Women's Health Matters! Day of Action

Monday was the Women's Health Matters Day of Action in Albany, NY. After the "Stop Stupak" lobbying effort in DC in December, I knew I couldn't miss out on more lobbying, especially on a more local and tangible level. I'd never really been to Albany before, and was eager to channel my love for New York into support of family planning funding and other pro-choice initiatives.

On the bus ride up, we were all briefed on what we'd be lobbying for and I was sort of blown away by the scope of the situation. Here are the key points:

Family Planning Funding

• Funding has been frozen at 1993 levels since 1995. One speaker put this in perspective by saying "Can you think of any service that doesn't cost more now than it did in 1995?"
• For every $1 spent on family planning services in New York, $4 in Medicaid costs are saved - in the same budget year.
• For every Medicaid dollar New york spends on family planning, the federal government reimburses the state 90 cents.
• More in 6 in 10 patients receiving care at a women's health center (like Planned Parenthood) consider it their primary source of health care. In other words, this may be the only doctor many people see on a regular basis.

Reproductive Health Act

• On the bus, I learned that the law in New York that legalized abortion needs to be updated. For one thing, it doesn’t allow for abortion if a woman’s health is in danger during her pregnancy, like Roe v. Wade does. This means that if Roe Vs Wade was overturned (worst case scenario), a women would not have the same reproductive health care services available to her in New York that she does now. .
• This act ensures that a woman will be able to have an abortion if her health is endangered, regulates abortion care in public health law instead of the criminal code (where it has been since before 1970), and guarantees everyone the right to use or refuse contraception.
• New York was one of the first states to permit safe and legal abortion, but now the laws need to be strengthened to protect a woman's health and her access to comprehensive reproductive health care.

I was amazed at how dire these issues seem, yet I didn't really know anything about either one beforehand. I guess that makes it more pressing and more important to educate about.

Once we got to Albany, we were ushered to The Well, where we got to see a handful of really amazing speakers and supporters. Tracey Brooks, President and CEO of Family Planning Advocates opened the program; Hon. Thomas DiNapoli, State Comptroller, was remarkably candid and honest in his support of these pro-choice initiatives, and a group of six distinguished state legislators showed their unwavering support before the Governor got to the podium. I've always loved David A. Paterson, and he is a really wonderful, amicable speaker. On the issues I am passionate about, Governor Paterson is without a doubt the best person for the job.



The keynote address was by Michelle Goldberg, author of NYTimes Bestseller The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World. She put all her pro-choice views into a global, intersectional perspective and spoke about the lack of abortion laws in other countries. Without being patronizing or negative, she reminded us that the fight was nowhere near over, not in New York, and not anywhere. Her speech was so moving that my mom and I both ordered her book as soon as we got home (without realizing we were each doing it! So now we'll have two).

My mom and I only had one lobbying visit - state Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, from my district. Thankfully, she was already briefed on our positions, and turned out to be good friends with two of the women accompanying us. She was understanding and open, and our meeting turned out to be rather informal, which was nice. I had never met her before, and I was really pleased to see how much she already knew about family planning funding. She assured us that she would cosign the Reproductive Rights Act (adding that she might have done so already, and that she was pretty sure she had cosigned every reproductive rights bill ever. Very cool.)

One of the best parts of this day, for me, was spending the day with my mom (and her friend Denise! Hi!). She lobbied in Albany 30 years ago, and actually interned with Family Planning Advocates when she was at school at SUNY Albany. Being back in the thick of the action was really exciting for her, and made her want to be more involved again, like she used to be. And, not to toot my own horn, but I was the reason she came to Albany. She is really proud of me for being so active and vocal, but I wouldn't be so passionate if it wasn't for her involvement. A few people thought she had taken me on my first lobbying trip, but it was more like I persuaded her to join me. All in all, it was a cool way ensure that the pro-choice movement is still strong - that the younger generation is getting involved and lobbying just as hard our mothers did - and hey, maybe we're reminding our mothers how good it felt back then.

