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Birth control makes you “sterile or dead”?


 

NARAL Pro-Choice America

 

Katelyn Campbell deserves our respect and encouragement for speaking out against failed “abstinence-only” programs.

Tell her county’s Board of Education to censure her principal for threatening her.

High school principal George Aulenbacher should be ashamed of himself.

First, Aulenbacher and his school district decided to subject his students to a misleading “abstinence-only” program. And then he threatened student Katelyn Campbell when she spoke out against it. To make matters even worse, right now the Kanawha County Board of Education is siding with Principal Aulenbacher.1

This is no way to treat a brave young woman who’s speaking out for what’s right.

Help us put pressure on the Board of Education to censure Aulenbacher, and tell them that students need comprehensive sex education. Your message today will go directly to the Kanawha County Board of Education and superintendent of schools, where it can make a big impact.

Aulenbacher’s school recently brought in an “abstinence educator” who says taking birth control can lead to becoming “sterile or dead.”2

Katelyn fought back against these outrageous lies. She talked with the local newspaper, and even went on CNN.

How did Aulenbacher respond? He tried to shut her down. Katelyn says Aulenbacher called her into his office to berate her, even threatening to call her future college to tell them she has “bad character” and is a “backstabber.”3

At a Board of Education committee meeting last night, it’s been reported that members of the board stuck up for Aulenbacher and the misleading “abstinence-only” program.

It’s ridiculous that a principal would threaten a student like this, and absurd that the Board of Education would stand for it. Tell the Board of Education to censure Aulenbacher and provide students with comprehensive sex education.

Katelyn knows, like we do, that teens need accurate information about abstinence and birth control so that they can make responsible decisions that are right for them. One in four teen girls has an STD, and one third of young women will become pregnant before they’re 20 years old. These young women need information that will keep them healthy.

I applaud Katelyn for speaking out for what she knows is right. She deserves our respect and encouragement, not threats and intimidation.

Thanks for standing up for Katelyn and helping make choice real for young people like her.

Ilyse Hogue
Ilyse G. Hogue
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America
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Eight Percent ~ Help S.T.O.P. Sexual Assault in the Military


 

AAUW Action Network
 Bear with me for a moment as I share some numbers:

  • More than 200,000 women are in the active-duty military, making up 14.5 percent of the active-duty force.
  • Nearly 3,200 cases of sexual assault in the military were reported in 2010, yet the Department of Defense estimates the actual number of assaults to be at least 19,000 since most cases are never reported.
  • Of the sexual assault cases reported to military officials, only 8 percent of the attackers in those cases were prosecuted in the military court system – compared with 40 percent of similar offenders prosecuted in the civilian court system.

Eight percent. And even if the military justice system convicts a perpetrator of sexual assault, the perpetrator’s commander, someone with no legal training whatsoever, can throw out that conviction at their own discretion – even the president of the United States cannot overturn their decision.

Yesterday I stood with two of our nation’s veterans as they recounted their experiences with sexual assault in the military. When Kelly Smith first reported her assault at age 19, investigators interrogated her for eight hours and accused her of lying. Although her attacker eventually signed a confession, Smith says he never appeared before a court martial and instead retired with full honors and benefits.

I also stood next to Jeremiah Arbogast, a retired Marine Corps member, who told his story from a wheelchair. He was left a paraplegic after his failed suicide attempt – a desperate action he took after he was sexually assaulted by a fellow Marine. As Arbogast said, we still have the world’s finest fighting force – but it is being threatened by too many sexual predators who are protected and allowed to stay in the military.

I joined these truly courageous veterans and our congressional champions on Capitol Hill yesterday to call for passage of the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act, or STOP Act, which would create an independent, professional office within the military to investigate, and prosecute sexual assault, instead of leaving the decisions in the hands of commanders who can act at their own discretion. The STOP Act would still keep the authority over sexual assault cases in the military—just not in the hands of individual commanders who are not trained to handle these cases. AAUW believes the result will be the kind of confidential and thorough investigative process necessary in the face of such crimes.

