Historic Recommendations on Women's Preventive Health Become Law

Amidst all of the terrifically depressing drivel around the debt ceiling, a ray of sunshine has broken through. Today, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, accepted the Institute of Medicine recommendations that key preventive health services for women, including contraception, be covered by insurance without co-pays or deductibles. As we wrote last week, this is a truly historic moment. Most notably, millions of women will now have greater access to the full range of FDA-approved birth control options. The new provisions could also be especially helpful in reducing health disparities across race and class, and very importantly, health care reform will now include a comprehensive, evidence-based framework for women's preventive health, and reflect the fundamental concept that women's health care is basic health care, and should not be subject to extra costs.

Once again, congratulations to our grantees, including Raising Women's Voices, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, the National Women's Law Center, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice and West Virginia Free, who informed the Institute of Medicine's recommendations, advocated for Secretary Sebelius to accept them as law, and before and since the passage of health care reform, have worked tirelessly to bring health and justice to women, families and communities nationwide.

"The Daily Show" Gets It Right: There's No Such Thing as "Rape-ish"

Looking for a brilliant breakdown of what H.R. 3 and the Right's attempts to redefine rape could mean for the the future of reproductive rights? Then check out the clip posted below, from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Together with Stewart, "Women's Issues" correspondent Kristen Schaal offers a pitch-perfect send-up of how the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" would limit access to abortions by insisting on new, Machiavellian definitions of rape -- and move us ever closer to a time where abortions would once again be outlawed even to save a woman's life. 

Have a good laugh (it's a truly funny bit)-- and then remember that this is no joke. Join Ms. Foundation grantees National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and the National Women's Law Center in their campaigns to make sure that H.R. 3 never passes the House.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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Help NLIRH Ensure Contraception is Prevention in Health Reform Law

Coverage for contraception is still on shaky ground as the health care reform laws are beginning to be enacted. The US Department of Health and Human Services is currently in the process of determining what “preventive services” means, and birth control is one of the most hotly contested arenas. For you and the women you love, this means that women still have to fight for the right to fair and equitable health care in this country. And with the backlash against health care reform growing, we all need to support the work of our colleagues at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) who fight to bring systemic and lasting change through the new law.

Help them in their quest. Call your representatives to demand that prevention is defined to include birth control.

Read more »

Help Build an Equitable America: Support the DREAM Act Today

This week, the Senate is set to vote on the DREAM Act, a long overdue piece of legislation that would provide thousands of undocumented young people a now-illusive path to citizenship.

The bill (officially known as the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act) would, as an editorial in Monday's New York Times put it, "[open] the door to military service and higher education for young people whose parents brought them to this country as children without proper documentation. If they finish high school, show good moral character and serve at least two years in the military or earn a college degree, they can earn citizenship."

Read more »

Arizona and Immigration: Why Women's Voices Matter

RH Reality Check’s managing editor, Amie Newman, has written a thorough and persuasive piece examining why immigration is a women’s issue, and why feminists should be taking action against Arizona’s new draconian anti-immigration measures.

First -- still a little-known fact -- women now make up more than half of all immigrants coming to this country. At the same time, according to Newman, they also face very specific and often ignored challenges as immigrants, precisely because of their gender. "Women," she writes, "are far more likely to enter this country dependent upon a male partner’s employment visa: Seventy-two percent of those who hold employment visas in the United States are men." Additionally,

Vulnerability comes in many forms: [from] sexual violence that can start on a woman’s journey to the U.S., to domestic violence once in this country made worse when a woman is dependent upon a male partner to stay [here]... and extreme barriers to reproductive and sexual health care so critical to immigrant women who are here during their childbearing and parenting years. A law like the one in Arizona exacerbates all of these situations.

Yet even though women are the new-immigrant majority, and are uniquely impacted as outlined above, Newman makes note of the reality that immigration policies have never taken women's experiences and expertise into account; of course, in order to bring about truly comprehensive immigration reform, women's policy priorities will finally need to be addressed. Ms. Foundation grantees like the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and their executive director, Silvia Henriquez (a 2010 Gloria Award winner) understand this, and are leading the way to promote the solutions of immigrant women at policymaking tables to once and for all advance inclusive and just reform. What we need now is for the government (federal and state) to listen -- and to decisively act.