STOP STUPAK - National Day of Action

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be able to attend the National Day of Action against the Stupak Amendment in Washington, DC.

When I got the first email about the event a few weeks ago, I lamented the fact the Wednesdays I have class straight from 9:30 until 3:35, and couldn't rationalize missing a Wednesday. But after receiving a few more emails, and reading up about Stupak, I couldn't rationalize NOT going down to DC. Skipping classes wasn't even a question once I thought about it. Exercising my right as a citizen, and participating in democracy is infinitely more important than one day of my classes. And what is college preparing me for, if not this? So we went. A group from my WGS 301 class with Minnie Bruce Pratt drove down with a bunch of other other students, totaling at 11!

After an eventful drive down at 4am -- I'll spare you the details, (OK I won't - we ran over a dead deer! It was so crazy! So we lost an hour off the drive waiting for AAA to come help us out. But the damage is very minor, don't worry) we made it into DC just in time for the noon rally. We were ushered to an overflow room since the main room was over capacity - and when we sat down, we noticed that our party was standing right behind the podium! Our friend Andrea was on screen the whole rally! She was directly behind so many famous and influential women, I couldn't believe it. We kept cursing that deer for making us late!

But the rally was incredible. So many women I admire so much! Cecile Richards was the emcee - it was weird seeing her right there - I'm so used to seeing her face as an icon at the bottom of all the emails I get from PPFA! Other memorable speakers were Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), who got the crowd really pumped, and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), who showed us an old campaign poster, when her slogan was "Pro-Choice. Pro-Change." My own representative, Nita Lowey (D-NY!) gave a rousing call to action that made me proud to be from the great 18th district of the Empire State. She's very vocal and wonderful and I love her a lot (She also hooked me up with tickets to Obama's inauguration, back in January!).

Many other important people spoke, and one woman relayed another woman's extremely moving story. The woman was never hugely concerned with abortion rights, since she knew that if she got pregnant, she wouldn't consider getting an abortion. But when she got pregnant with twins, and they were diagnosed with a very dangerous fetal anomaly, she was thrust into the abortion debate. The odds were that both twins would die, unless they elected to abort one in the hopes that the other survived. If the Stupak Amendment passes, this procedure won't be covered by insurance. Luckily for her, 80% of it was covered, and it seemed that it went well - she just finished paying off the bills, 3 years later. She reminded us that these diseases don't choose wealthy people, and that if she wasn't fortunate enough to be covered by issuance and be able to pay for her share of the abortion, there is no way she would've been able to have it, and she would've buried both her twins, not just one. It was incredibly moving, and refocused my thoughts on abortion and why it's necessary that it be safe and legal.

Our room began clearing out for another meeting, and the main room was open, so we went down and saw the end of the rally in person, holding up our signs and waving the our party standing behind the podium. Then we met up with KaeLyn Rich, who I'd never met in person! She told us about a free youth lunch, and about our meeting at 3:15 with Senator Gillibrand.

The lunch was one of the highlights of the day for me. Everyone says that our generation is characterized by apathy and inaction, but this lunch proved that all very wrong. It was full of youth activists and feminists, all passionate and excited. The room was buzzing with excitement. And furthermore, a host of my idols were there. I had spotted Shelby Knox at the rally, and couldn't figure out where I knew her from - and then I realized she's awesome and famous and I've seen her movie! She was at the lunch, as well as Miriam and Jos - two editors from Feministing. Latoya Peterson was there too, from Racialicious and a host of other blogs and media. There were also representatives from a bunch of other organizations that cater to youth, who were willing to talk to us and make connections. It was really a power-lunch, and I met a lot of people I admire. A lot.

