smeal<br /><br />Welcome to the fourth <a href="http://www.hervotes.us/">#HERVotes</a> Blog Carnival! This time, we’re writing with an especially urgent focus. There’s an extremely dangerous constitutional amendment to the Mississippi state constitution on the November 8th ballot. It grants personhood and constitutional rights to a fertilized egg. <p>Election day is just one week away. We must stop the outrageous movement to give fertilized eggs more rights than women and girls.</p> <p>The implications are staggering. By giving constitutional rights to a fertilized egg, the amendment could ban emergency contraception, birth control pills and IUDs as well as all abortions, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman or girl. It could eliminate medical choices for women, such as some cancer treatments or in vitro fertilization. It could allow the state to investigate and even prosecute a woman for a miscarriage. Undoubtedly it would lead to many court cases.</p> <p>How to join the fight:</p> <ul><li>You can help in this get-out-the-vote effort by urging everyone you know in Mississippi– your friends, family, co-workers, or members of groups you are affiliated with–to <a href="http://www.votenoon26.org/">Vote No on Initiative 26</a>.</li><li>To take direct action, you can <a href="https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1400/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=7849">donate here</a> to help the statewide Mississippi coalition campaign buy desperately needed television and radio ads.</li><li>You can share <a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2011/10/31/hervotes-takes-on-the-mississippi-personhood-amendment/">the posts here</a> on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a>–hashtags <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23HERvotes">#HERvotes</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/%23noon26">#NoOn26</a>—and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/MS4HealthyFamilies">Facebook</a>. If we spread the word far enough, we can reach every women’s-rights voter in Mississippi.</li></ul> <p>With your help, this outrageous Mississippi Initiative 26 will be defeated. The blog posts <a href="http://www.hervotes.us/2011/10/31/hervotes-takes-on-the-mississippi-personhood-amendment/">here</a> share more reasons why we need to take action now. Happy reading, and thanks for fighting for women’s lives!</p> <p><em>Part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hervotes.us/"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/08/HerVotes-logo2.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="40" /></a><em></em></p> <p><em>Photo from the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.268332429868811.57414.239937066041681&type=3">Mississippians for Healthy Families</a> Facebook page.</em></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-7748703902266894832011-10-18T16:39:00.004-04:002011-10-18T16:43:01.175-04:00Let(ting) Her Die is NOT an Option<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" 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name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]-->“I was pregnant, I was miscarrying, I was bleeding. If I had to go from one hospital to the next trying to find one emergency room that would take me in, who knows if I would even be here today. What my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to do is misogynist,” admonished Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) from the floor of the House last week.<span style=""> </span>What she’s warning against sounds impossible.<span style=""> </span>Why would a dying woman be refused life saving measures? <p class="MsoNormal">If the House Republican Majority has its way, this scenario would not just be a horror story- it would be reality.<span style=""> </span>The Let Her Die bill (officially called the “Protect Life Act” H.R. 358), sponsored by Representative Joe Pitts (R- PA) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), seeks to do just this.<span style=""> </span>The bill would “prohibit federal funds from being used to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion services.”<span style=""> </span>The Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal funding of abortion since 1976, so what makes this bill different?<span style=""> </span>Let Her Die allows any hospital with moral objections to abortion to deny women the procedure, even if the life of the woman is at risk.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hospitals would be allowed to NOT save the life of a dying woman on “moral grounds”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Such a cruel bill would never become law, right?<span style=""> </span>Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case.<span style=""> </span>Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Let Her Die bill with all Republicans except two voting for it.<span style=""> </span>That’s right, members of the United States Congress actually signed off on a law that would allow women to be denied lifesaving treatment!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Before becoming law, the bill has to be approved by the Senate, a situation that is extremely unlikely to happen.<span style=""> </span>Plus, President Obama has said he would veto the bill immediately.<span style=""> </span>Still, this bill should never have made it this far through our government.<span style=""> </span>Congress should be protecting women, not signing off on legislation that blatantly endangers their lives.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Members of Congress should not be playing political games with women’s lives.<span style=""> </span>Our elected officials must not pursue misguided, brutal, and dangerous bills like Let Her Die.<span style=""> </span>We should not forget that an overwhelming majority of House Republicans voted for the Let her Die bill.<span style=""> </span>With so many Americans out of work, Congress should be focusing on creating jobs and bettering the lives of the American people.<span style=""> </span>Instead, members of the House of Representatives are using their position to take away women’s reproductive rights, and, as this bill shows, their right to lifesaving medical procedures.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As Representative Speier’s story shows, real lives are at stake.<span style=""> </span>Real women will die if this bill would become law.<span style=""> </span>Congress must realize that Let[ting] Her Die is NOT an option. <span style=""> </span></p>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3157753178606013570.post-7123433952972736572011-10-11T18:09:00.004-04:002011-10-11T18:13:20.788-04:00Women Have Lives On The Line With Health Care Reform<a href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/causes/2874/2873802.large.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 431px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/causes/2874/2873802.large.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(205, 232, 244); "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">by Jessica Mason Pieklo</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Like thousands of other families the recession has hit ours hard, but it could be worse. My family currently has health insurance, and both my husband and I still have jobs. We live paycheck to paycheck but still I feel lucky.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">It’s a tenuous luck, a luck that is one medical emergency away from bankruptcy if we lose these protections. Even with insurance the recent c-section birth of my daughter still left us with a nearly $10,000 hospital bill, which is especially difficult to pay when there is no paid family or medical leave and returning to work means a return of childcare costs approaching $2000 a month.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">But<a href="http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(199, 1, 0); "> thanks to the Affordable Care Act</a> my family can take a few steps back. We can exhale a bit. We can turn our attention to the countless other challenges we face raising children and balancing careers. Maybe it doesn’t seem like much to others, but for us it might literally be everything.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Thanks to the Affordable Care Act insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits such as hospital stays, nor can they deny coverage to any child under the age of 19 due to a pre-existing condition. The Affordable Care Act means that all health insurance plans must cover preventative services such as contraception, mammograms and colonoscopies without charging a deductible, co-pay or coinsurance. Should my children reach adulthood in a time of economic contraction like we have now, they can stay on our insurance until they are 26 years old–a benefit I did not have and one that cost me thousands in uncovered medical expenses at a time when I was just trying to set out as an adult.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">That all could change in the next election. The value of reproductive health care as preventative medicine is being questioned, as is the entire foundation of health care reform. Young adults may soon find themselves again without insurance, and given the current state of the economy, no employment prospects to either provide that coverage or an income to defray unexpected medical costs. Women may once again be discriminated against in terms of coverage and cost and families may find themselves kicked off insurance through no fault of their own.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">At a time when women and families are facing what can seem like insurmountable challenges, now is not the time to roll back these kinds of protections. Quite simply, too much is at stake.</p><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em>This blog is part of the <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/realtime/%23hervotes" target="_blank" class="external" style="color: rgb(255, 128, 204); ">#HERvotes</a> blog carnival. Read more HERvotes posts by the Feminist Majority </em><em>and other <a href="http://www.delicious.com/hervotes" class="external" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 128, 204); ">women’s groups.</a></em></span></div>Feminist Majorityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126462368565457295noreply@blogger.com0