This week our members hit the phones to call on their senators to enact the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. On Wednesday, we came close but fell three senators short of the 60 necessary to force a vote.
As disappointed as I was by the result, I was even more upset when I came across a news report regarding the reaction of Senator John McCain, who failed even to show up for the vote.
McCain said the gap between the pay of women and men in this country isn't due to discrimination. Women just need more "education and training" to earn as much as men.
Tell Senator McCain that what women need is equal justice under the law.
Lilly Ledbetter worked 19 years at Goodyear before she learned the men at her level were earning far more for the same work. She sued, and stood up for inequality by taking her case all the way to the Supreme Court—where five male justices ruled her claim invalid because she filed it more than 180 days after the discrimination started. Now, Senator McCain is blocking a vote on legislation to correct this injustice—and in the process, he seems willing to roll back 50 years of women's rights.
Sign our petition asking Senator McCain to take back his sexist statements and stop blocking this crucial vote.
Another vote will be called soon, possibly within days. If we can stop senators like John McCain from blocking a vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the bill, which has already passed the House, will surely pass the Senate as well.
I'm asking all my friends to stand up for the rights of women in the workplace. I hope you will, too.
Sincerely,
Laura Scher, CEO
CREDO Mobile
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
More prevalent than Facebook and American Idol
What's the latest trend among teen girls? Unfortunately, it's not just Facebook or American Idol.
It's the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases.
Last month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the shocking fact that at least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a STD. One in four!
Even as the teen STD crisis deepens, the Bush administration continues to funnel millions in taxpayer dollars to dangerous and discredited "abstinence-only" programs that replace lessons about birth control with lies about contraceptive failure.
Now that the House of Representatives has returned to pro-choice leadership, Congress is finally taking action and I hope you do, too.
Please urge your lawmakers to end funding for President Bush's reckless "abstinence-only" programs.
Yesterday, a House committee—led by pro-choice champion Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)—held its first-ever oversight hearing on Bush's dangerous "abstinence-only" policy.
What disturbing information was revealed?
- Expert after expert testified that, ten years and $1.5 billion in taxpayer dollars later, "abstinence-only" programs still do not work.
- Worse yet, by denying teens information about how to protect themselves, these ineffective programs are doing active harm.
Your action today can make a difference. Yesterday's hearing was a huge step in the right direction. Now we need your help to flood House members with emails opposing funding for these discredited programs.
Please take action right now; it will take only a few minutes. Thank you for your continued support.
My best,
Nancy Keenan
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America
Friday, April 18, 2008
Prevent a Disaster
McCain is peddling his “moderate” message unchallenged across the country.
The unthinkable is happening …
McCain’s candidacy is growing stronger since he’s become the Republican nominee for president. You and I know there’s nothing moderate about John McCain when it comes to a woman’s right to choose. That is why I am asking you to take the next step in your commitment to women’s reproductive freedom and choice -- become a Partner for Choice with NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Click here - join Partners for Choice today.
Quite simply, Partners for Choice are our most important, dedicated members. Each partner of this exceptional group pledges to make a modest but vital gift of $10, $20 or more a month. The ongoing power that these gifts give us is incredible, especially now as McCain grows stronger.
Our goal is to recruit at least 35 new Partners for Choice in the next two weeks -- in honor of the 35 years that abortion has been safe and legal. I hope you, Dottye, will be among them.
McCain has already voted against choice 125 times out of 130 opportunities since 1983. He has:- Supported anti-choice Supreme Court nominees -- like Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and even Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork!
- Voted against insurance coverage for birth control.
- Supported “abstinence-only” programs.
The ongoing support of our valued Partners for Choice helps ensure we have a steady, reliable revenue stream, month after month to plan long-term strategies as John McCain tries to sneak into the White House posing as a moderate. Or, when opponents of women’s reproductive rights try to restrict access to legal means of birth control or even accurate sex education.
Make no mistake. The consequences of a McCain presidency would be disastrous. Our next president may appoint TWO Supreme Court Justices, dramatically changing the make-up of the Court, the future of Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose. We CANNOT allow John McCain to be that president!
Sincerely,
Nancy Keenan, President
NARAL Pro-Choice America
P.S. I hope you will be one of 35 new Partners for Choice. Please make your monthly contribution today.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Supreme Court
As the Political Director for NARAL Pro-Choice America, I want to personally thank you for everything you do to protect a woman’s right to choose. Since Nancy wrote you just four days ago, we’ve made great progress toward our Choice Challenge 2008 Fund goal of raising $65,000. We have just $15,254 to go, and you can help us get there! There is no better time than now to give, because by making a donation today, you’ll double the impact of your gift.
The next president of the United States will likely appoint two Supreme Court Justices. Sen. John McCain voted to confirm Justices Thomas, Roberts, and Alito. But he’s not just anti-choice….he’s anti-birth control! Sen. McCain has never cosponsored or supported legislation that would prevent unintended pregnancy or reduce the need for abortion. We can’t let John McCain become our next president.