Then we walked back to the Senate building to see my senator - Kristen Gillibrand - I wasn't sure it going to actually be her, I heard a lot of people would be meeting with Aides - but sure enough, she walked right in. I sat in the front row, and it was really cool. I've never really seen a politician up close like that. I thought about how powerful she is and how much impact she has on my life, yet she's just a normal lady who is against the Stupak amendment like me. And thankfully, she made that crystal clear. She was unwavering is announcing her opposition to Stupak and her support of our cause. We asked her what we could be doing to help - she said to blog about it, and spread the word. So here I am.

Then Chuck Schumer walked in! I literally gasped when I saw him walk in, I'm not quite sure why. He has so much leverage in the Senate, and is so well-known, I just was so amazed that he was there. And he, too, was very firm and positive about Stupak. He loudly voiced his opposition to any healthcare bill that restricted abortion even further than current laws. He said that what we could do is call our Representatives and tell them that they should yield to the Senate wording (assuming that no Stupak-esque language makes it into the Senate version, which is not yet guaranteed…) of the bill. My friend Mary stood up and told him where our group was from, and thanked him for his work on these issues, and he said Go Orange! It was so exciting! Someone asked him what he would do if the Stupak amendment made it into the final version, after the discussions - would he vote for it? And he basically said No. He sad that he would try to get his colleagues to urge the bill to be sent back, and for that wording to be taken out, before voting yet for healthcare. That was very reassuring to me - I hope he sticks to his guns. I emailed him today urging him to be strong on that promise.

This post is getting long, let me wrap it up. All in all, it was a very cool day. Being in DC, walking around the house and senate office buildings, felt so good and right - this is what we should be doing: making our voices heard. Being surrounded by other pro-choice activists felt so right. It was such an amazing, empowering day. And I left feeling reassured by Schumer's comment - let's all urge our senators to put a stop to these restrictions. We can't let this language make it into the healthcare reform. Women's rights are human rights - it's as simple as that.

With liberty and healthcare for all,
Sammy

PS - read about some of the concerns I had about the day, and some of the tension we felt, over at Conscious Media, the blog for my "Race, Gender and Media" class!

Oh! And that's me on the left!

An Evening With Bill Baird

Last night, being the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Rochester NOW sponsored an event with reproductive rights activist Bill Baird.

Bill Baird is the founder of the Pro-Choice League and was the defendant in the landmark Baird v. Eisenstadt case that established the right to birth control for unmarried people. Previously, birth control had only been ruled a right for married couples in Griswold v. Connecticut. The majority opinion in the case contains the famous and highly significant line: "If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child." The right to privacy cited in the decision was also referenced in Roe v. Wade itself, as well as the more recent case Lawrence v. Texas, which ruled laws prohibiting same-sex sexual activity unconstitutional.

At the event, Baird spoke extensively of his history in the reproductive rights movement, his relatively unknown status, and the controversy surrounding his name and actions. And he certainly is a compelling speaker, if one who enjoys going off on tangents.

Baird discussed the fact that he has been jailed 8 times in 5 different states for showing contraception to poor women, and how during his landmark Supreme Court case he was refused the help of other progressive and reproductive rights organizations at the time. It's an issue that still clearly upsets him. He reminded us that there was a time when sexual intercourse outside of marriage was illegal, and gave a vivid description of the moment when he decided to begin the work that would get him repeatedly arrested: when he saw a woman work into the hospital where he worked with a coat hanger hanging out of her uterus, and died in front of him -- all because, he said, she didn't have access to birth control to prevent that pregnancy. And he railed against men who believe that they have a right to tell women what to do with their own bodies, and the lives that such "arrogance" costs.

During one particularly compelling moment, he held up an old newspaper with the headline "Mother Begs for Birth Control" and asks the question "why should any woman have to beg for medical care?" The question particularly sticks in one's mind because with high costs and laws restricting access, it's hardly one that's irrelevant today. Baird's talk focused greatly on history, but contained a strong link to the present. The struggles we face now may not be as extreme as they once were, but they are ultimately the same struggles.

Kicking the Year off Right in Albany!

