Women's Equality Day

August 26 of each year is designated in the United States as Women's Equality Day. Instituted by Representative Bella Abzug and first established in 1971, the date commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, the Woman Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women in the United States full voting rights in 1920.

In his 2004 Presidential Proclamation honoring this day, President Bush said,

"The full participation of women and the protection of their rights as citizens are essential for freedom and democracy to flourish."

Nothing could be more true - not only in the United States, but throughout the world. I personally believe that our collective future is dependent on the education of young women and their full and equal participation in society.

But, in the U.S. and in New York State, the goal of full participation, so reliant as it is on equal economic, educational, and health care access, is moving at a snail's pace and in some instances stagnating and back-tracking.

In their 2006 Briefing Paper, The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) reported that "in no state does the typical full-time woman worker earn as much as the typical man. And, the number of women..."without health insurance has increased in 43 states," and "the poverty rate among women has increased in 15 states."

In New York State, this reality is particularly harsh for women of color.

According to the report "The Economic Status of Women in New York State" issued by IWPR, "... strong disparities exist among New York’s women. While 87.9 percent of white women in the state had health insurance, only 80.9 percent of African American women, [and] 75.1 percent of Latina women...were insured. Lower rates of insurance coverage for African American...and Latina women may be attributable in part to their greater prevalence in jobs that lack health benefits... "

In addition, the report continues, "New York State ranks in the bottom third of all states in the nation for the proportion of women who live above the poverty line. Women in New York State were more likely to be poor than women nationally [and] since the late 1980s New York State has experienced an overall increase in poverty among women and a severe drop in its ranking from 30th to 40th in the nation. These trends call attention to poverty as an increasingly pressing problem for the state."

Reproductive health is always adversely impacted by poverty and lack of insurance. The number of poor and uninsured women in New York City without easy access to information and education about reproductive health care is a statewide and national embarrassment. As is the lack of a concerted effort to bring sex education and unplanned pregnancy prevention programs into our schools and communities.

We have much work to do in New York to bring real meaning to Women's Equality Day .

The Old Man & The Seed (McCain & Conception)

First let me rant a bit - how does Rick Warren and his evangelical church get a prime-time gig on CNN? (Here's an irreverent take on it)

How does that happen? Even if pollsters are right and 25% of the voting electorate are self-described "born again" Christians or evangelicals, how does that still warrant a prime-time gig on CNN?

Will there now be a prime-time 2-hour presidential candidate interview show for the other 75% of the voting electorate? Or even any percentage of them? If so, maybe I'll get to host a prime-time gig representing liberal, right-handed, feminist white guys.

Separation of church & state has simply become an interesting concept, and I think the CNN show was simply pandering.

Anyway, it gave us all an opportunity to hear John McCain proclaim that life begins at conception - to thunderous applause from the audience I might add. Thanks John, that really clears things up.

Although I'm sure Senator McCain doesn't think through all the implications of position statements like that - here's what it could mean for future McCain Administration policies.

For example, as Jay Bookman writes in his Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog...

"If human life begins at the moment of conception, it means that abortion must be outlawed in all instances, with no possible exception for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. By McCain’s definition, those embryos are human beings that must be protected, without regard to how they might have been created.

It also means that IUDs are not a form of birth control but murder weapons, because they operate by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, thus starving it to death. Some prolife physicians even believe that the birth-control pill is an abortion device, because in some cases the pill can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg."

And then there's the sticky problem such a statement creates for Senator McCain himself concerning his avowed support for stem cell research. As Jay Bookman points out, if life begins at conception, then "...stem cell research into cures for Alzheimers, Parkinson’s, diabetes and other diseases is murder and must be abandoned immediately."

Well, John, what do you have to say about that?

I like absolutists like McCain, don't you. Helps clears things up.

The Democrats & Their Big Tent Platform - Worried?