I cannot overstate how reliant we are on your financial support for our work this year. The political team has our work cut out for us in 2008, but your commitment makes it possible for us to step up our efforts, when so much is at stake for choice, while continuing to safeguard choice day-in and day-out.
Thank you!
NARAL Pro-Choice America
Sunday, April 6, 2008
U.S. Funded Health Search Engine Blocks 'Abortion'
By SARAH LAI STIRLAND
April 4, 2008
A U.S. government-funded medical information site that bills itself as the world's largest database on reproductive health has quietly begun to block searches on the word "abortion," concealing nearly 25,000 search results.
April 4, 2008
A U.S. government-funded medical information site that bills itself as the world's largest database on reproductive health has quietly begun to block searches on the word "abortion," concealing nearly 25,000 search results.
Called Popline, the search site is run by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland. It's funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, the federal office in charge of providing foreign aid, including health care funding, to developing nations.
The massive database indexes a broad range of reproductive health literature, including titles like "Previous abortion and the risk of low birth weight and preterm births," and "Abortion in the United States: Incidence and access to services, 2005."
But on Thursday, a search on "abortion" was producing only the message "No records found by latest query."
Stephen Goldstein, a spokesman for Johns Hopkins, said he wasn't aware of the censorship, and couldn't immediately comment.
Under a Reagan-era policy revived by President Bush in 2001, USAID denies funding to non-governmental organizations that perform abortions, or that "actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations."
A librarian at the University of California at San Francisco noticed the new censorship on Monday, while carrying out a routine research request on behalf of academics and researchers at the university. The search term had functioned properly as of January.
Puzzled, she contacted the manager of the database, Johns Hopkins' Debbie Dickson, who replied in an April 1st e-mail that the university had recently begun blocking the search term because the database received federal funding.
"We recently made all abortion terms stop words," Dickson wrote in a note to Gloria Won, the UCSF medical center librarian making the inquiry. "As a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now."
There was no notice of the change on the site.
Dickson suggested other kinds of more obscure search strategies and alternative words to get around the keyword blocking.
"In addition to the terms you're already using, you could try using 'Fertility Control, Postconception'. This is the broader term to our 'abortion' terms and most records have both in the keyword fields," she wrote.
She also suggested using a euphemistic search strategy of "unwanted w/2 pregnancy." But the workarounds don't satisfy critics of the censorship.
"The main function of their site is keyword search, and if you use a phrase that contains the word 'abortion,' it ignores it," notes Melissa Just, the library director at the cancer research institute and hospital named City of Hope in Duarte, California. Just followed the conversation on a listserv and said she was outraged when she found out about the censorship incident.
"Even if you were trying to make an argument to someone that abortion is a bad idea for them -- whether it's a health risk, or you're concerned about their mental well being, you wouldn't be able to find articles about your claim," she notes. "It's shutting off both the pro and the con access."
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
John McCain said Roe v. Wade is flawed and must be overturned.
Do you want him choosing our next Supreme Court Justice? We need $65,000 right away.
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Sen. John McCain is anything BUT a moderate when it comes to a woman’s right to choose. Since 1983 Sen. McCain has cast 125 anti-choice votes out of 130 opportunities.
But it gets worse. Sen. McCain has never cosponsored or supported legislation that would prevent unintended pregnancy or reduce the need for abortion. We can’t let John McCain become our next president. Not if we value women's reproductive freedom!
McCain’s record is deplorable! And it’s going to be an uphill battle to spread the truth about “The Real McCain.”
That’s why a group of your fellow NARAL Pro-Choice America members have stepped up to the plate with half of the funds to challenge you -- and all of us -- to make a difference now by getting us to $65,000.
Donate to the Choice Challenge 2008 Fund immediately to double our resources dollar for dollar!
We need you to help us reach the goal of $65,000 for our Protect & Elect campaign, as well as our daily work nationwide to protect a woman's right to choose.
If you can help meet the $65,000 challenge, then we will have twice as much money in-hand to fight for choice.
This opportunity comes when NARAL Pro-Choice America desperately needs the resources to defeat John McCain and keep all of our work going!
The fact is, during a quarter century in Congress, Sen. McCain has shown nothing but contempt for our reproductive freedoms. Now we have a chance to stop him from taking his contempt for choice to the next level!
With your help, we will identify more than one million voters nationwide, tell them the truth about “The Real McCain” through the mail, phone, and other media, and persuade 1.23 million pro-choice Republican and Independent women in key congressional districts to vote pro-choice -- something no other group can or will do.
Donate to the Choice Challenge 2008 Fund immediately! We can’t afford to fail.
Sincerely
Nancy Keenan
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America
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