On Monday, January 12, the first day of the new legislative session, over 300 advocates gathered in Albany to proclaim "Women's Health Matters!" to our legislators and state officials. Of course, Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse Region was there with a bus full of Rochester and Syracuse advocates to join in the celebration and the fight. We gathered in the Well, a central location in the Legislative Office Building where we knew we'd get lots of attention.

The new President and CEO of Family Planning Advocates, Tracey Brooks, kicked off the morning rally. There was an awards presentation honoring our courageous advocates in the NYS legislature. The Margaret Sanger Award was presented to Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assemblymember Naomi Rivera and the Champion of Choice Award was given to Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

There were many exciting speakers, including Assembly Speaker, Assemblymember Sheldon Silver; NYS Commissioner of Health, Dr. Richard Daines; NYS Comptroller, Thomas
DiNapoli; Senate Majority Leader, Senator Malcolm Smith; and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Social Justice, Mylan Denerstein. The excitement in the air was palpable and it was clear that 2009 would be a year of great hope and progress in Albany!

I had the honor of introducing the keynote speaker, a woman I have immense admiration for, 23-year-old sexual education activist, feminist, and youth empowerment organizer, Shelby Knox. Shelby spoke eloquently about her seven year fight for comprehensive sex ed, literally coming to tears when she predicted that in 2009, the Healthy Teens Act will finally become law in New York.

After the rally in the Well, advocates scattered throughout the Legislative Office Building and Capitol to meet with legislators. Our group met with twenty-one elected officials from the Rochester/Syracuse region, advocating for the Healthy Teens Act, Reproductive Health Act, and investing funding in family planning services. When the bus rolled into Rochester for the last drop-off at 7:00 PM, we were tired, but we knew our actions made a difference.

The School to Prison Pipeline and What It Means for Repro Justice

Yesterday, we co-sponsored Human Rights Day in Rochester to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The evening event included a potluck dinner, reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a panel discussion on the "School to Prison Pipeline." The topic was coincidentally timely given the local buzz about a school safety issue at East High in Rochester and Superintendent Brizard's in-school suspension policy. The local chapter of the NYCLU (New York Civil Liberties Union) was one of the lead organizations planning Human Rights Day; they invited a NYCLU attorney that works on the School to Prison Pipeline to speak on the panel. This morning, I had an opportunity to have breakfast with her and learn more about the School to Prison Pipeline. According to the NYCLU website:

The School to Prison Pipeline is a nationwide system of local, state and federal education and public safety policies that pushes students out of school and into the criminal justice system. This system disproportionately targets youth of color and youth with disabilities. Inequities in areas such as school discipline, policing practices, high-stakes testing and the prison industry contribute to the pipeline.

So you may be scratching your head trying to figure out how this relates to the work of Planned Parenthood. The work of the NYCLU addresses many civil liberties issues, including access to reproductive health care, comprehensive sex education, and privacy rights. It's easy to connect those issues with the advocacy work of Planned Parenthood. However, the NYCLU also addresses advocacy issues like immigrants' rights, LGBT rights, police accountability and criminal justice reform, protecting protest, and national security. From a reproductive justice framework, all civil liberties issues intersect in some way with sexual and reproductive health and rights.

In the example of the School to Prison Pipeline, Planned Parenthood does have a vested interest in helping youth succeed in school and become empowered citizens. The solutions that the School to Prison Pipeline suggests to decrease drop-out rates and address violence in schools are similar to the initiatives that help teens prevent unintended pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI's).

Some things that the School to Prison Pipeline suggests as possible solutions are peer mediation, conflict resolution, after school programs, truancy intervention, guidance counseling, mentoring, character education, teacher training on classroom management, and parental and community involvement initiatives. These programs would not only keep teens off the street, but would help them succeed in school and, if combined with comprehensive sexuality education, will also help teens prevent unintended pregnancy and STI's.

