California NOW

Help Us Continue Fighting for Women!

We're proud that our work is moving California closer towards achieving women's equality and empowerment, even if our leaders continue to kick and scream along the way.

When the governor proposed eliminating the Commission on the Status of Women, we not only held a fundraiser to keep the Commission going, we made it our business to ensure the Commission and gender equity continued to be part of state government.  When the Governor eliminated the office of Women’s Health and tried to implement Health in All Policies without women, we were there to ensure all women were counted by the state in eliminating health disparities.

Right now we’re fighting to ensure women’s employment and women workers are part of California’s Strategic Plan for Economic Development & Jobs and we’re fighting to ensure domestic violence and rape law enforcement mandates remain and are finally paid for by all levels of government.

We’re also working with the Attorney General’s office to ensure that women across the state have access to full reproductive healthcare and that end of life directives are respected as Catholic healthcare corporations seek to expand their market share.  You can count on us to ensure that women and men will have the information they need to be an informed healthcare consumer.

The reason we can fight for all of these important issues is because we aren't financially dependent upon any of the special interest groups that run Sacramento.

Unfortunately, the down economy has hit our supporters hard which, in turn, has hit us hard. Even though we work on a shoestring budget, we're finding it more difficult to get by each month.

That's why we're holding a fundraiser. We know the ticket price is high and may be cost prohibitive for some of you but if you can afford to attend, we assure you that your TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation will be spent wisely. And please forward this to anyone you know in the LA area. If you cannot attend the event but would like to make a tax-deductible donation NOW, click here.

No other organization works on as many issues impacting women and girls as we do. And no other organization is as independent as we are. We hope you'll support our work by attending this fundraiser. It's a good tax deduction and a great investment in our daughters' future.

Why is Katie Couric Promoting Jason Patric?

Have you seen the promo for Katie Couric’s show today with Jason Patric? He’s the actor suing for custody of a child he donated sperm to create. In the clip, Katie asks why his name in not on the birth certificate. Really? Katie Couric doesn’t know the answer to that question?  It’s because he didn’t want his name on the birth certificate. It was a condition of his donating the sperm. The promotion is about him going from "Dad" to sperm donor. No, Katie - he wanted to be a sperm donor up until he decided he could use custody as a weapon against his ex-girlfriend.

Mr. Patric wasn’t turned into a sperm donor. It was the role he chose. When an ex-girlfriend decided she wanted a child and came to him to request his sperm, Mr. Patric made it clear he wanted nothing to do with the child. He was so adamant, he wrote a 20 page letter detailing how he would not be financially responsible or in any other way responsible for the child.  He insisted that his name not be included on the birth certificate and even lied to friends and family about being the father. After a brief reconcilation with the girlfriend a couple of years later, Mr. Patric decided he deserved joint custody and is now suing for that custody.

Mr. Patric is clearly a social dominance oriented individual who can’t stand the idea of a woman having more control than he does over what he now perceives to be his property.  Even in the clip posted on Katie Couric’s website, Mr. Patric displays aggression and malevolence towards the mother rather than love towards the child.

The only way Mr. Patric comes across as sympathetic is through lies and fabrications about what his role has been in the child’s life. But enough about him. The broader issue (that is worthy of discussion on Katie’s show) includes sperm donation, unwed fathers, non-biological lesbian mothers and the issues surrounding what makes you a parent.

The issues of gender, social dominance, combined with money in our legal system are all interjected in the case law surrounding family formation. Those issues are at the heart of the move by this actor to turn California law on its head for the sole purpose of allowing one man to use custody as a weapon against his ex-girlfriend.

The segment reveals more about Katie Couric and the producers of her show than it does about the motives of Mr. Patric.  Those of us who actually base decisions on facts clearly understand that Mr. Patric was and remains a sperm donor.  The more interesting question is why the mainstream media is willing to lie about the facts to overturn a law which protects lesbian couples as well as single men and women from frivolous litigation, regarding support and custody, while recognizing the rights of individuals to form family units through a mutual agreement to co-parent.

SB 115 reintroduces (as state policy) the premise that biology is everything - at least when that biology is connected to sperm.  Irrespective of the intentions of a lesbian couple to form a family together or a single mother to raise her child alone, the right of the biological sperm donor to decide that he wants to claim his property shall be affirmed and protected by the state of California.  Some have asserted that the right to support is implied in this statute. That is incorrect. That decision will be left to the California Supreme Court since it is not guaranteed by the language of the statute.

