Fighting for a world where people care more and judge less. Addressing the issues of reproductive health and social equality with compassion, truth, and humor.
I am writing to express my concern regarding the gag rule recently proposed by the Trump-Pence administration. This gag rule is medically unethical and a blatant attempt to infringe on women's basic rights.
Title X is a federal program which has for decades provided funding for reproductive healthcare, like preventative cancer screening and birth control, for women who could not otherwise afford this care.
Not only would this proposed gag rule make it illegal for health care providers in the Title X program to inform their patients on how to access safe, legal abortion; it would also implement other regulations designed to keep millions of women from accessing birth control and other preventative care, from providers like Planned Parenthood.
It is 2018. The fact that something like this is on the table is frightening and absurd.
Recent polling has shown an overwhelming opposition to Trump's gag rule as 73 percent of Americans - myself included - disapprove of these efforts to restrict women's rights and access to health care. More than 200 members of Congress, over 110 public health organizations, major medical associations such as the American Medical Association, and PlannedParenthood's 11 million supporters are coming out against this dangerous rule because it is just that: dangerous.
I urge your readers to stand against this proposed rule and see it for what it is: an assault on our basic rights.
I am a Registered Nurse writing to express my concern regarding President Trump's recently proposed gag rule. Frankly, it is a full frontal attack on women's basic rights. Not only would this rule prohibit health care providers under the Title X program from informing their patients on how to access safe, legal abortions; it would also implement other rules designed to keep millions from accessing birth control and preventative care, including cancer screenings from providers like PlannedParenthood. Fundamentally, it removes the guarantee that patients will receive complete and accurate information about their health care from their providers. I finds this absolutely frightening. No one should ever be denied basic information about their health care.
This proposed gag rule has already been met with opposition, especially from the medical community. The American Nurses Association has stated that this rule "violates basic ethics of the nursing profession." In addition, new polling shows 73 percent of Americans oppose administration actions like the domestic gag rule.
Planned Parenthood plays an enormous role in providing care and consistently outperforms other publicly funded providers. In New York, in 2015, Planned Parenthood served 144,640 or 52 percent of women in the Title X program. If Planned Parenthood were to be excluded from Title X, other Title X-funded sites would have to increase their caseloads by 111%. That is not only infeasible but morally wrong as this will result in a major blow to health care access for low-income people.
I urge your readers see this as what it is: an attack on our basic rights.
I am a 72-year-old retired obstetrician/gynecologist. Before my retirement, I had my own private practice and also had various roles at our local Planned Parenthoods.
I am writing to express my dismay at the institution of what is a domestic gag rule on Title X providers (doctors, nurses, community health centers, etc.) as of May 22. Title X is the federal program that provides funding to subsidize people needing reproductive health care and contraception. None of the Title X money funds abortions.
The gag rule makes it illegal for health care providers to mention the word abortion. We cannot say that it is legal, that it is safe or how to obtain one.
What will the effect of this gag rule be? The underserved women who rely on Planned Parenthood clinics for their birth control and reproductive health care will not be able to go there anymore because Planned Parenthood will steadfastly continue to provide counseling and access to safe, legal abortion. Women who have the resources to see a private OB/GYN will not suffer from the gag rule.
Planned Parenthood serves 40 percent of Title X patients. A third of women who rely on Title X funding live in counties where Planned Parenthood is the only provider of contraceptive and reproductive services.
The obvious end result of this is that women with limited resources will not get contraception. No contraception will mean increased rates of unintended pregnancies and abortions for this marginalized group. They also will not get screening for sexually transmitted infections and cancer.
My question is: Why does our government want to make life even harder for women who are struggling with adversity already?
April 9, 1970 is a special day in New York State legislative
history; Assemblyman George Michaels changed his vote from "No" to
"Yes", thereby enabling the 1970 Reproductive Health Act to pass the
Assembly (the state Senate had passed it previously; Governor Rockefeller
signed it into law the following day).The story of that day, and the history of illegal abortions in New York
over the 150 years preceding it, are documented in "From Danger to Dignity: The Fight for Safe Abortion", produced by Concentric Media in
association with KTEH-TV, San Jose, CA.It is available on YouTube and is well worth watching.Indeed, in today's political climate in which
reproductive rights are under fierce attack its message may be more important
than when it was released in 1995.
