Choice under attack in the Senate

Even though we're just a week into President Obama's administration, we can already see what a world of difference pro-choice leadership makes: one of his very first acts was to repeal the global gag rule! We sent more than 25,000 thank-you messages to the White House within days—thank you!

Unfortunately, we're not out of the woods. As we expected, our opponents in Congress are using women's freedom and privacy as a political football, and are attacking choice on several fronts right now.

We won't stand by while anti-choice leaders at the national and local levels block women's access to abortion and even birth control. Help us fight these attacks today.

My best,
Nancy Keenan
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

Anti-choice members of Congress on the attackYou may have heard the news: anti-choice House Minority Leader John Boehner derailed a family-planning proposal in the economic-rescue package that would have saved taxpayer dollars and helped make birth control more affordable for women hurt by the economic crisis.

The attacks don't end there. This week our opponents in the Senate are using a bill that would fund children's health insurance as an opportunity to launch no fewer than three separate attacks on reproductive freedom!

Urge your senators to oppose these anti-choice amendments!



Anti-choice movement's "guerilla warfare" While anti-choice House Minority Leader John Boehner and his allies in Congress are attacking choice on the federal level, we expect our opponents to take the fight to local clinics, pharmacies, and school boards.

Jill Stanek, a prominent anti-choice blogger, said this to Newsweek.com: "[President Obama]'s got the House, he's got the Senate, so I think we may go more guerilla warfare, or go back to working harder on your own turf, protesting at your abortion clinic in your town."

We won't stand by while Stanek and others block access to abortion and even birth control. Help us fight these attacks today.

HALL OF FAME AND HALL OF SHAME

FAME: President Barack Obama Just days into his presidency, pro-choice President Barack Obama took swift and decisive action to end one of George Bush's worst policies: the global gag rule. Better yet, the U.S. Senate stood behind Obama yesterday by rejecting by a vote of 60-37 an amendment to restore the global gag rule. By repealing this policy, health clinics in developing countries will once again be able to offer the world's poorest women access to the reproductive-health services that every woman deserves. Learn more >> SHAME: Gov. Sarah PalinA new report shows Alaska had the nation's biggest increase in the teen birth rate from 2005 to 2006. Gov. Sarah Palin's response? She's declared her support for anti-choice parental-consent legislation that would do nothing to prevent teen pregnancy in her state, but instead could actually endanger the lives of young women. She's ignoring a public-health crisis and playing politics with Alaskan teens' health. Learn more >>

CHOICE IN THE NEWS

Ashley Judd helps celebrate 36 years of Roe v. Wade and the overturn of the global gag rule Another troubling study on "abstinence-only" programs and decreased contraceptive use Nancy Keenan in Politico: As politics change, so does debate The introduction of the Prevention First Act in Congress More News >>

House passes fair pay bill

The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay act by a vote of 250-177. The vote was almost along party lines, with only a few Democrats voting against it and a few Republicans crossing the line and voting for it.

The Republicans also lost a motion to commit vote, which would have sent the bill back to committee, the grave yard of good and bad bills alike.

The Senate passed the bill last week and it will go to President Obama for his signature.

What does Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Bill do? It allows employees to take action against employers for pay discrimination within 180 days of the last paycheck.

This is significant because the SCOTUS recently handed down a ruling that destroyed workers' rights.

From the National Women's Law Center:

"The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would reverse the damaging Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and help to ensure that individuals subjected to unlawful pay discrimination are able to effectively assert their rights under the federal anti-discrimination laws.

In Ledbetter, the Supreme Court held that employees cannot challenge ongoing compensation discrimination if the employer's original discriminatory decision occurred more than 180 days before, even when the employee continues to receive paychecks that have been discriminatorily reduced."

It is unfair to flame the court on this. The court was following the letter of the law. Congress adjusted the various laws to set the 180 day (that's half a year) time frame.

Anyone who has worked in a non-union job knows how tough it is to even find out if pay discrimination occurred. Discussions about pay rates are generally verboten at work and not considered a topic for polite conversation any where. (Collective bargaining agreements are a bit different since pay rates are negotiated by the union.)