In fact, Planned Parenthood's teen programs in Syracuse and Rochester focus on engaging teens in peer education, community outreach, leadership development, and operating after school programs that provide a safe and supportive environment for teens. The School to Prison Pipeline also disproportionately affects teens of color and urban populations, demographic groups that we also know are disproportionately affected by unintended teen pregnancy and lack of access to reproductive health care. By working together with organizations like the NYCLU, we can achieve the PPRSR mission of helping people "lead a healthy and fulfilling life."

An Extemely Overdue Recap...Sex, Activism, and Shelby Knox!

So this recap is long overdue, as the event I'm about to share with you happened on September 27th. Yes, I know, it is clear that I am just trying to fill space and time, as Cara, our usual blogger goddess, is taking a break for a bit. But stay with me here! I did mean to post about this way back then. The event I'm referring to is the Stronger. Together. Conference, a regional conference we hosted to bring advocates from across Western, Central, and South Central NYS together to learn and share organizing skills and gear up for a really exciting fall! It was actually the same weekend that Cara went out in the field in South Dakota. So she was "boots on the ground" there and we were back home rallying our own troops for reproductive justice. The conference was co-sponsored with PP, PP-Southern Finger Lakes, PP-Mohawk Hudson, PP-Western NY, and Family Planning Advocates of NYS. Talk about community organizing!

Eighty people showed up for a jam-packed schedule including workshops with titles like “Lobbying your Legislators 101,” “The Personal is Political,” and “Religion, Morality & Reproductive Choice.” Guest presenters included the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, Empire State Pride Agenda, Genesee Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, Family Planning Advocates of NYS, and speakers from all co-sponsoring Planned Parenthood affiliates.

One of the favorites from the first breakout session was “Talk Back,” an interactive messaging training that taught how to respond to tough questions in conversation with family, friends, colleagues, and peers. “Rallies, Protests, Rights, and Responsibilities” in the second breakout gave useful advice when attending or organizing a public visibility event about legalities and rights of advocates in public space. The third breakout was my favorite--the "Reproductive Justice for All" workshops. The three sessions offered adddressed the histroy of religion and choice, the connection between LGBT rights and reproductive rights, and the social implications of advanced reprogenetic technologies.

The highlight of the day for me, anyway, was our keynote speaker, Shelby Knox. You probably know Shelby from the documentary about her advocacy work in high school for comprehensive sex ed and LGBT rights, The Education of Shelby Knox. Shelby is older now and just as outspoken, smart, and cool. She travels the country as a nationally-known youth organizer and educatory, feminist activist, and blogger. Shelby spoke enthusiastically about the reproductive justice movement, her personal journey in becoming a feminist and an activist, and the vital role young adults have in building the reproductive justice movement.

As we now know, the Stronger. Together. Conference kicked off a very busy and extremely emotional fall for community organizers and advocates of reproductive justice. Many of the us took the skills we learned and used them to organize on college campuses and in our communities. Plans are already on the table to hold a similar event next year. If you weren't there this year, I really hope you'll join us in 2009.

South Dakota Live Action Camp

As I noted, I spent the weekend in Sioux Falls South Dakota, working with South Dakota Healthy Families to fight Initiated Measure 11, which would ban virtually all abortions in the state.

You might remember that in 2006, anti-choicers got the legislature to pass a bill that would have banned abortion, even in cases of rape/incest, and where the health of the woman would be endangered — and when pro-choicers challenged the law and got it sent to a referendum, the ban was shot down 56% to 44%. But now the proposed ban is back in force — only this time, with entirely phony exceptions in place. In a state that is rather anti-choice, this does indeed make the task somewhat harder. And in a state with only around 500,000 registered voters, every vote really does matter. So Planned Parenthood has been sending out people to help identify supporters — meaning people who are voting “no” — and there were around 40 of us this weekend.

The goal is to get voters to realize that the exceptions will not protect vulnerable women like they are being led to believe, that decisions about abortion are left to women and their families, and that Measure 11 is a dangerous and poorly crafted law that will hurt women's health and safety.