SB 115 is a one-way right written solely for the benefit of the sperm donor, who at any point can sue for custody.  There is no provision to exclude that right if a written waiver is signed at the time of donation.

Even more dangerous is the fact that SB 115 alters power relationships between women and men, even when they agree to mutually co-parent.  SB 115 interjects the superiority of male sperm donation in family formation, irrespective of written agreements. Such power is not given to egg donors or surrogates that are in the same position as sperm donors. It is not lost on us that the author and supporters of SB 115 have made no attempt to afford such power to mothers who are not listed on the birth certificate.
The issue of who should be considered a parent is complicated and should be treated with the utmost care taking into consideration both the rights and responsibilities owed to children in our society.

Biology is not everything, nor is it nothing. However, moving from our current system where mutual agreement to co-parent is the starting place to a male dominant system is not the answer. It negates the ability of lesbian couples and single women to control the make-up of their families.

Katie, you should be ashamed to be participating in such an anti-woman, anti-lesbian piece of legislation and the fabricated publicity campaign designed to ensure passage of this heinous legislation.  We know one thing for sure - we’re embarrassed for you.

Reproductive Rights Targeted in California

Catholic Hospital corporations learned a lesson from anti-choice Republicans in Texas and across the country -- if you can't change the law right away, just deny access. Help us fight back NOW.

Here in California, the battle has been waged by Catholic institutions taking over our local hospitals. Dignity Health is the largest non-profit provider in California with 60 facilities across our state.  Though the name has changed, Dignity follows the same Catholic tenets, requiring hospitals and doctors to abide by the chain’s “Statement of Common Values.” Those values include NO abortion, NO contraception, NO sterilizations, NO fertility treatment and NO DNRs or other end of life options.

Dignity Health has a plan to dominate California's healthcare market. All across the state, Dignity Health affiliated hospitals, medical centers and nursing homes have been seeking affiliation agreements with non-religious hospitals.

Before the Affordable Care Act and universal coverage, Dignity Health's expansion plans were confined to mergers or takeovers of county hospitals like MLK in Los Angeles. Now with universal healthcare coverage, Dignity Health's goal of dominating the healthcare market could become a reality.

When WOMEN heard about the takeover bid for MLK, WOMEN in Los Angeles organized and, with the power of a broad coalition, saved MLK Hospital.

Now we're fighting much more than a hospital takeover. The affiliation plans in Orange County include the newly formed Covenant Health Network that intends to create an integrated regional health system including the respective Southern California Hospitals, an expansive physician network, and numerous outpatient and urgent care facilities in Orange County and the High Desert.

Their plan - NO abortion, NO contraception, NO sterilizations, NO fertility treatment and NO DNRs or other end of life options anywhere!

Don't wait for Governor Brown to stop them because he not only doesn't have a problem with their desire to expand, he’s already opened the door to state government. Dignity Health’s CEO sits on the board of both the Bay Area Business Council and Governor Brown’s Strategic Growth Council. Those two boards are in charge of the state’s Strategic Plan for the Environment and Health. Yes, you read that right. The CEO for Catholic hospitals is helping to shape our state’s strategic plan on health.

This assault on women's health is happening to women across economic and geographic regions in California RIGHT NOW. So, I need you to push through any race or class privilege that makes you think you’re immune because you’re not. It’s time for all women to stand united and demand that full reproductive and non-reproductive healthcare be a priority for the State of California and its sub-divisions. We cannot allow women’s health and access to be compromised to ensure the profits and market share of Catholic corporations like Dignity Health.

California NOW is working every single day on this fight but we need the financial resources to continue our work.

Together, let's prove that California women won't allow Catholic hospitals to dictate our healthcare!

Governor Brown Attempts to Change Penal Code for Domestic Violence

 The California Chapter of the National Organization for Women (California NOW) announced today that they will be waging a very public campaign to call on Governor Brown to remove the provision in the budget bill that eliminates domestic violence enforcement mandates from police officers and departments.

Current law requires mandatory response to domestic abuse calls, mandatory recording of those calls to emergency personnel, mandatory maintenance records of protection orders and mandatory incident reports. Governor Brown obviously believes domestic violence isn’t important enough to warrant mandates to ensure enforcement of those laws. That’s why, in the middle of night, he changed all of those acts from mandatory to optional, by changing the word in the penal code from “shall” to “may.”