Join me in urging your representative to cosponsor the STOP Act and fundamentally change how sexual assault is handled in the military.  

We have to do something about those numbers I mentioned. We have to do something to prevent experiences like those of Kelly Smith and Jeremiah Arbogast from happening again. Urge your representative to cosponsor the STOP Act (H.R. 1593) today.

Thank you,
Lisa Maatz
AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations
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CONGRESS


 DC Pastoral

The Senate will convene at 2:00pm on Monday, April 22.

Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:30pm, with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

 

At 5:30pm, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.743, Marketplace Fairness Act, and immediately proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed.

As a reminder at 5:30pm today, the Senate will proceed to a roll call vote on the motion to proceed to S.743, Marketplace Fairness Act. If cloture is invoked, there would be up to 30 hours for debate prior to adoption of the motion to proceed.

5:30pm The Senate began a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.743, Marketplace Fairness Act;

Invoked: 74-20

 At 5:55pm, the Senate invoked cloture on the motion to proceed to S.743, Marketplace Fairness Act, by a vote of 74-20. By consent, all time during any adjournment, recess, or period of morning business will count post-cloture. There will be no further roll call votes tonight.
WRAP UP
 

ROLL CALL VOTE

1)      Motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.743, the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013; Invoked: 74-20

 

LEGISLATIVE ITEMS

Adopted S.Res.90, Standing with the people of Kenya following their national and local elections on March 4, 2013, and urging a peaceful and credible resolution of electoral disputes in the courts with a committee-reported amendment to the resolution, a committee-reported amendment to the preamble and a committee-reported amendment to the title.

 

Discharged the HELP committee of S.437, the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Act and referred it to the Banking committee.

 

No EXECUTIVE ITEMS

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April 2013
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Watch Most Recent House Floor Activity

Last Floor Action: 4/19
11:03:10 A.M. – The Speaker announced that the House do now adjourn pursuant to a previous special order.

The next meeting is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on April 23, 2013.

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The Veterans Full Employment Bill Signing


The First Lady joins Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley for a formal bill signing ceremony at the Maryland state house. The legislation will make it easier for military spouses to transfer their licenses when they move from state to state, and it will require licensing units and public institutions of higher education to consider relevant military experience and training for licenses, credentials and academic credit.

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Gun Violence ~ Dan Pfeiffer, The White House


Hello –During the State of the Union, President Obama called for a reasonable debate on a set of commonsense measures to help protect our kids by reducing gun violence. That night, Congress stood up and applauded. But now that the cameras are off and they aren’t forced to look the families of Newtown in the face, some in Congress aren’t backing up that show of support with action.

When it matters most, they’re hoping that you’re not paying attention.

But I know that’s not the case. In the past week, 17,000 people have told us that they’ll commit to adding their voices to this debate through social media — together, they’ll reach more than 15 million of their friends on Facebook and Twitter.

We’re planning to have them speak out today. And we could really use your help.

Pledge to speak out about the need to reduce gun violence.

If we have a simple vote in Congress, we can get this done. And this afternoon, we’ll begin to understand whether or not that’s possible.

The Senate is considering a proposal that would go a long way toward making our country safer and protecting our kids. This afternoon, lawmakers get a chance to offer amendments — some of them aimed at making the legislation better, some aimed at sinking it. One idea, closing loopholes in the background check system, has support from 90 percent of the public. In fact, even a majority of senators support this step. But we still need you to make your voice heard.

Vice President Biden will be talking through all of this today at 2:45 p.m. ET. He’ll lead a discussion with a group of mayors from around the country on the steps we can take to reduce gun violence. You can watch that as it happens at whitehouse.gov.

And while you’re doing that, take a minute to join the debate.

Pledge to speak out, and we’ll work to make sure you’re part of the conversation about guns here in Washington:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence/action

Thanks,

Dan

Dan Pfeiffer Senior Advisor White House

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