McCain: 8 Seconds of Silence

If you weren't aware of how out of touch John McCain is, this should sum it up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqnmXSXtDkQ


If you still need more reasons to not vote for him, check this out:

http://www.ppaction.org/ppvotes/thetruthaboutjohnmccain.html

See you in a week!

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Michigan is off to Washington D.C. for a national Planned Parenthood conference. We will be learning strategic and effective ways to ensure that Michigan becomes a state that fully supports pro-choice policies! And when we get back, it will be time to kick the electoral activism into full gear, so be ready to get out and knock some doors, make some phone calls, and host a house party or two to make sure we elect pro-choice legislators on the state and federal level this fall!

Thanks Detroit NOW

The Detroit Planned Parenthood Young Leaders (PPYL) group was recently featured in the summer 2008 issue of the Detroit NOW newsletter (front page, no less). As another group dedicated to ensuring the reproductive rights of women, it’s great to be recognized by the Detroit Chapter of the National Organization for Women.

NOW issues numerous action alerts, notifying its members of important national issues. One specific issue that Planned Parenthood and NOW have in common is our fight to restore affordable birth control to low-income and college women. For more information, see the NOW action alert at http://www.capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=10601436.

Once again, sincere thanks to Detroit NOW. If you are interested in joining the Detroit PPYL group, please contact us at detroitppyl@gmail.com.

Out of Touch

Yesterday John McCain was interviewed on his campaign bus and according to the Press Release by the PP Action Fund he left a long pause in his conversation that leaves women wondering whether he cares about their health care. It goes a little something like this...

Reporter:..."it was unfair that insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that?"

(strange, uncomfortable, 8 second pause).....

McCain responded: "I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer."

McCain went on to say, "it's something that I had not thought much about, and I did hear about her response, but I hadn't though much. But I will get, I will get back to you today on it."

Oh really John McCain!!! As stated by Cecile Richards in the press release, "When Sen. John McCain was asked to vote on insurance coverage of affordable birthcontrol, he HAD AN ANSWER... NO. By voting against insurance coverage of birth control, Sen. McCain is denying women affordable access to basic health care."

Just a little food for thought over the weekend!

"Living is the art of loving. Loving is the art of caring. Caring is the art of sharing. Sharing is the art of living.
If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else."
Booker T. Washington

What's At Stake in November

In preparation for a training, my fellow organizers and I have been brainstorming all of the reproductive rights issues that are at stake in the upcoming election. As we all know, on the federal level, there is a HUGE difference between Obama (strong women's health advocate) and McCain (Mr. Mc-AntiChoice). There are important issues on the state level as well.

On the federal level:

Title X funding: the nation's family planning program. Title X funds go to safety-net family planning providers that serve low-income women and families. Title X is already severely underfunded and desperately needs an increase in the coming years.

Title V: funding for abstinence-only education programs. The government has already wasted $1.5 billion on Title V, which has been proven ineffective by many, many studies. It is time to put Title V to rest!

Supreme Court justices: the Supreme Court has an immense amount of power, and the president gets to decide who's on it. President Bush has already done enough damage by appointing justices who are dedicated to stripping away women's reproductive rights. We need to make sure McCain doesn't get a chance to continue this trend.

On the state level:

Prevention First: the Michigan legislature has introduced a series of bills that focus on making women's health a priority. These bills are a part of Planned Parenthood's Prevention First! Campaign, and they will ensure:

*access to affordable birth control
*comprehensive, medically-accurate sex education
*timely access to and education about emergency contraception
*insurance coverage of annual pap smear screenings

We need to make sure that Michigan elects pro-choice legislators so that these bills can become a reality. This is vitally important to the health of our communities.

So now that you know what's at stake, make sure your vote in November supports women's health! And don't forget to tell all your friends to do the same!

Do People Care?

As a field organizer, it’s my job to make my community aware of issues and legislation that will affect women’s health in Michigan. One of the ways I accomplish this is through crowd canvassing at large events like festivals. I usually ask people if they would like to support women’s health, to which some reply yes. Many say no. How could this be? How could people actually say no to making women’s health a priority? One of my rationalizations is that people are too busy to stop, but that they really do care about women’s health. Thing is, if you don’t stop to sign or stand up to speak out, no one will ever know.

While some people are too busy to learn about the laws being passed in our country, many others are super-busy passing laws and lobbying for legislation that could negatively impact the very same people who didn’t care to speak out. There are those who would pass laws that never affect themselves personally, but affect poor, uninsured or under-insured people. These are the people who hope you are always too busy to stop, too busy to learn what’s going on in your community, too busy to stand up and call for change. Understand this: while they are hoping you are too busy to stop and make a difference, they are never too busy to stop trying to exert their control over women’s bodies by eliminating women’s choices. They are tireless when it comes to working against good sex ed in schools and making accessible and affordable health care for women a thing of the past.

I titled this blog “Do People Care?” because I really want to know if they do. I’m sure they do. I’m hoping they do. If you are reading this and you care about women’s health, post a comment saying “I Do!”

Thank you, I do too.

Thanks Northville!

The Northville Board of Education recently approved a human sexuality component to be added to their health education curriculum. I think this is big news and I am excited to see a community come together to create an environment where teens can get medically-accurate, age-appropriate sexuality education.

The Northville Board of Education’s decision is in response to a statistic that says 79 percent of Northville parents want to see this education in schools. Parents will have to opt-in to the course, instead of opting out, a decision that may have a negative impact on the number of students participating (just ask any teacher who has ever sent a note home).

Overall, I believe this decision is a move in the right direction. The parents of Northville have had their say. Now, let’s watch the wonderful things that can happen when we trust our teens enough to give them access to vital, relevant and accurate information.