Incidentally, Ms. Ledbetter worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for 19 years before she discovered the pay discrimination. She has also been lobbying for the act for a long time. On a side note, this both confirms that wage discrimination is not always readily apparent and not all lobbyists are bad people.

This is a great day for workers. Women's groups have been at the forefront of this debate, but it seems Lilly Ledbetter protects any worker who has been the victim of wage discrimination for any reason.

Naturally, the Republicans have been whining about how this will "hurt the economy." Pay them no heed. That is the standard line on any bill that would protect employees from arbitrary discrimination by greedy employers.

This is truly a victory for the Democrats that we helped to elect to the 111th Congress.

Say goodbye to the global gag rule

Week 1: Repeal the global gag rule.

Check.

Thank President Obama for his swift action.

Thirty-six years after Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, President Barack Obama took swift and decisive action today to end one of George Bush's worst policies: the global gag rule.

Let's respond just as quickly with our thanks and support.

Under the global gag rule, millions of women and their families have suffered.

The global gag rule canceled funding for many overseas health clinics, forcing them to cut their staff, limit services, and sometimes close their doors entirely. In many cases, these health clinics were the only local sources of birth control for women!

This outrageous policy severely limits women's access to family-planning services, which can lead to tragic results—higher rates of unintended and high-risk pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and maternal death.

President Obama's decision to reverse the policy and release the funds for family planning overseas will enable women worldwide to have access to the comprehensive health care they deserve and need, including birth control.

Please join me now in thanking President Obama for giving these women a new hope for the future.

Unfortunately, anti-choice groups are bombarding the White House with messages and running vicious ads on TV and online that distort the truth about a woman's right to choose. That's why after you've thanked our new president, we need your help to spread the word to your friends and family.

We look forward to working with President Obama over the years as our ally on women's freedom and privacy, and he deserves to know that the full strength of America's pro-choice majority stands with him.

Thank you for all that you do!

My best,

Nancy Keenan
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

P.S. Our opponents plan to spend millions attacking President Obama's pro-choice position. We're fighting back with everything we've got, but we need your support. Please make a generous contribution today.

Help Make More History Today

In his first days in office, President-elect Obama can begin to restore reproductive freedom for women by repealing the global gag rule. It’s time to end this destructive policy that has caused so much suffering among the world’s poorest women. And you can help!

With your support, we can urge President-elect Obama to reverse the Bush global gag rule and work with the new Congress to help protect a woman’s right to choose.

The global gag rule canceled funding for many overseas health clinics, forcing them to cut their staff, limit services, and sometimes close their doors entirely. In many cases, these health clinics were the only local source of birth control and prenatal care for women!

This outrageous policy severely limits women's access to family-planning services, which can lead to tragic results -- higher rates of unintended and high-risk pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and maternal deaths.

President-elect Obama can reverse this policy and release the funds for family planning overseas to enable women worldwide to have access to the comprehensive health care they deserve, including birth control.

In addition to asking the incoming administration to reverse the global gag rule, we can also work to increase our investment in family-planning here at home though the Title X program and to reverse the Bush administration’s last minute Federal Refusal Rule, which could deny women access to birth control and abortion care. But it will take your advocacy and your financial support for our work to succeed.

The incoming president and new Congress have many pressing issues to attend to; with your help, we will be sure that women’s access to affordable reproductive-health care is among these issues.

In these challenging financial times for our country and across the globe, it is all the more important to protect women’s health by ensuring they have access to one of the most basic services they need: family planning.

Will you help NARAL Pro-Choice America take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to repeal Bush’s destructive policies and restore our reproductive rights at every level?

Please donate now to help us protect choice for generations to come!

Women are counting on us, and we are counting on you. Please donate today.

My Best,

Nancy Keenan
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

PS: Even as we welcome our new pro-choice president to the White House, you can count on our most ardent anti-choice opponents not folding up their tents and leaving quietly. They will fight with all they have to cling to the gains they have made in the last eight years. Donate online today to help us jump-start our plans to encourage President-elect Obama to reverse Bush’s anti-choice legacy.