We kicked off Saturday morning with a visibility event at a busy intersection in Sioux Falls, waving signs and drumming up enthusiasm. We got an overall really positive response -- lots of honks, thumbs ups, grins, people yelling out their windows to thank us and so on. Sure, there some negative people in support of the ban, but we made sure that they didn't get us down! Even better, when we were canvassing later on the day, we had lots of people tell us that they had seen us out there earlier -- which means we definitely accomplished the goal of visibility!

Phone-banking was next. The goal of phone-banking is both to identify supporters and to persuade those voters who are still undecided. Unfortunately, there's a lot of luck in phone-banking, based on which list you get, and I wasn't having a whole lot of it. But the good news is that other people definitely were. While I kept getting answering machines and disconnected numbers, others were ringing the little bells that let everyone else know they'd found a supporter like mad. As for me, I ended up not getting a supporter until my fifth to last call out of seventy dials total. And then I got another supporter immediately after that call . . . which made me wish that I had decided to do my list from back to front. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. The real point is that overall we identified a whole lot of supporters, which is of course the goal!

Next, we all reconvened for door-to-door canvassing, which went really well and was certainly an improvement over phone-banking on my end. It was in fact my favorite part of the weekend! There was a ton of walking involved, and the houses that were still left to canvass were all spaced out pretty far apart. That means that in two hours, my partner and I only managed to knock on a shameful 35 doors. But the good news is that we got 10 supporters out of those 35, and that’s considering the fact that about half of the doors we knocked didn’t have anyone at home.

And of course, our supporters were great! For example, we went to one house where only one person was on our list, but he was very enthusiastic about signing one of our supporter cards, and said “hey, I’ve got someone else here who I bet would want to sign one of these.” He went to go get his wife, who also signed a card and even signed up with us to go canvassing herself! Even better, this happened more than once. One man said that he wished his wife was home, because she would want to sign one. At another house, they had company and one of the women's friends asked if she would be able to sign one of our supporter cards as well (and of course we said yes).

So many voters were also really eager to talk to us. Our supporters were excited to see us standing out there in our pink t-shirts, and instead of trying to usher us away as quickly as possible, they wanted to chat about why they were voting against the bill, how frustrating it was that they had to vote on basically the same legislation for a second time, and the importance of keeping abortion safe and legal. It was extremely energizing to see all of the people we had on our side, and to see how very committed they are to women's health. I definitely have to say that personally talking to voters made me feel much more confident about which way the vote is going to go on Measure 11 this November 4.

But just because I'm feeling good about it doesn't mean there's any reason to be complacent! You can help the campaign by giving here. Remember that we’re only a month away from the election, so every dollar and minute is precious.

For more on the weekend, including a whole lot of photographs of our adventures, check out the Stand UP South Dakota blog.

LGBT Equality and Justice Day 2008

Last Tuesday April 29 was LGBT Equality and Justice Day in Albany. Equality and Justice Day is a chance for LGBT people and allies to lobby their legislators on issues that matter to them. And a couple of us from PPRSR were lucky enough to be able to attend on our own time.


A record 1300 people turned out to rally and talk to their legislators about three main issues. The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) would prohibit harassment of students in school (on all kinds of basises, including sexual orientation and gender identity), change school policies regarding harassment and provide the support that these schools need to live up to the requirements. The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) would expand anti-discrimination legislation to include discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in areas such as housing, employment and education. And last but not least, Marriage Equality is vital to ensuring that same-sex partners have the same rights as opposite-sex couples with regards to taxes, property, medical decisions and more.

NARAL Pro-Choice NY's Kelli Conlin was among the amazing speakers at the rally in front of the legislative building. I was thrilled to see her there because LGBT issues are absolutely a reproductive justice issue. Inequality causes many gay and lesbian couples across the nation to have legal trouble getting access to fertility treatments or adoption, as well as an increased legal risk that should the relationship end, one parent may not have the right to see and/or care for his/her child(ren).