The blogosphere and news reporting web sites have been abuzz and atwitter this week over proposed changes to the Democratic Party Platform concerning women and reproductive rights. (see entire proposed platform here)

The first thing I read was Linda Hirshman's insightful article on Slate. I got excited reading that the hated Clintonian language concerning abortion (safe, legal and rare) had been cast onto the garbage heap of history and replaced with very strong support for Roe and a woman's inherent capacity for moral decision making. I admired Hirshman for calling out Senator Obama and other self-described progressives for having ceded the moral high ground by insinuating that abortion is morally wrong . "Why," Hirshman writes, "did the Democratic candidate for president...invoke the image of the "middle-aged feminist who regrets her abortion" in The Audacity of Hope?' She continues, "...It is time to revive the moral argument for protecting a woman's right to choose: Abortion is about the value of women's lives."

And so it is. Unequivocally.

Hirshman concludes by saying, "The Democratic platform of 2008 offers an opportunity to put an end to this self-destructive cycle of safe, legal, and rare, otherwise known as regret, depression, and self-denigration. In its place, it can finally argue for the value of women's lives."

WORD! And, BTW, I vote for Linda Hirshman getting a speaking role at the convention.

The next thing I read tilted to the effusive. Calling it a "remarkable feminist document," Dana Goldstein, blogs about the platform on The American Prospect. Goldstein credits female members of both Obama's and Clinton's staff for having moved the language of the platform to be more explicitly pro-woman. She also admirably runs the 2004 and 2008 platforms together so you can make your own decision about shift in language and intent. She concludes though by saying that she, "...[doesn't] see this as a modification of the party's pro-choice stance. Rather, it's a strengthening of that position and a re-articulation of the commitment to helping low-income expectant mothers."

I wanted to believe that to be true. But as I read the next article the story morphed right before my eyes. ABC News asserted that the "Democrats Soften Edges on Abortion."

What's Up? I was just starting to believe that miracles really could happen, when I'm slapped back to reality with the lead sentence, "The Democratic Party is planning a convention designed to soften the edges on the party's support for abortion rights..." And then the article goes on to say that pro-life Senator Bob Casey will be given a prime-time speaking gig in Denver in 2 weeks.

Uh-oh. Something going on here I don't get?

This is followed by more breaking news that pro-life Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is on a very short list for Vice President. And that pro-life Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and pro-life religious leader Jim Wallis and other pro-lifers are applauding the platform and in some cases taking credit for it's creation.

This is the point where I start to get nervous.

I read the post from David Brody, the senior national correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network. Brody writes that "the Democratic Party is going to add and change some abortion language in their platform as an attempt to bring more moderate Evangelicals and pro-life Catholics into the party." He continues, "The Brody File is told that people like Pastor Joel Hunter (registered Republican), Jim Wallis (President of Sojourners), Pastor Tony Campolo, and conservative Catholic legal scholar Doug Kmiec all helped in the drafting of this new language."

By now I haven't a clue about what is really going on. And I begin to have doubts about this fast moving, ever nuanced story of the proposed changes to the Democratic Party platform. Who knows who created it and why? Or even if it will pass muster in Denver. And if it does, if it will be further nuanced and/or compromised by a vice presidential pick that may not support a woman's inherent right to make a decision about when or whether to become a parent.

What worries me and what really makes me nervous is that I don't trust that all of this has gone down without serious questioning by those with so much at stake. I'm just not a blind follower. I am too much of a cynic when it comes to politics to simply drink the Kool Aid without asking why. I want to win elections as much as the next guy, but I have worked too long trying to assure that women can control their own destinies to just accept everything at face value.

And I'm all for the Big Tent in theory, but if in practice it brings people within a heartbeat of controlling my and my daughter's future - then I demand to know what's up. I demand reasonable assurances for my loyalty and support. Is that too much to ask?

What do you think? Am I only only one feeling this way? Let me know.

Here's what all the buzzing and twittering is about...

The new proposed language:

The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.The Democratic Party also strongly supports access to affordable family planning services and comprehensive age-appropriate sex education which empower people to make informed choices and live healthy lives. We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions. The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre and post natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.

The current Democratic Party platform:

Because we believe in the privacy and equality of women, we stand proudly for a woman's right to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of her ability to pay. We stand firmly against Republican efforts to undermine that right. At the same time, we strongly support family planning and adoption incentives. Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.

