Improve, Don't Limit, Reproductive Health

Oppose Administration Regulations that Limit Family Planning Services	Take Action!
We invite our friends to join us in letting the Secretary of HHA know our distress over the regulations the agency is preparing. Last week, the New York Times reported that the Bush administration was preparing regulations that would severely limit women's access to reproductive health and family planning services, including some of the most common forms of birth control. While current law does prohibit providers from using federal money to perform abortions, as well as prohibiting discrimination against employees who refuse to perform abortions, the possible new regulations would go many steps further. Proposed Changes Among the most startling of changes in the draft regulations proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services is language that would redefine abortion to include "any of the various procedures - including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action - that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation." Under this broad definition, many common forms of birth control, including birth control pills, IUDs, and emergency contraception would be falsely labeled as abortion. The possible proposed regulations would also permit health care providers to refuse to perform any service they deem morally objectionable. In addition, the proposed regulations would trump state laws that protect women's access to reproductive health care, including those requiring health insurance plans that provide drug benefits to include coverage of contraception; laws that require hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape survivors; and laws that require pharmacies to fill patients' valid medical prescriptions. The proposed regulations also could severely limit access to counseling, education, contraception, and preventive health care services for low-income and underinsured women and men-those who need it most. Our Position AAUW supports the right of every woman to safe, accessible, affordable, and comprehensive family planning and reproductive health services and believes that access to complete reproduction health information and services enhance women's reproductive choices. We urge the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to improve the reproductive health and safety of all women and girls, rather than limit it. Take Action! Send a message to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt urging him to reconsider this attack on family planning. Simply click on the "Take Action" link in the upper right corner or copy and paste the following URL into your Internet browser. Then follow the instructions to send your message. http://capwiz.com/aauw/issues/alert/?alertid=11665371 For more information, please read AAUW's position paper on reproductive rights.

Photo by littlemisskool

Garden City AAUW Celebrates "Clean Elections" Resolution

Past and Present Presidents of Garden City AAUW and Public Policy Chairperson meet Assemblyman McKevitt (left to right) Georgene Harrison (Co President), Margaret Delahunt, Rose Ann Palmer (Public Policy Chairperson) Assemblyman McKevitt, Mary Knox, Jane Cox (standing) and Sylvia Ebert (Co-President)


Nice going AAUW Garden City! Read this Clean Elections article in the Garden City News:

Women (AAUW) are in a celebratory mood over passage of a 'Clean Elections' resolution at the organization's annual state convention. (See end of article to read the resolution} The branch Public Policy Study Group chose 'Clean Elections' for its annual project, then arranged to have a Resolution: Clean Money: Clean Elections presented by its author, Ms. Irene Miller, AAUW member and member of the Board of Trustees of 'Citizens' Action New York' at the New York State AAUW convention at Cooperstown in April. The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority vote and will be presented to the New York State Legislature.

The reason for celebrating is that 'Clean Elections' could save taxpayers lots of money, allow candidates to run for state offices without begging for dollars, and restore the principle of one person, one vote. How? By providing full and equal public funding to all qualified candidates who refuse private money so that they can feel free to work in the public's interest rather than in that of contributors to their next campaign." [Read more]

That's the kind of press we need all over the state. And, our own Kingston Branch member (Public Policy Chair) Irene Miller, wrote and sheparded the proposal through the state convention. Thanks, Irene.

RESOLUTION SUPPORTING CLEAN MONEY CLEAN ELECTIONS

This resolution was passed by the AAUW NYS convention, April 26, 2008:
WHEREAS: Clean Money Clean Elections creates a system of public financing for candidates who agree to strict spending limits in their campaigns for statewide and legislative offices and is supported by Governor David Paterson and

WHEREAS: Clean Money Clean Elections would enhance democracy by eliminating the deleterious influence of money in the political process, removing access to wealth as a major determinant of a citizen’s influence in the political process, and restoring the principle of “one person, one vote”, and

WHEREAS: Clean Money Clean Elections would level the playing field to give qualified citizens without access to big money a fair chance at winning office based on their ideas, ability, and integrity rather than how much money they can raise, and

WHEREAS: Clean Money Clean Elections would stop the endless money chase so that candidates are free of the constant need to raise money and those elected have more time to serve the public interest rather than constantly raising funds for their next campaign, and

WHEREAS: Clean Money Clean Elections would reduce the escalating costs of elections, and

WHEREAS: Polls show an overwhelming majority of citizens support public financing of campaigns so long as the candidates abide by spending limits and

WHEREAS: Partial reforms such as "matching funds" public financing systems will not meet the goals of greatly reducing the influence of large, private donors or allow citizens of modest means the ability to run competitively for public office and

WHEREAS: Clean Elections would enhance AAUW's ability to achieve our goals of equity for women and girls and increase the number of women able to run for elective office, therefore let it be

RESOLVED: That the American Association of University Women of New York State (AAUW NYS) urges the New York State Legislature to enact a Clean Elections system of full public financing into law in order to break the hold money interests have over the principle of one person, one vote and

FURTHER RESOLVED: that the AAUW NYS President and Public Policy Director send copies of this resolution to Governor David Paterson, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, and assembly members and senators.