- Elena Kagan was sworn in as the fourth woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Joining Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, she now becomes the third woman on the current court -- which has never before happened in the history of this nation. The Ms. Foundation congratulates Justice Kagan on her extraordinary achievement, and applauds President Obama for bringing us part way to some long-awaited gender balance on the United States Supreme Court.
- Proposition 8 was overturned in California! Along with millions of Americans, we were overjoyed to learn that the ban on same-sex marriage in California had been struck down -- in no uncertain terms. Finding that Proposition 8 definitively discriminated against gay and lesbian couples, the ruling by Judge Vaughn R. Walker has been heralded by legal scholars and commentators as a remarkably well-researched and nuanced decision that may leave little room for dissent upon appeal to the higher courts. And there will indeed be appeals; this one is likely headed all the way to the Supreme Court.
It’s still uncertain what our highest court will do if and when the case lands before them -- but for now, joy is the order of the day. Big congrats to all of our GLBTQ sisters and brothers!
09 August 2010
Cheers for Justice Kagan, Prop 8 Ruling
Two amazing things happened last week that we just have to pause to celebrate:
Join the Fight for Comprehensive Sexuality Education
Former Ms. Foundation grantee Advocates for Youth is pushing to bring comprehensive sex ed to every state in the nation -- and they need your help!
Thanks to the hard work of thousands of advocates around the country, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has officially launched the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), allowing states to apply for $55 million in first-of-its-kind federal funding for comprehensive sex education. Now the key is to get state governors to actually apply to bring that funding to their states.
Urge your Governor to apply for PREP funding to bring comprehensive sex ed to your community!
States have until August 30th to make their intention to apply known -- so time is short. Make sure the leadership in your state capital knows that you support the teaching of medically accurate sexuality eduction, not abstinence-only programs that have been proven ineffective but continue to garner support at the highest levels of governance, in terms of both domestic and international policy.
Take action on behalf comprehensive sex-ed today!
Thanks to the hard work of thousands of advocates around the country, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has officially launched the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), allowing states to apply for $55 million in first-of-its-kind federal funding for comprehensive sex education. Now the key is to get state governors to actually apply to bring that funding to their states.
Urge your Governor to apply for PREP funding to bring comprehensive sex ed to your community!
States have until August 30th to make their intention to apply known -- so time is short. Make sure the leadership in your state capital knows that you support the teaching of medically accurate sexuality eduction, not abstinence-only programs that have been proven ineffective but continue to garner support at the highest levels of governance, in terms of both domestic and international policy.
Take action on behalf comprehensive sex-ed today!
04 August 2010
In US, Child Care Costs Outpace College Tuition
According to a report [pdf] just released by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, in 39 states across America, a year of child care now costs more than the annual tuition at a public university. And for an increasing number of families, expenditures on child care now top the amount of money spent monthly on food.
As you'll see in the following video, which ran on Good Morning America earlier this week, the staggering cost of child care is putting more and more families in a terrible bind as the economy continues to flag: without child care, parents can't work or look for work -- but low wage jobs and lack of employment make it impossible for them to afford the child care they need.
Ms. Foundation grantee All Our Kin stands at the forefront of the fight to make child care safe and affordable. They are campaigning hard to ensure that Care4Kids, Connecticut's child care subsidy program, remains funded and functioning -- so that families like the ones profiled in this video are spared some of the impossible choices put before them. The group was recently able to secure ARRA funding from the Department of Social Services that will help them train up to 400 family child care providers across the state of Connecticut, providing education, employment and quality, collaborative child care to those who need it most.
Learn more about how the Ms. Foundation partners with grassroots groups to promote just economic policies that benefit women, families and communities.
As you'll see in the following video, which ran on Good Morning America earlier this week, the staggering cost of child care is putting more and more families in a terrible bind as the economy continues to flag: without child care, parents can't work or look for work -- but low wage jobs and lack of employment make it impossible for them to afford the child care they need.
Ms. Foundation grantee All Our Kin stands at the forefront of the fight to make child care safe and affordable. They are campaigning hard to ensure that Care4Kids, Connecticut's child care subsidy program, remains funded and functioning -- so that families like the ones profiled in this video are spared some of the impossible choices put before them. The group was recently able to secure ARRA funding from the Department of Social Services that will help them train up to 400 family child care providers across the state of Connecticut, providing education, employment and quality, collaborative child care to those who need it most.
Learn more about how the Ms. Foundation partners with grassroots groups to promote just economic policies that benefit women, families and communities.
03 August 2010
Grantee 'Parent Voices' Organizes to Save Child Care in CA
One of the great things about working at the Ms. Foundation is that you get the chance to be utterly inspired by the work our grantees are doing, often on a daily basis. Today, that inspiration emanates from California, where our grantee Parent Voices is using remarkably creative methods to counter proposed budget cuts that would seriously threaten child care programs throughout the state.