Living Through Absurd Times

• Health Care Inequality is Key to Abortion Rates

It's a crime that we need to expend so much energy answering the absurd charges made by anti-choicers about the rate of abortions in communities of color. Charges like - we're waging big marketing campaigns targeting women of color, or that women of color use abortion as birth control, or women of color don't use condoms or contraceptives. All those charges are just malicious BS - made by people and groups who are vehemently against birth control and prevention and refuse to fund such programs. And who jump at every opportunity to de-fund programs that disproportionately impact poor women and women of color .

Hello! It's all about access fellas! Thankfully, Dr Melissa Gilliam, an African American woman, a physician, and a reproductive-health specialist, speaks truth to absurd claims by discussing the real-life consequences of unequal access to good health care. Dr. Gilliam is associate professor of obstetrics/gynecology at the University of Chicago and chairwoman of the Guttmacher Institute board of directors. She recently penned this excellent Op/Ed which ran in the August 10th edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

This should put an end to the absurd charges, but I'm betting it probably won't. Pass this article along to your friends. Everyone needs to be educated on this topic.

• Abortion Doesn't Cause Mental Illness

Here's another absurd claim - that abortion causes mental illness - promulgated by evildoers on the anti-choice side for decades. This should also be put to rest, but don't hold your breath.

Here's the good news - at the recent gathering of the American Psychology Association, their Mental Health and Abortion Task Force issued a 91-page report which says, in brief, "...there is no evidence that a single abortion causes significant mental health problems."

The New York Times summarizes it beautifully in an article in today's edition.

The false claims of mental health problems following abortion are put out there in bogus "studies" by the same people who brought you the bogus breast cancer and abortion lies.

• Is the NYC MTA Serious?
  

As if living in the 1950's, the MTA ruled that a pregnant officer was "unfit for duty," took away her gun and sent her to work in a toll booth. Even though her doctor pronounced the 10-week pregnant Lori Ann DiPalo fit for duty, the MTA thought otherwise.

You can read about this absurdity here.

Is it just me or does standing in a toll booth on your feet for 8 hours and sucking up car and truck fumes sound more unhealthy than enforcing the law?

I <3 Katha Pollitt

Author, poet, activist and feminist Katha Pollitt has been speaking truth to power from the pages of The Nation for almost 30 years. The Washington Post called Katha Pollitt's 'Subject to Debate' column"the best place to go for original thinking on the left." The NYC native has won major awards for her writing - including one from Planned Parenthood. Her most recent book, "Learning to Drive: And Other Life Lessons" is currently available in hardback from booksellers like Amazon.

But that's not just why I love Katha Pollitt.

I love Katha Pollitt most because no one I know writes with such passion and clarity about womens reproductive health and freedom as she does. And nobody exposes political attempts to deny a woman her reproductive freedom better than Katha Pollitt.

Katha's recent post on her The Nation blog spot, "And Another Thing," is a perfect case-in-point.

"Stealth Attack on Reproductive Rights" smartly links Bush's attempt to further restrict access to abortion with simultaneous attempts by his party's extremist right wing to deny a woman access to birth control.

As Katha Pollitt writes,

"...There are several disturbing elements to this story. One is that even as it fades into history, the Bush Administration is catering to the anti-choice movement's larger agenda of making contraception harder to obtain. And, "...another dangerous feature of the proposed rules is that they redefine contraception as abortion."

We are at a critical point in our political history. Great damage could be done to reproductive rights as this administration prepares to exit, stage far right.

Read Katha's article, pass it along to your friends, and contact your Senator and your Congressperson and demand that every attempt be made to stop these rules changes.

And on Nov. 2 - Vote! - as if your freedom depended on it - because it does!

Women Beware Parting Gift From Bush

I've briefly discussed Bush's plan to deny women access to abortion and birth control before he leaves office. Since then the news has become the subject of editorial pages across the country, and I want to share one of those with you.

It's Joan Malin's Op/Ed in the current issue of METRO - hot off the presses as it hits newsstands in NYC, Boston and Philadelphia on Friday, August 6th. Joan is president & CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City and understands what's at stake as well as anyone.

