Take Action Now: Urge Senators to Pass Reproductive Health Act in NY State

Ms. Foundation grantee Family Planning Advocates is running an important campaign in New York -- and they need your support!

In mid June, the Reproductive Health Act (A.11484) was introduced before the New York State Assembly. The act seeks to update New York’s outdated 1970 abortion law and ensure a woman's right to an abortion if her health is jeopardized. At present, New York’s law does not contain an exception to protect a woman should her pregnancy pose a risk to her health. New York’s law protects a woman during pregnancy only if her life is in immediate danger.

But as Family Planning Advocates points out, there are many serious medical issues that can arise as a result of pregnancy that might put women in precarious situations. "Kidney failure, diabetes, stroke, extremely high blood pressure and cancer are just a few of the complications that can occur during a pregnancy," the group writes. "As a result, women and their families are put in the position of making difficult decisions."

FPA goes on to note that,

The Reproductive Health Act is consistent with the tenets of Roe v. Wade, and would allow abortion up to the time of viability and after that, only if there is a threat to the woman's health or life. And, contrary to misleading information being spread about this bill, it does not change state and federal laws that allow providers to refrain from performing abortions based on their moral or religious beliefs.

If you believe it's time to bring New York State's abortion law up to date, and you're a resident of New York State, contact your state senator and urge him or her to help pass the Reproductive Health Act. There's not much time left to make your voice heard on this one: the legislative session is about to end. Take action now!

The Recession’s Deepening Toll on Women: Capitol Hill Briefing a Success

On June 24th, before a standing-room-only crowd, the Ms. Foundation and the Center for Community Change, together with Lake Research Partners, presented the results of a new nationwide poll [pdf] underscoring the recession's deepening toll on women.

Sponsored by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Linda Sánchez (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), this Capitol Hill briefing offered important perspectives on the need for job creation at the local level through, among other measures, passage of national legislation to create and save more than a million public and private jobs in local communities this year.

Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research Partners, kicked off the forum by presenting the polling results we've mentioned here before -- showing that a majority of Americans believe the government should play a larger role in shaping our economy and creating jobs, and highlighting how women are particularly affected by the failing job market. To that end, Representative Rosa DeLauro spoke about the increasing pressure women are facing as a greater share of them become co- or sole breadwinners in their households, making pay equity issues even more acute. Rep. DeLauro encouraged the support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, as well as the Local Jobs for America Act (HR 4812), noting that benefits to women will be substantial from the latter bill, as they are a large share of job holders in the education sector as well as over 60% of state and local government employees.

Representatives Linda Sánchez and Gwen Moore also held forth to lift up the need for job creation for women -- particularly low-income women and women of color, who are experiencing high unemployment rates across the nation (African American women: 12.4%; Hispanic women: 10.3%; white women: 7.4%).

Gail Cohen, Chief Economist for the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), spoke briefly on the results of a report called "Working Mothers in the Great Recession." The JEC has found that only in May did women gain almost the same number of jobs as men -- but only in temporary Census jobs. In the private sector in May, women lost 1000 jobs while men gained 42,000 jobs. Unsurprisingly, single mothers and African Americans have been hit disproportionately hard by the recession, the report shows. And part-time pay inequality remains a large concern, as many women are part-time workers.

Closing out the roster of speakers, Patricica Nalls, Founder and Executive Director of the Women's Collective, explained how the recession has affected her nonprofit, which serves the needs of women and girls with HIV. The economic downturn has resulted in a 30% loss in funding to her organization, forcing her to cut her staff from 25 to 15 employees. As a result, her clients -- HIV positive women and girls -- are missing out on much needed services. The Local Jobs for America Act, she pointed out, would allow her to rehire her staff and retain critical services to a community in need.

Learn more about the Community Voices on the Economy project: Read an Op-Ed by Ms. Foundation President & CEO Sara K. Gould and Deepak Bhargava, executive director of CCC, on how Americans want their government to behave in this new economic climate. Or download this mp3 file to listen to audio of a recent webinar explaining the poll's findings in depth.

