Middlesex County NOW
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October, 2017
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
and Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Middlesex County NOW
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Officers
President – Skip Drumm
Vice President – Mary Pranzatelli
Secretary – Alan Gross
Treasurer – Ronnie Traktman
State Board Rep – Mary Pranzatelli
Newsletter Editor – Skip Drumm
Newsletter Asst Editor – Alan Gross
Local Chapter Information:
Our Next Meeting
Our next chapter meeting will be Tuesday, October 10th, at 7 pm at the home of Skip and Alan. Dinner will be served, courtesy of our hosts. Let us know if you're planning to attend, so we can plan food. The 2017 schedule of meetings is posted on our web site, Middlesex.nownj.org. : The proposed 2018 meeting schedule is also now on our web site.
Working in the November elections
We have been discussing in our chapter meetings what we can do to further NOW’s goals. Many of us have been attending rallies and marches organized by like-minded groups such as NJ Citizen Action, Planned Parenthood, and various Indivisible groups. Given we’re already participating in these grassroots activities, we concluded that working to elect like-minded candidates was something we could do as individuals to support NOW’s goals. Pending word of NOW-NJ PAC’s endorsements, we can suggest working for candidates that Planned Parenthood has endorsed.
From the National office:
Hurricane Maria
NOW President Tony Van Pelt wrote:
Puerto Rico is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. After a hit by Hurricane Irma, followed by an even more devastating hit by Hurricane Maria, residents of the island are still reeling from the damage--and struggling to recover.
Millions around the country are donating to disaster relief efforts, and many NOW members have expressed a desire to support victims of this tragedy. We would like to help facilitate that. We have listed below three feminist organizations collecting donations--who would certainly appreciate your support.
If you would like to donate to disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico, please consider these options:
· Hurricane Maria Community Relief & Recovery Fund - A relief fund governed by local, grassroots organizations in Puerto Rico.
· National Network to End Domestic Violence - Donations will be sent to coalitions in hurricane-affected areas to use for disaster relief in domestic violence programs.
· American Federation of Teachers - The organization has set up a disaster relief fund specifically for victims in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
In times of tragedy, disadvantaged groups face even bigger challenges to recovery. I encourage you to give in a way that aligns with our shared values as feminists--to organizations who will rebuild with women and marginalized groups in mind. Thank you so much for all that you do.
National NOW Press Releases:
"Ending DACA Will Stoke Fear — and Harm Women" Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt, September 5, 2017. Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will decimate protections for immigrant youth–and sends a message to immigrant women, children, and families that their safety is in jeopardy. More
"Trump Administration Protects the Privileged, Shuns Survivors" Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt, Sept-ember 7, 2017. Sexual assault survivors are not safe on Betsy Devos’s watch. Her announcement today that the Department of Education would begin rolling back protections for campus sexual assault survivors signals once again that this administration is committed only to protecting the privileged. More
"NOW Proudly Endorses the Black Women’s March and March for Racial Justice" Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt, September 11, 2017. The National Organization for Women is proud to officially endorse the March for Black Women, and the March for Racial Justice (M4RJ). The events will take place concurrently, and in solidarity with one another, on September 30, 2017. More
"NOW: FOX Sports Should Fire Clay Travis" Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt, September 16, 2017. In an appearance on CNN Friday, Fox Sports Analyst Clay Travis was asked to comment on ESPN host Jemele Hill’s remarks calling Donald Trump a white supremacist. First of all, we agree 100% with Jemele Harris - Donald Trump is a white supremacist. Travis should have been fired for his racist, sexist remarks, but he couldn’t stop there. More
"50 Years of Organizing for Change" Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt, September 18, 2017. The National Organization for Women (NOW) welcomes the opportunity to participate in the March for Black Women and the Racial Justice March. NOW believes that changing the culture that marginalizes, disparages and excludes women, particularly women of color, is our most important work.
We were distressed to learn that the March had been scheduled on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, a date this year that fell on a date of infamy for the African American community. When we first became aware of the Marches and the letter of apology for the scheduling conflict we thought long and hard about lifting up of all our communities as allies even when there is conflict and what that might mean for our members. More
"Trump’s Adolescent Bullying Behavior Demeans All Women" September 21, 2017. The gif showing Hillary Clinton being knocked down by a golf ball that Donald Trump released earlier this week is almost beyond outrage. “Trump’s continued attacks on his former opponent reveal Trump’s true nature – that of an ignorant bully stuck in adolescence,” NOW President Toni Van Pelt said, “and he needs to stop it.” His actions give permission to aggressors who would abuse women. More
"NOW Celebrates Defeat of Yet Another Disastrous Health Care Bill" Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt, September 27, 2017. Today Senate leaders announced they would not vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill–the latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Once again, we’re breathing a sigh of relief, and gearing up for the next challenge ahead. More
News and discussion from womensenews.org:
Non-Voters: The Unforgiven “I can tell you that for many Muslim women living more than 10,000 miles away, Hillary Clinton’s comments were aptly fitting. …
Take That, Tampon Tax! The reality is that feminine hygiene products are a necessity, and consumers are being taxed for managing a basic bodily function. …
From the Feminist Digest (feminist.org):
Trump Reinstates Ban on Recruitment of Transgender Troops President Trump issued a memorandum the last week of August reinstating a ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the United States military and forbidding the Department of Defense from providing medical treatment related to healthcare for transgender service members.