Take the time to Newman's piece and then visit Puentaz.org to learn how you can take action on behalf of women and families in Arizona -- today's front line in the national immigration debate. And view some powerful images from last Monday's Mother's Day March in Phoenix, supported with a grant from the Ms. Foundation for Women.

In Honor of Mother's Day, Speak Out for Immigrant Women's Rights

Ms. Foundation for Women grantee National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) is speaking out about the injustices visited upon immigrant women in communities nationwide.

In Tuesday's Roll Call, NLIRH's executive director, Silvia Henriquez -- 2010 Ms. Foundation Woman of Vision awardee -- published a stirring opinion piece underscoring the price immigrant women and their families are paying as a result of misguided immigration policies like the one recently signed into law in Arizona. Take the case of Juana Villegas, a Latina living in Tennessee, who, two years ago,

...was arrested for a routine traffic violation in Nashville after leaving a clinic for a pre-natal visit and detained when she was unable to produce a license. Despite the fact that driving without a license is a misdemeanor in Tennessee that generally leads to a citation, Ms. Villegas was taken into custody due to suspicions about her immigration status.

Ms. Villegas was jailed for six days, during which time she gave birth to a little boy while shackled to a bed under the watchful eye of the sheriff's officer. Barred from speaking to her husband, her baby was taken from her upon birth... local police also confiscated Villegas' breast pump.

Stories like Villegas' highlight how desperately our immigration policies require reform -- and how painfully our broken system can impact women's lives. In honor of Mother's Day, take the time to read the entirety of Henriquez's piece, and encourage your friends to do the same. It's time to shed light on how immigration policies deny women, and their families, the humanity they deserve.

Two Upcoming Conference Calls: Learn About Impact of Health Reform on Women, Families and Immigrants

Following are two great upcoming opportunities offered by Ms. Foundation grantee partners to learn more about how the new health-care reform bill will both help and harm women and families, including immigrants.

Wednesday, April 7, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) will host a virtual "Cafecito on Health Reform," (an informal discussion over coffee via conference call) to share their perspectives on the new legislation. NLIRH writes:

Health care reform was recently signed into law, however, for Latinas, the result is a mixed-bag. Join us to learn about provisions that help and hurt women and immigrants, and the timeline for implementation of benefits. You will also hear about state based initiatives being proposed and how this can affect health care reform in your state.

The call will be conducted in English from 12-1pm EST, and in Spanish from 1-2pm EST. Register for the NLIRH cafecito in English here and in Spanish here.

Thursday, April 8, the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), featured today in the New York Times article, "Overhaul Will Lower the Costs of Being a Woman," will be hosting a special webinar, "How Women Will Benefit from Health Care Reform," from 1-2pm EST. NWLC writes:

Now that health care reform is the law of the land, it’s time to celebrate and get the facts about the real changes for women’s lives. To understand how this important victory will benefit women and their families register for our special webinar about how health care reform will benefit women.

During the webinar, we’ll provide a summary of the key provisions impacting women and their families and outline what to expect with the new law in effect. We’ll also explain what the restrictions on abortion coverage mean for women and talk about the fight that lies ahead to fix these dangerous barriers.

Register for the NWLC event here.

Also, check out another new resource from our grantee, Raising Women's Voices, on the pros and cons of health care reform [pdf].