Yet even though significant in content and praiseworthy for
its production values, the documentary glosses over two contributing elements
of the 1970 story.They concern Michaels
himself, and the atmosphere in which that final vote took place.
First, a word about Michaels.A native of Queens and a graduate of Cornell
and Brooklyn Law School, he established a law practice in Auburn, New York, an
upstate, largely conservative and Roman Catholic city.A Democrat, he represented Auburn and Cayuga
County in the legislature from 1961-1966, when through reapportionment his
district was merged with its neighbor that encompassed Cortland County.He declined to run in the new district until
1969, when he rejoined the Assembly.At
the time, he was noted primarily for his support of expanded state aid for
rural school districts and (in 1970) for promoting the bluebird as the state's
official bird.
He also favored a woman's right to choose to have an
abortion on a personal basis, but how widely his position was then known is not
clear.He had twice complied with
requests from his District's Democratic Committee to vote against reproductive
rights, including legalized abortion.April
9, however, was a different story.As it
is described in "From Danger to Dignity" Michaels' decision is
clearly a significant event. But by incorporating only the final two sentences
of his remarks that day it misses a tense, emotional drama.
That absence may reflect the fact that the documentary was
prepared 25 years after the event by a team that had not been there to witness
it.My family and I were there, and we
still recall it as an occasion that merits a more complete description.
That we were in the Assembly Gallery at all that afternoon
was entirely happenstance.We had gone
to Albany City Hall that afternoon to apply for passports for a forthcoming
trip abroad (in those days the process began by having your signature notarized
by the town or city clerk).The process
took less time than we anticipated and as we walked back to our car parked by
the State Capitol I sensed a teaching moment for our three young sons.With no knowledge of what was up, I
suggested: "let's go see what is going on in the legislature".Since we were on the Assembly side of the
building, we went up to its gallery just as Michaels was beginning to talk.
To set the stage: when a roll call vote is being taken in
the Assembly, an electronic wall display shows each member's vote as well as a
running total of all Yes and No votes.Ultimately, the Speaker instructs the clerk to close the voting process
and a final tally is announced and recorded.Seventy-six Yes votes are required for passage of the matter at hand,
and the Speaker votes only when his vote will make a difference.On this occasion, the electronic display
showed a tie vote, 74-74, so even if the Speaker had voted the measure would
not pass.
While a roll call is in process members may address the
Assembly to explain their votes, but this is not common.When Michaels rose to speak no one knew what
he was going to say, and given the voting deadlock, the atmosphere in the packed
galleries was palpably tense.
I don't know how long he spoke; it seemed like ten minutes
or more.He rambled as he took us
through his inner thoughts.His intent
became clearer when he told the Assembly of pressures from his family."One of my sons just called me a whore
for the vote I (previously) cast against this"; a second son insisted:
"Dad, for God's sake, don't let your vote be the vote that defeats the
bill"."I had hoped that this
would never happen," Michaels said; "(my constituents will) condemn
me for what I am about to do.But what's
the use of getting elected, or reelected, if you don't stand for something. … I
realize, Mr. Speaker, that I am terminating my political career, but I cannot
in good conscience sit here and allow my vote to be the one that defeats this
bill."
He asked the Speaker, Perry Duryea, Jr., a Republican from
Montauk, to change his vote to Yes.The
now- 75-73 vote required Duryea to vote: he voted Yes, declared the bill
passed, and immediately adjourned the session.A highly-charged incident ended in a collective sigh of relief and joy.
From my perspective, Michaels’ story deserves repeating in
an era where #MeToo seems to be controlling the headlines. Despite current
notorious examples of misogyny, there are men who have stood and continue to
stand with women in the fight for equality. These are men who actively reject
the premise that women are a subordinate class when it comes to managing their
own lives. They don't do it for recognition and thanks but simply because they
believe it is the right thing to do.And
some, like Michaels, have even been willing to accept the accompanying personal
cost of standing up to established ways.
