California NOW

Action Alert!

Tomorrow, the Senate Health Committee will meet to decide whether two important bills move forward.

Assembly Bill 154 (Atkins) will address the current shortage of health care professionals able to provide early abortion care in California. It will authorize trained Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) to provide comprehensive first trimester abortion care, which is within the scope of their licenses. Early abortion access is a critical public health issue. An estimated one in three women will decide to terminate a pregnancy by age 45, yet many women do not have sufficient access to early abortions because of the limited number of physicians providing the services in their communities. Almost half of the counties in California have no accessible abortion provider, requiring women to travel significant distances to terminate a pregnancy or wait for an appointment for services.

Assembly Bill 980 (Pan) will ease outdated building standards that have been uniquely applied to abortion clinics. Abortion clinics currently must adhere to higher building standards than primary care clinics - even though the risk of infection from taking a pill for a cold is no different from taking one to induce an abortion. Similarly, there is no difference in the possibility of infection between an aspiration abortion and other procedures that are regularly done in primary care clinics, such as insertion of an intrauterine device or endometrial biopsy.

The religious right has had no problem getting their supporters to inundate the Capitol with calls opposing both of these bills so it's imperative that committee members hear from us as well.

Please call the committee members NOW urging them to support both of these important bills.

Senator Hernandez (Chair) 916.651.4024
Senator Beall 916.651.4015
Senator de Leon  916.651.4022
Senator DeSaulnier 916.651.4007
Senator Monning 916.651.4017
Senator Pavley  916.651.4027
Senator Wolk 916.651.4003

And if you're in the Sacramento area, we could really use your support at the hearing to make sure committee members see a huge number of women standing in support of these bills.

The meeting will take place on Wednesday (July 3rd) at 1:30 PM at the Capitol in Room 4203.

We'll be there standing up for women and I hope to see many of you as well.

Monday's Action Checklist

This week we're spotlighting two important videos that come to us from San Francisco NOW.

The first one is an impassioned personal video from Linda, a breast cancer survivor herself, who talks about what cancer is and what it is not.  She made this video in response to the decision by Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation to politicize the disease by discontinuing their grant program to Planned Parenthood who provides breast cancer screenings throughout the country.

After watching the video, we hope you'll visit BreastCancerAction.org where you can learn about another problem - that of the "pink" products associated with breast cancer which have absolutely nothing to do with finding a cure.  This site discusses the corporate politics behind breast cancer and helps you understand how important it is to "Think Before You Pink."

 

The second video we're spotlighting this week also comes from San Francisco NOW and talks about GMO Labeling - an issue that is not discussed as often or as widely as it should be, especially since it affects every single one of us.

To learn more about this important issue, please visit LabelGMOs.org

Monday's Action Checklist

The California Domestic Workers Coalition, representing thousands of childcare providers, caregivers and housekeepers from around the state, along with labor and community supporters, are pursuing the passage of AB 889, the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.  This bill will provide equal pay for equal work for thousands of Californians who have been excluded from basic labor protections for decades.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to sign the petition asking state legislators to support AB 889.

Arsenic and mercury residues from power plant air pollution are ending up on our fruits (and in our fruit juice), in our water ways, and in our fish. These toxins, in turn, end up in consumer products like the apple juice boxes that we give our kids. This is one of the key reasons why it’s so important we strengthen clean air protections for pollutants.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to sign the petition asking President Obama and the EPA to move forward with a strong Mercury and Air Toxins rule to defend public health and protect our children from toxic arsenic and mercury.

After 4 years of marketing research, LEGO has come to the conclusion that girls want LadyFigs, a pink Barbielicious product line for girls, so 5 year-olds can imagine themselves at the café, lounging at the pool with drinks, brushing their hair in front of a vanity mirror, singing in a club, or shopping with their girlfriends.  LEGO doesn't seem to understand that little girls like minifigs. They also like Star Wars and Harry Potter, and they like being creative and making up stories that involve adventures and good and evil and things blowing up.  Take Action NOW:  Sign this letter to LEGO telling them that narrow stereotypes associated with pink and blue simply box kids in from an early age and that raising healthy girls and boys is all about creating a wide range of possibilities and options.