Trump Pardons Notorious Arizona Sheriff Despite Widespread Outrage President Trump issued an executive pardon for former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio, a notorious Arizona official who abused his position to unconstitutionally racially target and detain individuals he suspected of being in the country without proper documentation.
South Carolina Governor Blocks Funding to Abortion Providers In the latest attack on abortion access, South Carolina joins a long list of states who have attempted to pass legislation or set up obstacles for individuals trying to access abortion services.
Trump Administration Shuts Down Initiative to Combat Gender-Race Wage Gap The Trump administration has announced that they will shut down a 2016 Obama-era initiative that empowered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to collect pay data sorted by gender, race, and ethnicity from businesses with 100 or more employees.
Trump Administration Set To End DACA Immigration Program President Trump has reportedly decided to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, as soon as Friday. Implemented under President Barack Obama, DACA is a two year, renewable program for undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as minors.
Missouri Celebrates an Increases in Abortion Access After Lawsuit A Planned Parenthood clinic in Missouri will now provide patients access to safe and legal medication abortions. Missouri has some of the toughest laws on abortion and until late September, there was only one abortion clinic in the entire state, located in St. Louis.
House to Hold Vote on 20 Week Abortion Ban On September 26, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced that a vote on the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” would take place the first week of October.
Commemorating International Safe Abortion Day International Safe Abortion Day began in 1990 in Argentina and became an internationally recognized event in 2011. The Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights was central in declaring September 28 Safe Abortion Day on a global level. On this day, women’s organizations around the world unite towards the common goal of achieving abortion access worldwide.
A Major Victory for Abortion Rights
On September 28, Eleanor Smeal wrote the following, which does not appear to be on line, so most of it is included here:
Illinois Governor Rauner Signs Bill Authorizing Medicaid Funding of Abortion, Historic and Important for Millions of Women Today, Governor Rauner of Illinois signed into law House Bill 40, which authorizes abortion funding under the state Medicaid program, as well as under the state insurance programs for state employees, and eliminates the Illinois “trigger” law that would have banned abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court were ever to reverse Roe v. Wade.
The Governor’s decision is a game-changer in the fight for reproductive justice and for the over 557,000 women of reproductive age currently enrolled in Medicaid in Illinois alone, as well as the one-in-five women of reproductive age nationwide who are enrolled in Medicaid. It is the first time in over two decades that a state will voluntarily provide Medicaid-funded abortion care for low-income and/or disabled women.
Furthermore, women will no longer have to choose between a job with the Illinois state government and comprehensive reproductive healthcare coverage. It is all the more monumental that this legislation was passed essentially along party lines by a Democratic majority state senate and house, but has now been signed into law by a Republican governor.
The Feminist Majority applauds Governor Rauner and the legislative co-sponsors led by Representative Sara Feigenholtz (D) and Senator Heather A. Steans (D), as well as the state’s reproductive justice advocates who have prioritized lifting the ban on Medicaid funding for abortion because of the harm that it inflicts on women.
Today, Governor Rauner demonstrated that Medicaid-funded abortions should not be a partisan issue, but rather a matter of economic justice. Abortion is not a constitutionally protected right for only wealthy women. Making decisions about what happens to one’s own body is a constitutionally protected right for everyone.
Poor women, just like women of greater means, deserve access to comprehensive, constitutionally-protected reproductive healthcare, which includes abortion. Medicaid isn’t supposed to be wielded as a weapon to punish poor women. But that is exactly what it becomes when we use women’s bodies as a battleground for a draconian agenda that the majority of Americans do not support.
The right to access abortion, no matter a woman’s income or place of residency, is a fundamental right in the fight for women’s equality. Not counting Illinois, only 14 states currently provide Medicaid funding for abortion beyond the federal Hyde Amendment restrictions, which only allow Medicaid funds to be used in cases of rape, incest, or life-endangerment of the pregnant woman.
The standard of life endangerment is so punitive that a poor woman suffering from cancer or other serious illness can be denied Medicaid funding for abortion. This cruelty must be stopped and the Hyde Amendment must be repealed through passage of the federal EACH Woman Act.
In the meantime, Illinois House Bill 40 leads the way to stopping this gross discrimination against low-income and disabled women.
Feminist Jobs
The Feminist Majority Foundation has a jobs listing service which can be accessed from their web site or directly at jobs.feminist.org.
General Information
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How to Contact your State and National Legislators:
Find your New Jersey Assembly and Senate representatives at www.njleg.state.nj.us.
For the U.S. House and Senate, go to www.Congress.org, and enter your zip code to find your legislators and their contact information.
Our friends in the Gay Activist Alliance of Morris County (GAAMC) publish a monthly newsletter with interesting articles, opinions, and event announcements. You can read it here: http://issuu.com/gaamc.