Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

More of the Same?


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Will 2014 Be a Turning Point for Women?

As we’ve documented, the last few years have been very difficult for advocates of women’s reproductive freedom. From 2011-2013, more restrictions on abortion rights — a record-breaking 205 — were enacted by state legislatures than during the entire previous decade.

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While we have kicked off 2014 with yet another conservative attack on the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit, advocates for women’s reproductive rights believe that this year will be a turning point:

“The momentum has shifted,” Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, told ThinkProgress in an interview. “Americans as a whole have had enough. We’re not just going to sit idly by and fight defensive fights and take these attacks on reproductive freedom sitting down. We’re starting to define what a new agenda for reproductive freedom looks like in the 21st century.” […]

“Abortion access is ground zero of reproductive freedom; without it, we don’t have autonomy and self-determination over our lives. But it’s not as though our reproductive lives start and end there,” Hogue noted. “There’s a whole landscape out there of policies that have lagged far behind.”

What does this new agenda look like?

Those policies include other health-related initiatives, like ensuring that women have access to family planning services and maternity care. They involve tackling violence by cracking down on domestic abuse and rape. But they also include economic policies to help ensure that women have the resources to direct the courses of their lives and provide for their families — like equal pay legislation, affordable child care services, and efforts to prevent workplace discrimination. Rather than framing reproductive rights as a women’s issue, groups like NARAL are working on making the point that they’re also inextricable from the nation’s economic agenda.

For much, much more on this, check out the rest of ThinkProgress’ Tara Culp-Ressler’s deep dive HERE.

BOTTOM LINE: While conservatives are only interesting in dragging us back into the culture wars of the past, progressives are focused on a proactive agenda to make sure women and their families have a fair shot at getting ahead.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Breaking News on NJ Pregnancy Discrimination Law!

New Jersey Pregnancy Bill Passes in Both Houses; Headed to the Governor’s Desk!
Dear Friend,
Moments ago, the General Assembly of New Jersey followed the State Senate’s footsteps in passing a bill that would help New Jersey women keep their jobs and stay healthy while pregnant. But the fight isn’t over–  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie still needs to sign the bill by January 14th for it to become law. If you want to help New Jersey start off 2014 by ending pregnancy discrimination, call Governor Chris Christie today at 609-292-6000 and ask him to sign this important bill into law.
Passage comes on the heels of New York City’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which goes into effect this month. Building off our victory in NYC, ABB helped to draft a similar bill for the women of New Jersey, and our own Dina Bakst and Phoebe Taubman testified in support of the bill late last year. But we aren’t stopping until the bill becomes law.
No woman should be fired or pushed out of her job because she needs a modest accommodation at work to protect her health. We won these rights for the women of New York City, and we intend to win them for our neighbors in New Jersey. But ABB can’t do it without your support. Please take a moment to call  Governor Christie, and let him know the women of New Jersey shouldn’t have to choose between their job and a healthy pregnancy.

Courtesy Game Face Productions
Here’s what you can say when you call  Governor Christie at 609-292-6000 today:
I am calling in support of S2995, because no woman should have to choose between her job and a healthy pregnancy. If he supports working families, Governor Christie should sign this important bill today, and end pregnancy discrimination in New Jersey.
If you live in New Jersey, please make sure you let Governor Christie know that you are a constituent!
Happy New Year and Thank You for All Your Support,
The ABB Team: Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Liz, Risha & Rachel
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What you should know …


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Today’s Top News

2014 is already off to a running start. Here’s today’s news to know.

  • Supreme Court Stays Marriage Equality In Utah: Though today’s order will come as a disappointment to the many same-sex couples whose marriages are now in limbo until this case is finally resolved, it is not a particularly surprising order. Nor does it reveal much about how the justices view the merits of the case.
  • The 7 Worst Moments Of Liz Cheney’s Aborted Senate Campaign: Liz Cheney, a former George W. Bush administration state department official and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, announced Monday that she will end her primary challenge to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), a third-term Senator who ranked as the eighth most conservative member of the Senate in 2012. Her less-than-five-month campaign was plagued by poor press and political missteps. Here’s a look back at the worst of them.
  • One Of The Steubenville Rapists Has Been Freed After 9 Months: Ma’lik Richmond, one of the two young football players who was found “delinquent” of having raped a young girl in Steubenville, OH, last year, has been freed from his sentence at a juvenile detention facility. Though the sentence was supposed to carry a minimum of one year in detention, Richmond got out early on good behavior. He served nine months.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Attacks on choice and workers’ rights …. a year later


A Repost …

Lowering minimum wage, weakening workers’ comp, and restricting a women’s right to choose. Are these your values?

Since Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon gave the Senate Majority to Senate Republicans, Republicans have gotten bolder – voting for far-right, ideological legislation.1

Rodney Tom’s Senate Majority has launched an assault on our state’s minimum wage.2 They’ve passed a profit-motivated bill attacking workers’ comp – even though voters rejected changes to the system in 2010.3

And while Rodney Tom promises a more open debate on social issues, the result is a radical Republican bill attacking a woman’s right to choose, in a state firmly committed to choice.4

These are not Democratic values – These are not Washington values. Co-sign our letter telling Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon they don’t belong in the Democratic Party.

In 2012, the people of Washington overwhelmingly voted Democrat, because they share Democratic values. They believe in fighting for our middle class and progressive social issues, like marriage equality and a woman’s right to choose.

Now Senate Republicans, empowered by Senators Tom and Sheldon, are pulling a fast one on our state – introducing and passing ideological bills that advance their conservative agenda.

This is nothing short of a coup, made possible by Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon.

Almost 4000 Democrats have already signed our letter. Please join them and send a message to Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon today.

Sincerely,

Jaxon Ravens
Executive Director
Washington State Democrats

1 http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020276029_senaterepublicansprintrop03xml.html?src=FuseT&utm_source=buffer&buffer_share=40ed2
2 http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020294703_trainingwagexml.html
3 http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20130209/OPINION03/702099971
4 http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/feb/06/dozens-testify-on-abortion-notification/

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

By The Numbers …


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Obamacare Numbers to Know

Yesterday was a big day for millions of Americans. The health coverage they received under the Affordable Care Act went into effect. For many of these millions, it may be the first time they’ve ever had the security of quality, affordable health coverage.

Here are some key numbers to know as we enter this new, exciting phase of Obamacare:

2,000,000….the record number of Americans who visited HealthCare.gov on December 23.

6,000,000+….the total number of Americans who have obtained health coverage through the state and federal health care marketplaces or Medicaid since October 1.

2,100,000+….the number of Americans who have obtained private health insurance through the state and federal health care marketplaces.

3,900,000….the number of Americans who were found to be eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program just during the months of October and November alone.

4,800,000….the number of low-income Americans who will not receive health coverage simply because Republican governors and legislatures in half the states are refusing to expand Medicaid.

10,000….the actual number of Americans nationwide who “would be unable to renew their cancelled policies, unable to receive subsidized coverage through the marketplace or Medicaid, and unable to enroll in catastrophic coverage,” which is a far cry from Republican claims that 5 million people would lose coverage because their substandard plans were cancelled by insurance companies.

BOTTOM LINE: Obamacare is working and millions of Americans have health coverage right now thanks to the Affordable Care Act — and millions more will get covered before open enrollment ends in March. Every Republican attempt to dismantle, disrupt, and destroy the law is now an attempt to take away coverage from these Americans and the tens of millions of others who have benefited from the law, including women, seniors, young people, and those with pre-existing conditions.