Today’s 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and NARAL Pro-Choice America’s invitation to Blog for Choice, offered an opportunity for some deep reflection on why exactly it is that I am pro-choice – something, I realized, I had not spent much time thinking about. It is a label I have worn for so long I never really considered the reasoning behind it. Pro-choice was a comfortable fit. Continue reading
Posted in Abortion, Equality, Reproductive Rights
Tagged Blog for Choice, Pro-Choice, Reproductive Rights
Anti-choice Republicans have a winning strategy aimed at what they obviously consider to be a loser segment of the population. And it’s working. Continue reading
Posted in Abortion, Politics, Reproductive Rights
Advocates for Women joined 72 other organizations this week is signing a letter to President Obama requesting he support women’s reproductive health by omitting all language from the FY 2014 budget request that would restrict abortion care. Budget riders such as the Hyde Amendment – which prohibits publicly-funded health insurance from covering abortion services – create significant obstacles to care for federal employees and those who already face barriers to receiving care such as low-income women. Read the press release distributed by the Center for American Progress, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and Advocates for Youth and the letter to the President.
Posted in Abortion, Advocacy, Politics, Reproductive Rights
Tagged Abortion, Hyde Amndment, President Obama, Reproductive Rights
I’ve said it before…words matter. So when anti-choice politicians make exceptions to their belief that all life should be protected in cases of rape, incest, or health of the woman…they’re being intellectually dishonest. As disgusting as Richard Mourdock’s comments were about rape and conception, they perfectly square with his “no exceptions” policy for abortion…oh sorry, he does believe in an exception for “the life of the mother.” So much for intellectual honesty. Continue reading
“The American Dream is a dream of equal opportunity for all.” This is how the 2012 Republican Platform, “We Believe in America,” opens. And there sure was a lot of American dreaming recently at both the Democratic and Republican conventions.
No wonder. The American Dream is inspiring, motivating, and has been the impetus for immigrants to leave their homes and come to the United States for decades if not centuries. Yet neither party is doing much to make that dream a reality for the 11.5 million undocumented men, women, and children currently living in the United States under threat of deportation – especially for the undocumented young people known as Dreamers, who have lived in this country most of their lives and consider the US their home. Even President Obama, whose policies are more supportive of the American Dream for immigrants, is now making that dream a nightmare. Continue reading
The Iranian film A Separation won this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and lost the award for writing (Original Screenplay) to Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. Though I enjoyed Midnight, A Separationwas robbed. The brilliance of this film is in the writing.
A Separation was released this week on DVD and can also be viewed on Netflix and iTunes. (Watch the trailer here.) It’s especially poignant in light of the drama unfolding with Iran. Though not for the reasons that are obvious. This is not a political film though its Oscar has tapped into a political moment.
Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy
Both sides of the political aisle engage in the tactics of language-skewering and self-serving beliefs. But the targets of these deceptions when practiced by the Republicans are too often women, families, and children. Here’s why that’s important:
Sunday night I was on my daughter’s front stoop in Washington DC enjoying some catch-up time. The evening grew dark without us noticing as we discussed her recent work with Iraqi students. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide and she said, “Mom, quick. We gotta go. We gotta go.” She grabbed our half-empty glasses and cell phones, clearly panicked. My phone dropped Continue reading
Posted in Abortion, Advocacy, Immigration, Reproductive Rights
Tagged Abortion, Immigration, Legitimate Rape, Rape, Reproductive Rights, self-deportation, women
The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012 (H.R. 6211) was introduced by House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA) on July 26th. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced companion legislation (S. 3453) in the Senate on the same day. Here’s why it’s important: Continue reading
Immigrants who are 30 years old and younger may apply for two-year stays of deportation and work permits starting on Wednesday, August 15th. For more information and assistance, contact:
Attorney Patricia Hohl
patricia@advocatesforwomen.org
508-561-3872