It’s 3 a.m. and your sister is in need of emergency contraception. She goes to her closest hospital emergency room and asks for it. Instead of being given this backup method of birth control, she is instead given a dose of heavy judgment and turned away by a health care provider who believes birth control is “wrong.”

Read more ... and let us know what you think.

Next up - why I love Katha Pollitt.

Lies, Damn Lies, and California's Prop 4

How many of you remember the story of "Nayirah," the 15-year old Kuwaiti girl who shocked a public hearing of Congress' Human Rights Caucus on October 10, 1990? She testified that she "saw Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns. They took the babies out of the incubators ... and left the children to die on the cold floor." This "story" was widely reported in the media, reached approximately 35 million people, and helped demonize Iraqis in American public opinion.

Truth was, it is was all bullshit. Made up by PR behemoth Hill & Knowlton who was hired by the Kuwaiti government to generate support for U.S. entry into the first Gulf War.

The young woman was later unmasked as the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador, and Kuwaiti hospital officials interviewed after the Gulf War said no infants had been dumped from incubators.

Truth is always the first casualty of war. And in the war over the right to abortion, teen health and confidentiality, truth is once again the first victim.

This time the battle is being waged in California and the issue is Proposition 4, a ballot measure that would require parents to be notified before an abortion is performed on a woman under the age of 18. Known officially as the "Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor’s Pregnancy Amendment" it is more commonly referred to by it's backers as "Sarah's" Law.

Truth is, there really is no "Sarah." "Sarah" was actually Jammie Garcia Yanez-Villegas, who sadly died in Texas in 1994 - her death allegedly caused by an infection contracted during an abortion procedure in a Houston clinic. The backers of Proposition 4 have long claimed that had there been a parental notification law in California "Sarah" would never have died.

Truth is, "Sarah" didn't live in California. She lived in Texas, and although 15, she was in a common-law marriage and already had one child at home. Texas recognizes common-law marriage and does not view a married 15-year-old as a minor. So, you see, "Sarah" would never have been covered by California's proposed law.

And once again truth is the first victim of war. Backers of Prop 4 made up an outrageous and shameful lie in order to push an unnecessary and potential harmful law. The PR merchants behind Prop 4 have sacrificed truth in order to fire up the voters. Simply put, Californians have been lied to, and if they have been lied to about who "Sarah" really is, how much of the language of Prop 4 is lies?

A lawsuit co-sponsored by Planned Parenthood Affiliates and filed Friday in Sacramento County Superior Court asks the secretary of state to remove the girl's story and other information it deemed misleading, including any reference to "Sarah's Law," from the material submitted for the official voter guide.

Backers of the initiative said they learned the details after submitting the ballot argument last month and would review the lawsuit before deciding whether to amend the language for the voter guide. "We will modify the way we present Sarah to be accurate with the information." But we don't think the use of her story is marred."

Yeah, right!

For more information on Proposition 4 and reasons to work for it's defeat see here.

Have We Turned Our Backs on Black Americans with HIV/AIDS?

While the Bush Administration admirably enacted a $48 billion five-year extension of the program PEPFAR to battle HIV/AIDS and malaria overseas, the HIV/AIDS infection rate is the United States is climbing to equally alarming numbers among Black Americans. But the U.S. does pathetically little to address it's own epidemic.

The Black AIDS Institute recently issued a report which finds that AIDS in segments of Black America is as severe as in many African Countries, but receives much less attention.

"More Black Americans are infected with HIV than the total populations of people living with HIV in seven of the 15 countries served by PEPFAR," noted Phill Wilson, CEO of the Black AIDS Institute and one of the authors of the report, referring to the U.S. government’s program of extraordinary aid for countries severely impacted by the epidemic. "Were Black America a separate country, it would elicit major concern and extensive assistance from the U.S. government. Instead, the national response to AIDS among Black Americans has been lethargic and often neglectful."

In areas of the United States such as New York City HIV levels among segments of the Black community approach those of many severely affected countries in Africa. For example, HIV prevalence among middle-aged Black men in Manhattan is almost as high as overall prevalence in South Africa, home to the world’s largest population of people living with HIV.