Make Trouble by Cecile Richards Former Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards will be in Troy for a book signing!
Cecile Richards is a national leader for women’s rights and social and economic justice. As President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund for more than a decade, Richards worked to increase affordable access to reproductive health care and to build a healthier and safer world for women and young people. After starting her career as a labor organizer, working with women earning the minimum wage, she went on to start her own grassroots organizations, and later served as Deputy Chief of Staff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. In 2011 and 2012, she was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Richards is a frequent speaker and commentator on politics and progressive issues. Event date: Saturday, May 12, 2018 Event time: 3:30pm Event address: Market Block Books located at 290 River Street, Troy, NY 12180 For more information click here.
#Intergenerational Story Share
There is so much we can learn from the founders of the reproductive health and rights movement. The world before Roe v. Wade is one very few of us can even fathom but for these long time Planned Parenthood supporters, it is a world they know all too well. Our intergenerational story share potluck aims to bring the voices of our current advocates and the elders of the Beverwyck Community Action Council together to share stories and life experiences.
The Beverwyck Community Action Council wants to hear from YOU! It's an unbelievable gift to be heard, and to hear someone else in exchange. The Beverwyck group has reserved a room and planned months in advance to make this happen - by attending this event you are committing to being a part of a broader community of activists invested in the work of Planned Parenthood.
Join us at this potluck event sponsored by Friends with Benefits and the Beverwyck Community Action Council for a shared meal and invaluable conversation.
Thursday, May 17th 6:00 - 8:00 pm The Terrace at Beverwyck Retirement Community 41 Beverwyck Ln #1, Slingerlands, NY 12159
#NYS DOL One Fair Wage Hearing
Join UHPP and coalition partners at the NYS DOL One Fair Wage Hearing at the Legislative Office Building at the Capital in Albany! We are joining with our coalition partners to help raise the pay of tipped workers to the full minimum wage. No worker should be at risk of wage theft, sexual harassment or discrimination.
If you are interested in joining us for a rally and to attend the hearing, please RSVP HERE! We need to SHOW up for our partners in PINK!
Friday May 18th 9:00 am Meet in the Well of the LOB (press conference and rally) 10:00 am hearing begins Legislative Office Building (LOB) 198 State Street Albany, NY 12210
The Federal government has been trying since the inauguration to strip away access to preventative care and topple Planned Parenthood health centers across the country.
This latest attempt by the administration to strip federal grant money from the TPPP is just another one in a long list of attacks. This one, in particular, specifically targeted Planned Parenthood, and the judge who blocked the attempt, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice, called the attack arbitrary and capricious, which could allege that he found the defunding attempt to be spiteful, undemocratic, and perhaps even a little childish.
“The courts confirmed that the Trump-Pence administration’s attempt to impose its ideological agenda on young people is unlawful,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.1
The TPPP was created by President Obama in 2010, and helps provide preventative care to 1.5 million young people nationwide. Instead of acting in the best interests of the young people who often have nowhere else to turn for birth control and education, our current administration would rather deliver a blow to Planned Parenthood for the sake of bragging rights and party agenda.
Planned Parenthood CEOs and other staff members were in DC for the National Conference when this news was announced, and the outcome was understandably well received by everyone. Since the attacks are bound to keep coming, we can only hope that federal judges continue to do what’s right for the youth of our country.
Say
NO to back alleys, and YES to bowling alleys! Join Upper Hudson
Planned Parenthood at Del Lanes in Delmar on April 29th at
2pm to #FundAbortionBuildPower.
We're
lacing up our bowling shoes and getting to work! Want to show up for
abortion access? Support us by making a
donation to our team or join the squad! The process is fast,
easy, and secure! Bowl with the UHPP staff, invest in abortion funds
and raise money with us. *FREE SWAG FOR ALL TEAM MEMBERS*
Pre-registration is required - Get more info on the UHPP team here!
Send
a message that you believe we all should be able to access abortion,
no matter how much money we make or where we live. Care, no matter
what!
Sunday, April 29th at 2:00pm
Del Lanes in Delmar
4 Bethlehem Ct, Delmar, NY 12054