Thanks to Susan Rees, Director of Policy and National Projects at Wider Opportunities for Women, for her assistance in capturing this information.


Photo: by Elizabeth Rappaport, Kentucky Jobs With Justice, Louisville, Kentucky, March 2010

In the Gulf, Women Struggle to Maintain Sense of Balance

With so much "new news" to process each day (McChrystal, Petraeus, Kagan; Russian spies among us), it's easy to forget that down in the Gulf, life is still falling apart. Oil is still gushing. As of Tuesday, that's 70 days and untold millions of gallons of crude, poisoning the waters and destroying communities, both physically and psychologically.

But residents of the Gulf aren't forgetting. They can't. Their whole way of life has been impacted, and the emotional strain is taking its toll -- a fact that a new article published by Mother Jones lays bare. Focusing on the lives of five women who are married to Gulf fishermen, the piece offers a rare look at how families are dealing with the new wave of destruction, having never actually recovered from Katrina.

Mac McClelland, who wrote the article, is a Hurricane Katrina survivor herself -- which gives her an eye for the kind of detail most reporters, looking in from the outside, miss. Like the fact that you can't buy toilet paper with food stamps. Like the fact that the unknown, and the total absence of structure in their lives, is really what's unraveling people.

And then there are hard details like these, that few news agencies are mentioning:

In Plaquemines Parish, 11 domestic violence [calls] came in on one recent weekend, compared with 3 on a typical weekend... The mayor of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, says they've had 320 percent more incidents of domestic violence since the spill.... "The more people are out of work, the more trouble we're gonna have," [a domestic violence hotline worker] says. "Plaquemines Community CARE is offering help now, but we're gonna need some more counselors. In the coming months, I'm gonna see a definite increase." She says she is also seeing an increase in child abuse calls.

We've written before about how former Ms. Foundation grantees like Sharon Hanshaw of Coastal Women for Change and Brenda Dardar Robichaux of the United Houma Nation are working to address the needs of their communities during this newest disaster. And now our current grantee, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, is using citizen reporting to map the oil spill and change the face of disaster management in the process. These organizations are intervening where government and private industry won't -- and changing the landscape of recovery as they do.

Articles like McClelland's -- journalism that gives voice to the real experiences of women on the ground -- play a vital role in expanding the story about what this disaster "means" to communities across the Gulf. And they also underscore why the work of our grantees in the Southern region remains so important. Though the cleanup of the spill has been cast as a very "male" dilemma (think about who you see on those boats, and making speeches about who is to blame and how justice will be meted out), women continue to bear a heavy burden in this crisis. And their voices will be as important as any others in crafting solution for these communities, where now even hope -- the most abundant of human resources -- seems on the verge of running out.

Ms. Foundation grantees remain front and center as the Gulf Coast struggles to combat the oil crisis. Grantee Green for All sent Dan Martin, their Director of Operations, to the Gulf to Report on the economic and environmental impact of the disaster. Read his blog posts from the region -- and watch this moving video that shines a light on how the United Houma Nation has been affected by the spill.

WATCH: Kagan Confirmation Hearings Live Online

Starting Monday, the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan are taking place on Capitol Hill. If confirmed, Kagan will join Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor to become the third woman sitting on the nation's highest court at one time -- a truly historic achievement.

If you're not near a television but want to follow the hearings closely, tune into MSNBC.com, which is running a live online video stream of the confirmation debate. And let's hope these confirmation hearings proceed with a level of fairness and civility that eluded the Senate Judiciary committee 19 years ago.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Americans Want More, Not Less, Government on Economic Issues

A major new nationwide poll conducted by Lake Research Partners for the Center for Community Change and the Ms. Foundation for Women shows that a majority of Americans are less concerned about the federal budget deficit than they are about rising health care costs, the lack of jobs with family-sustaining wages, and the affordability of every day expenses like food and gas.