The prejudice and discrimination that many LGBT face is also largely a part of our culture's unhealthy views about sex and gender. Many want to base the law on their belief that same-sex sexual activity or having a transgender identity is morally wrong -- these are unfortunately the same voices who try to prevent women from accessing reproductive health care because of their belief that pre-marital sex is wrong. In short, we are both fighting for the freedom to live our sexual lives authentically and to make safe choices. We're also both looking to create a world where the government does not discriminate on the basis of consensual sexual activity or the choices we make with regards to having or not having families, and where we all have the right to control our bodies and act in our own best interest.

The LGBT movement and the reproductive justice movement are closely intertwined, and it's good to see that being acknowledged more and more! A reproductive justice advocate can of course be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. And those of us who aren't need to start supporting and allying with a movement that also supports human rights.

The good news is that in NY, the tides are turning. The Pride Agenda’s recent poll showed 78% of New Yorkers support GENDA. In 2006, their poll showed that 53% supported full marriage rights, and support has likely increased since then. And it's exciting to note that the day after Equality and Justice Day, GENDA was passed through the assembly’s Government Operations Committee!

For more, check out The Empire State Pride Agenda's website. They have tons of information on LGBT rights in NY -- and give you the information you need to urge your own Senators and Assembly persons to support these three important pieces of legislation.

[Photo via The Agenda blog.]

A Conversation on Women's Health

Last night PPRSR hosted an event in Rochester to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Roe vs Wade, which guaranteed the constitutional right to privacy in medical decisions, specifically abortion. We were lucky enough to have the First Lady of New York Silda Wall Spitzer attend and deliver a speech on her and the Governor's commitment to women's health. Over 150 people came and we received lots of local media coverage both in print and on television.

The event, "A Conversation About Women's Health" reflected on the impact of Roe, the importance of reproductive options and the newly introduced Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act (RHAPPA). RHAPPA is an important law recently introduced by Governor Eliot Spitzer. If passed, it would update New York State laws to guarantee the right to reproductive choice regardless of Supreme Court Decisions that could weaken Roe. It also makes a bold statement that New York will always put women's health first.

Mrs. Spitzer received two standing ovations from the audience. In her speech, she explained that RHAPPA acknowledges that the decision to have an abortion, the decision to give birth, or any other medical decision "is one that should be made between a woman and her doctor, not judges, not legislators, not special interest groups, not you and not me." It was one of the most powerful statements of the evening, and shows that both Governor and Mrs. Spitzer understand what being pro-choice is really about. It's not about being "pro-abortion," but making sure that no one's personal views, even the views of those who are pro-choice, can interfere with the private medical decisions of others -- no matter what those decisions are.

Another speaker, the CEO and President of Family Planning Advocates of New York State, JoAnn Smith, made the case that women are excellent decision makers. Women, she said, make choices every day, including the decisions they shouldn't have to make, like choosing between paying the rent or taking a sick child to the doctor. If we can trust women with these decisions, how can we not trust them with their own medical care? Smith also explained that RHAPPA is about more than guaranteeing just one kind of reproductive choice -- the bill would secure the right to choose or refuse abortion and birth control.

Both Smith and Galen Sherwin from the New York Civil Liberties Union explained that New York abortion laws are still in the penal code instead of the health code, and most citizens have no idea! The state was one of the first to legalize abortion in 1970, three years before Roe vs. Wade was decided. Unfortunately, though, the abortion laws have not been updated since then and we rely on Roe to guarantee this right to medical privacy. New York stood up for women's health earlier than most states, and now it's time to stand up again!

Here's a picture of Mrs. Spitzer finishing her speech. Women's health makes us smile, too!



The event was co-sponsored by Family Planning Advocates of New York State, the Rochester Reproductive Rights Task Force, the Greater Rochester Chapter of the National Organization for Woman and the Genesee Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union. A big thank you to all of them -- we couldn't have it done alone!

And lastly, welcome to our new blog! We hope to have a lot of our own conversations about women's health here, so stay tuned.