California NOW President, Patricia Bellasalma stated, “California NOW has been fighting the governor’s office for more than two years and it’s getting old. We’ve been told repeatedly that he doesn’t like waiting, that democratic processes which are open and transparent are a waste of time and that he admires the autocratic Chinese government because they “get shit done.” Well what the Governor seems incapable of understanding is when there is no process, “shit” is exactly what gets done.”

Bellasalma continued, “This isn’t the first time we’ve had issues with the governor trying to change laws impacting women in this state through the use of rushed legislation. During the last budget cycle, a trailer bill sought to eliminate sex/gender from outcome measures tied to health inequities. That’s right - he didn’t care about unequal health outcomes for women, but we fought back and won.”

This latest attempt to destroy police mandates demonstrates a fundamental lack of a moral compass that no amount of philosophical reading can cure.  California NOW has been calling for transparency and accountability in state government for exactly this reason.  Governor Brown cannot be trusted to protect women’s health and safety.  The Legislature and Governor Brown must do more than just restore the Domestic Violence statutes; they must prove they deserve women’s trust by - at a minimum - enacting a three day delay before a vote statute that includes the budget.”

As Sacramento County District Attorney, Jan Scully, made clear in her statement yesterday regarding this issue, “These amendments undermining domestic violence laws and victims’ rights have been buried in this collection of mismatched laws because these changes would not survive if exposed to the light of public debate.”

California NOW will be calling on women across the state to contact Governor Brown’s office to demand that he veto AB 76 so that he isn’t responsible for taking California back more than two decades in the fight to break the cycle of domestic violence.

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Stopping Walmart's Abuses

Today, our state president, Patricia Bellasalma, spoke at the Capitol in support of AB 880 (D-Gomez) which would force Walmart and other large corporations to stop their current practice of dumping employees onto Medi-Cal where taxpayers end up shouldering the burden of their healthcare costs.

Here's the text of Patty's speech:

"California NOW stands in partnership with Assemblymember Gomez because he stands in partnership with the Women of Labor who are here today working to enact AB 880.

We are all here gather together on the 50th Anniversary of the Federal Equal Pay Act in solidarity over our commitment in working towards a more just and fair society.  Equal Pay for Equal Work - 50 years women have been working for justice – for fairness.  Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived.  We are still waiting for our work to be equally valued and respected.

We are here because we know women represent nearly two-thirds of all minimum wage workers in this country.  That means millions of women living well below the poverty level. That isn't by accident - it's because of what some in our society have chosen to value and not value.

We are here because we know that true prosperity for everyone will occur when we equally value early education and childcare because doing so breaks the cycle of poverty.

We are here because we know true prosperity for everyone is a living wage that includes universal healthcare and a defined benefit pension.

We are here because we know true prosperity for everyone means an economy that recognizes and values everyone’s economic contributions.

The truth is, we - as a society - make a decision every single day as to what we value. We are here because we know that we still live in a society that values traits and jobs labeled male over traits and jobs labeled female.

When we pay a plumber $100 an hour yet pay the person who cares for our children and our aging parents just $10 an hour, we're making a decision as to what we value. I want you to think about that. Why do we place greater value on the person who fixes our toilet over the person who cares for our children? 

Care work is often called "noble," but only when that work is free or close to it. Women in California provide $47 billion annually in unpaid care work.  It’s time for our work to be economically counted.  It’s time for California to also enact a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.  It’s time for the Legislature and the Governor to also adopt the Mitchell Plan for Cal-Works.

Here in California, we need and must to do better. Enacting AB 880 is another important step in doing better. We are here because this bill will protect women’s health.  Medi-Cal already has a shortage of doctors.  It is women and other low-income workers who will suffer from lack of access to healthcare if big corporations take advantage of a loophole that will allow them to dump 400,000 workers onto Medi-Cal at taxpayer expense.

It’s bad enough that Walmart and other big corporations pay workers so little that they qualify for government assistance, while also failing to pay their fair share of property and other taxes that pay for that assistance. 

We are here because Walmart and other large corporations are cutting worker hours so they can continue to shift their fair share of responsibility for healthcare onto California taxpayers.

We are here united to protect women’s health - to protect all taxpayers by closing the Walmart loophole. We are here in support of AB 880.”