And, not surprisingly, those hit hardest by the recession are those who believe most strongly that the government needs to play a more prominent role in protecting the economic interests of the many, not the few: 66 percent of African-American women and 68 percent of Latinas want increased government intervention. In April, unemployment reached 13.7 percent among African-American women and 11.1 percent for Latinas. And three out of four people surveyed said they believe policies that would create more jobs with decent wages and benefits for low-income families are important to them personally.

Things, it seems, are getting more personal by the moment: just two days from now, more than a million Americans will find themselves facing the end of their health and unemployment benefits -- unless congress takes immediate action to ensure a reprieve.

Legislation put forward by Democratic congressional leaders late last week would have provided more than $35.5 billion in funding to extend unemployment insurance for 1.2 million jobless Americans, as well as an extension of critical COBRA subsidies that have put health insurance within reach for many who have lost their jobs.

But House Republicans have quashed multiple versions of the bill, fearing the impact of its cost on an already ballooning national deficit.

As a result, it now looks as if millions of families that are already struggling to make ends meet will be facing a more difficult future in the days to come. Moreover, the move to cutoff funding flies directly in the face of what our new poll indicates: that the majority of Americans actually want government to take a larger and stronger role in making the economy work for average Americans.

Legislation like the tax-bill currently languishing in congress is but one small step in the direction of helping hard-hit communities meet some portion of their needs; real reform would go further, addressing the deep and systemic inequalities that have left already struggling communities decimated as a result of this recession. But at least it's a step of some kind. Allowing another 1.2 million Americans to fall between the cracks in our political system is, at best, an illogical approach to stimulating this fragile economy -- and, at worst, suicidal. The clock is ticking. Congress must act before it's too late, and do what Americans want them to do: take a strong hand in building a better economic future for us all.

You can take action too: sign Ms. Foundation grantee The National Women's Law Center's petition urging senators to support struggling families by extending unemployment benefits.

Sara K. Gould on the Nomination of Elena Kagan to the US Supreme Court

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan. An accomplished attorney and legal scholar, Solicitor General Kagan -– the first woman to ever hold that title –- is a remarkably qualified candidate for the position of Supreme Court Justice. We call on the Judiciary Committee to move the hearings forward in a thorough, productive and fair manner.

Like so many others, we look forward to learning more about Solicitor General Kagan's positions on the issues that matter most in the lives of women: ensuring the health and well-being of their families and communities; protecting their reproductive rights; and upholding a commitment to justice as equally available to all of us, regardless of our gender, race, class or any other factor. The possibility of having three female justices on the Supreme Court, for the first time in our nation's history, is one we greet with great excitement, and we applaud President Obama for taking this unprecedented step.

We wish Solicitor General Kagan all the best throughout the confirmation process, and will be watching closely to see that both the media and the Judiciary Committee treat her with the fairness and respect she so clearly deserves.

Sara K. Gould
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Foundation for Women

This Week: Get Yourself Tested!

Sunday, June 27th is National HIV Testing Day, and all this week around the country, cities are offering opportunities and events to help people get tested while learning more about the prevalence of HIV in America and its impact on our communities.

If it feels likes HIV/AIDS is a thing of the past, think again. A few facts on the virus:

• Over one million Americans are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS
• Every 9½ minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV
• One out of five Americans living with HIV today doesn’t know it
• The epidemic continues to have a disproportionate impact on certain populations, particularly racial and ethnic minorities, gay and bisexual men -- and women
  

The degree to which HIV has become a women's issue in the 21st century cannot be understated. Today women account for more than 27 percent of new HIV cases. Women of color are disproportionately affected at alarming rates: while Black women and Latinas compose 25 percent of women in the US, they represent 81 percent of AIDS diagnoses among women. In 2004, the last year for which data is available, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death among Black women aged 25-34.

These statistics make it clear just how big a stake the women's community has in making HIV/AIDS truly a thing of the past. Learn more about how our National Women and AIDS Collective is working to raise awareness and change attitudes about how the virus affects women. Watch Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's video message below about the importance of knowing your HIV status. And please take the time this week to go and get yourself tested -- because knowledge is power.