Parent Voices is a parent-led grassroots organization fighting to make quality child care affordable and accessible to all families. Because they are based in California, they have a special interest in fighting Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal to eliminate nearly all state funding for child care. From subsidies to infrastructure -- you name it, and the Governator is looking to do away with it.
Along with using traditional measures to challenge these proposed cuts (partnering with legislative leaders; building coalitions), the leaders at PV also came up with an ingenious tactic for raising awareness of the issue and encouraging more folks to speak out against the cuts.
Timed to coincide with the opening of the California State Fair in mid-July, PV created an event called the "California State UN-Fair," which drew an audience of more than 250 parents, children and child care providers from around the state. The event's goal was to spread the word that cuts to child care are only likely to result in further job losses, and to urge the state legislature to protect programs that keep parents and child care providers working. The carnival-themed event featured games like:
Not only did the event draw a crowd in the hundreds, but more than 25 media outlets picked up the story and ran with it. Legislators and other local organizations had nothing but great feedback to share -- and most importantly, just one day later, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, Labor and HHS (which Barbara Lee sits on), approved a $700 million increase to the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Two weeks later, the Senate Appropriations Committee increased federal child care funding by $1 billion.
What a win for PV! The problems with child care in California aren't over by a long-shot, but their creative, compelling organizing is helping to build a safer world for millions of children across their state and beyond.
See what we mean by inspiring?
Parent Voices is a parent-led grassroots organization fighting to make quality child care affordable and accessible to all families. Because they are based in California, they have a special interest in fighting Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal to eliminate nearly all state funding for child care. From subsidies to infrastructure -- you name it, and the Governator is looking to do away with it.
Along with using traditional measures to challenge these proposed cuts (partnering with legislative leaders; building coalitions), the leaders at PV also came up with an ingenious tactic for raising awareness of the issue and encouraging more folks to speak out against the cuts.
Timed to coincide with the opening of the California State Fair in mid-July, PV created an event called the "California State UN-Fair," which drew an audience of more than 250 parents, children and child care providers from around the state. The event's goal was to spread the word that cuts to child care are only likely to result in further job losses, and to urge the state legislature to protect programs that keep parents and child care providers working. The carnival-themed event featured games like:
- "The Wheel of Misfortune" -- where, however you spin the wheel, a proposed child care cut or welfare cut results in families suffering and the loss of a job
- "Funding Tug O' War" -- to show how proposed cuts to health and human services impact both children and their parents
- "The Child Care Gamble" -- where a toy landing on either rent, utilities, gas, and car insurance determined which bill would not be paid if cuts to child care went through
Not only did the event draw a crowd in the hundreds, but more than 25 media outlets picked up the story and ran with it. Legislators and other local organizations had nothing but great feedback to share -- and most importantly, just one day later, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, Labor and HHS (which Barbara Lee sits on), approved a $700 million increase to the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Two weeks later, the Senate Appropriations Committee increased federal child care funding by $1 billion.
What a win for PV! The problems with child care in California aren't over by a long-shot, but their creative, compelling organizing is helping to build a safer world for millions of children across their state and beyond.
See what we mean by inspiring?
02 August 2010
Access Denied: Women in Blue States Struggle to Obtain Abortion Services
Think that just because you live in a state that puts progressives in office you've got relatively unfettered access to abortion and other reproductive health services? Time to think again.
To prove just how restrictive some so-called "Blue states" continue to be when it comes to our reproductive rights, RH Reality Check and the ACLU have teamed up for a "Reproductive Justice Roadtrip" across the state of Illinois, documenting the barriers and challenges women face when trying to access reproductive health services in the Prairie State.
Today's first-person entry into this debate comes from Amy S., a resident of the Chicago suburbs who learned at 25 weeks gestation that her fetus had a "catastrophic brain malformation" -- one that would result, if the fetus was carried to term, in a short life filled with excruciating pain. Amy chose to end her pregnancy, but finding a facility that would comply with her wishes within the state of Illinois turned out to be impossible:
We applaud RH Reality Check and the ACLU for shining a light on the many, complex ways the fight for reproductive justice impacts women's lives -- and we urge you to learn more about the laws in your own state and how the debate is unfurling at the federal level. As we speak, there is legislation winding its way through Congress that would seek to make permanent the provisions of the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding of abortion services (currently the amendment has to be reaffirmed by a congressional vote every year; this new bill would set the law in stone). Measures like these make accessing reproductive health services more difficult for all women, but they have an undue and disproportionate impact on low-income women and women of color -- who are literally trapped by the economic barriers that stand between them and their right to decide the fate of their own bodies.
We're so glad Amy was able to make the decision that was right for her. Here's to the day when every woman in America has access to the same set of choices.