Tragically, while the U.S. government requires countries receiving PEPFAR support to have a national AIDS strategy in place, the United States itself has no strategy for its own epidemic - no strategy while thousands of our most vulnerable citizens become infected with the virus every year.

In fact, an estimated 100,000 New Yorkers are living with a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. More than one-third are women. Women of color, especially African-American and Latino women in low-income neighborhoods are at highest risk. 82% of all women living with HIV/AIDS are women of color. A significant number of these women are mothers with young children.

Unable to manage their health, maintain employment and care for their children, thousands of women with HIV/AIDS watch hopelessly as their lives fall apart and they slide deeper into poverty. Without the proper support, too often these women lose their independence, their self-esteem and their determination to provide and care for their children.

We all need to refocus our attention on the epidemic in our own backyard. Reach out and help those organizations that provide services. Here's a few that need your help.

• Church Avenue Merchants Block Association, Inc. (CAMBA)
• Community Healthcare Network (Dr. Betty Shabazz & Queens Center)
• Gay Men's Crisis Center (GMHC) Women's Institute
• Harlem Dowling - West Side Center for Children and Family Services
• Iris House
• Planned Parenthood of New York City, Inc./Project Street Beat
  
• Ryan-NENA Community Health Center
• United Bronx Parents, Inc.
• VIP Community Services
• The Women's Center at Montefiore Medical Center

GUILTY: Cruel & Unusual Punishment

There seems to be no end to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals propensity to drive their judicial oversight states back to the dark ages. And that comparison isn't hyperbole - not when we are talking about a Federal Court that just OK'd the shackling of pregnant women while in labor. If that's not medieval I don't know what is.


In concert with Arkansas, the 8th Circuit said it's OK to violate basic human rights and engage in cruel and unusual punishment directed toward women who are pregnant and about to deliver. In bone-chilling language the Court ruled ...

"The policy of placing a restraint on [a woman] while in a hospital bed is unequivocally related to a penological goal and is not constitutionally excessive," the court wrote. "[her] experience does not rise to the level of unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain."

The Marquis de Sade couldn't have written more frightening words.

Why are we, as a people, not outraged at rulings like this? Why aren't we saying "Were tired of this, we won't take it anymore?"

Get outraged, & get involved in the struggle to protect pregnant women. Call or write the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. Act now.

Museum of Sex

Have you ever smugly thought "I've seen it all. There's nothing that would surprise me anymore." And then, one night, poof - you see things you never dreamed possible?

That's what happened to me last night when I attended a benefit for Planned Parenthood of New York City at the Museum of Sex in Manhattan. There I was viewing exhibits of outrageous and outrageously funny sexual nature and content with 400 people I never met before - not exactly a touchy-feely sort of experience ;-) I saw things last night that I am sure will either give me nightmares or send me to therapy. And I have one lingering question - who has the time to dream up all those weird machines?

But one thing was without question. Summer, Sex & Spirits, the benefit for PPNYC, was a gargantuan success. The benefit committee , made up of members of the Activist Council, sold the place out. There were raffles for gifts throughout the night and a very cool array of choices in the super-popular silent auction. Original art and photography by top artists, spa sessions by Providence Day Spa & Euphoria Spa, a night at the Gershwin Hotel along with dinner at Philippe, goody baskets provided by Babeland and the Pleasure Chest, private yoga lessons, a cooking lesson from professional chefs Nancy Wong & Alice Levin - along with a bottle of Barolo! A signed "Sex and the City" script was a big winner as were a wine tasting party, and strip tease lessons.

There was even a lunch for 4 with Dr. Ruth auctioned off - I actually wish I had won that one - I now have some issues I need to discuss with her.

The catering provided by Apartment 138 in Brooklyn was great - the dates wrapped in bacon were hot, savory & sweet, and the veggie burger sliders were out-of-this-world. And there was lots of wine and beer flowing all night long.

This might have been the coolest party in town this week. Congrats to everyone at PPNYC who helped pull this off. The crowd was super diverse with a wide range of ages - all coming out on a hot & muggy night to help support the great work of Planned Parenthood.

Oh, the best part of the museum for me? The film with Smally Paulie - but that's all I'm telling you - you'll have to go see the ending for yourself!