Health Care and Immigrant Women's Rights: New York Times Letter by Ms. Foundation Grantee

As we noted in our last post, Ms. Foundation grantees like the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health are connecting health care reform to key issues like immigrants' rights. Yesterday, NLIRH Executive Director Sylvia Henriquez addressed this critical link in a letter to the editor published by the New York Times:

To the Editor:

Re “Coverage Without Borders,” by Roger Mahony (Op-Ed, Dec. 8):

Cardinal Mahony’s article in favor of health care access for immigrants is an important message to elected officials grappling with reform legislation. Sadly, I couldn’t help note the irony of advocating on behalf of immigrants, while in the same breath urging policy makers to deny reproductive health care for millions of women. Over half of all immigrants are women.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health knows very well the devastating impact of making abortion elusive for those who can’t pay with personal funds. Latinas are among the poorest in this country and tend to lack access to health insurance in higher numbers than other groups. In fact, one in four women living in poverty who wants to choose abortion can’t because politicians prevent federal tax dollars from covering the procedure.

The lesson learned from the last three decades of misguided federal policy on abortion is that creating a two-tier system of access to health care is unfair, punitive and harmful.

To quote Cardinal Mahony: “To allow people’s basic health needs to be trumped by divisive politics violates American standards of decency and compassion.” We couldn’t agree more.

Silvia Henriquez
Executive Director
National Latina Institute
for Reproductive Health
New York, Dec. 8, 2009

Grassroots Women's Voices Rally for Health Care Reform in NYC

Congratulations to Ms. Foundation grantee Raising Women's Voices on a successful rally in New York City for just and inclusive health care reform! RWV organized the Women's Walk for Health Reform, which drew attention from the New York Times and brought together 14 NYC-based organizations, including another Ms. grantee, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, to advocate for women's access to quality, affordable health care. RWV's Women's Walk was part of a joint rally, attended by anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 people including representatives of over 75 groups. The entire event was organized by NYC for Change, Health Care for America Now and Organizing for America.

According to Raising Women's Voices, the rally represented "a wide array of health reform supporters -- from unions to physicians to low-income people and even Upper West Side baby boomers -- [who] walked to Times Square from hospitals all across the city."

Read the Raising Women's Voices blog for more on the rally and watch a New York Times slide show of the event.

Raising Women's Voices is hosting or participating in a number of other events, rallies and town halls across the U.S. Join in and add your voice if you can!

Photographs: Diane Greene Lent

Ms. Foundation President Joins Discussions on Women Immigrants

Last week, Ms. Foundation President & CEO Sara K. Gould moderated a discussion among leading immigrants' rights advocates--including current and former grantees--and ethnic media exploring the growing number and changing role of women immigrants in the U.S. and the ramifications for immigration reform. Ms. Gould also participated on a similar panel at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in May. The sessions accompanied the release of "Women Immigrants: Stewards of the 21st Century Family," a poll published by New American Media.

[Photo: New American Media. From Left: Silvia Henriquez, Executive Director, Ms. Foundation grantee National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health; Sara K. Gould, President and CEO, Ms. Foundation for Women at poll announcement at the National Press Club.]

Outrageous Act: Demand Health Service and Materials in English and Spanish

To ensure your health, demand that your doctor’s office provides materials and service in both English and Spanish.

Bibiana Martinez, Community Mobilization Intern, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

Sara K. Gould in Discussions About Immigration and Women

As discussions about immigration reform, health care reform and the economy dominate conversations in Congress and legislative halls nationwide, we're thrilled to have opportunities to join leading grassroots and national policy experts to discuss the current reality faced by immigrant women and their families and the policy and organizing solutions that are most needed to ensure human rights and social justice for immigrants throughout the U.S.

On Thursday 14 May 2009, Sara K. Gould, President & CEO of the Ms. Foundation and Sylvia Henriquez, Executive Director of Foundation grantee the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) appeared on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC in New York City. The radio session followed their appearance at the release of a new poll on women immigrants conducted by New America Media. On the panel, at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C., Sara and Sylvia were joined by: Olga Vives, Executive Vice President of the National Organization for Women; Karen Narasaki, President and Executive Director of the Asian American Justice Center; and Angela Kelly, Vice President for Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress.

(Download the complete poll Women Immigrants: Stewards of the 21st Century [pdf]. Learn more about the poll, including an audio commentary by Sandy Close and Richard Rodriguez.)

Listen to or download the Brian Lehrer Show appearance

Download mp3 recording.