Dow Chemical is currently requesting an unprecedented USDA approval: a genetically engineered (GE) version of corn that is resistant to 2,4-D, a major component of the highly toxic Agent Orange. Agent Orange was the chemical defoliant used by the U.S. in Vietnam, and it caused lasting ecological damage as well as many serious medical conditions in both Vietnam veterans and the Vietnamese.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to tell the USDA to do its job and reject 2,4-D resistant GE corn

Monday's Action Checklist

We've written about this before but until it's taken care of, it warrants another mention.  Governor Brown has still not stopped the spraying of strawberries with cancer-causing Methyl Iodide, even after scientists have labeled it one of the most toxic chemicals on the planet.  What is he waiting for?  In addition to causing cancer, it's also known for inducing late-term miscarriages.   Take Action NOW:  Send a message to Governor Brown asking that he put a stop to this now.

Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, announced last week it would be making dramatic cuts to the health care options it provides to associates. Premiums are going up by 20-60% for full time associates and those working less than 24 hours a week won’t be eligible for coverage at all.   Although Walmart employees have always made low wages, in the past year, they’ve seen their few benefits be cut significantly.  Take Action NOW:  You can help by going into Walmart (I know you typically never shop there) and hand this flyer to all the associates you can find, encouraging them to band together to say enough is enough.

The ACLU has uncovered and analyzed thousands of FBI documents and found that America's most powerful law enforcement agency is using its vastly expanded investigative authority to collect racial and ethnic information and "map" American communities around the country — based on crude stereotypes about which groups commit different types of crimes.  Take Action NOW:  Tell Attorney General Holder to put an end to this unconstitutional use of racial profiling.

Monday's Action Checklist

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is accepting comments until next Monday (October 31st) from the public concerning proposed regulations for the new state-based health insurance exchanges and qualified health plans under the new health care reform law. We need to make sure that women's access to insurance coverage for abortion care is made simple and affordable.  Take Action NOW: Click here to ask that the state-based health exchanges and the qualified health plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) assure that women are made aware of the availability of insurance plan riders for abortion care and that ease of payment be facilitated.

Each year, the FBI fails to count hundreds of thousands of rapes because their definition doesn't include forced oral sex, date rape cases where the victim was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, rapes involving women with mental disabilities and rapes of men or transgender people.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to tell FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder to update the overly narrow, outdated “forcible rape” definition by signing this petition.

A new study by the Breast Cancer Fund shows that the dangerous toxic chemical BPA appears in a wide variety of canned foods specifically marketed towards kids like Campbell's Disney Princess Cool Shapes Pasta with Chicken in Chicken Broth and Campbell's Toy Story Fun Shapes noodles. BPA is linked to breast cancer, obesity, prostate cancer, learning disabilities, infertility, and more!  Take Action NOW:  Tell Campbell Soup Company, Con Agra (maker of Chef Boyardee), Annie's Homegrown and Hain Celestial (maker of Earth's Best) to stop marketing BPA to kids.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is developing a new conservation plan for the Arctic Refuge.  The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge thrives as one of our nation's most untouched wilderness areas. The Coastal Plain – the Refuge's biological heart – provides a vital home for hundreds of wildlife species – including polar bears.  We've all seen the heartbreaking images of polar bears trapped on shrinking ice blocks and swimming miles to try to find food. With the Arctic's vulnerable animals already threatened by climate change and struggling to survive, it is more important than ever to keep them safe from the hazards of oil and gas drilling.  Take Action NOW:  Tell Secretary Salazar and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect polar bears and their families by including the Coastal Plain in their new conservation plan.

And, finally for some good news....

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a bill that requires anti-choice “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) to be honest in their advertising to women facing unplanned pregnancies!  There are more than 200 CPCs across California. Many of them use misleading and deceptive marketing practices to appeal to women who are seeking comprehensive reproductive-health services.  This includes paying for billboards, yellowpages.com listings, Google ad words, and other print advertising.  The bill is the first of its kind to be introduced in any U.S. city or county.  Take Action NOW:  Contact Board President David Chiu to thank the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for passing this important bill.