The Ms. Foundation for Women has been working to support reproductive rights, health, and justice since our inception -- and together with our grantee partners, we are dedicated to ensuring that stories like Amy's are increasingly rare. To see some of our grantees' work in action, check out Family Planning Advocates' website, or visit the National Women's Law Center's "Reproductive Choices" page.
Help support these organizations and programs today! Donate now and a special matching grant will double your support -- dollar-for-dollar -- for reproductive justice organizations led by women of color.
To prove just how restrictive some so-called "Blue states" continue to be when it comes to our reproductive rights, RH Reality Check and the ACLU have teamed up for a "Reproductive Justice Roadtrip" across the state of Illinois, documenting the barriers and challenges women face when trying to access reproductive health services in the Prairie State.
Today's first-person entry into this debate comes from Amy S., a resident of the Chicago suburbs who learned at 25 weeks gestation that her fetus had a "catastrophic brain malformation" -- one that would result, if the fetus was carried to term, in a short life filled with excruciating pain. Amy chose to end her pregnancy, but finding a facility that would comply with her wishes within the state of Illinois turned out to be impossible:
What I had to do [to terminate this pregnancy] shocked and astounded me. In a "blue" state, I never imagined that I would be told my OBs could not induce labor at my local hospital... UIC, Rush, U of C, Evanston, Northwestern, Lutheran General, and my local hospital, Delnor, all said no. I was too far along at 25 weeks. At least at Lutheran General, it got before the ethics committee, but they said no because I was not "their" patient. Where did that leave me? Dr. Tiller's clinic in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. Tiller who was killed last year.Amy and her family had the means to ensure that she could indeed end her pregnancy as she wished. Many, if not most, women would have been denied that opportunity because they simply couldn't have afforded it. The notion that any woman should have to go to such extreme means -- financial, logistical and emotional -- to defend her own right to choose strikes us as simply unacceptable, and offensive, so many years after Roe vs. Wade became the law of the land.
The fee had to be paid in cash, up front. All told, including travel, it cost us $6000. Blue Cross denied my claim as out of network. I appealed and they denied it again.
We applaud RH Reality Check and the ACLU for shining a light on the many, complex ways the fight for reproductive justice impacts women's lives -- and we urge you to learn more about the laws in your own state and how the debate is unfurling at the federal level. As we speak, there is legislation winding its way through Congress that would seek to make permanent the provisions of the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding of abortion services (currently the amendment has to be reaffirmed by a congressional vote every year; this new bill would set the law in stone). Measures like these make accessing reproductive health services more difficult for all women, but they have an undue and disproportionate impact on low-income women and women of color -- who are literally trapped by the economic barriers that stand between them and their right to decide the fate of their own bodies.
We're so glad Amy was able to make the decision that was right for her. Here's to the day when every woman in America has access to the same set of choices.
The Ms. Foundation for Women has been working to support reproductive rights, health, and justice since our inception -- and together with our grantee partners, we are dedicated to ensuring that stories like Amy's are increasingly rare. To see some of our grantees' work in action, check out Family Planning Advocates' website, or visit the National Women's Law Center's "Reproductive Choices" page.
Help support these organizations and programs today! Donate now and a special matching grant will double your support -- dollar-for-dollar -- for reproductive justice organizations led by women of color.
Social Justice in the Garden: A Huge Success!
On Wednesday, July 28, the Ms. Foundation for Women hosted an exciting event for young professionals in New York City. "Social Justice in the Garden" drew approximately 50 friends and supporters to La Plaza Cultural, a community garden that is one of Manhattan’s hidden treasures. Together, we mixed, mingled and learned that:- Fierce and powerful advocates like Domestic Workers United can convince Albany to do the right thing -- in July 2010, their multi-year campaign succeeded and they celebrated the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights;
- "If you can't slap 'em, snap 'em": Hollaback makes it possible to fight street harassment with cell phones, by providing a platform that collects pictures of street harassers in action;
- Legal Momentum provides security to women at risk of losing their homes because of domestic violence;
- The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum elevate the voices of women and girls who, all too often, are invisible in political conversations.
Thank you to everyone who came out and made the evening engaging and inspiring!
Read here for information on preserving vital, grassroots-run community gardens like La Plaza Cultural and its peers, which are at risk of losing the legal protections that guard against using the land for development purposes.
If you missed the event, but would like to be added to the growing number of young professionals supporting the Foundation, email Irene Xanthoudakis at IXanthoudakis@Ms.Foundation.org and Join Us on Facebook.
Van Jones Keeps Hope Alive
Jones, who is the co-founder of Ms. Foundation grantee Green for All, addressed the crowd at Netroots on the topic of "Hope and Heartbreak," outlining how a green economy can save America's future and urging progressives to "keep hope alive" even in the midst of the many challenges we face.
We kid you not: you probably haven't heard a speech this inspiring since the presidential campaign of 2008. What an excellent way to start the week. [See video below.]
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