114141025346500581

The recent ban on abortion in South Dakota, the current legislation in Mississippi House to ban abortion, and suspicious notes passing between Samuel Alito and anti-choice organizations (Focus on the Family) it isn't unclear that reproductive rights are in jeopardy in the United States.

It is safe to say that right here, in Kansas, our reproductive rights are being attacked by the Kelsey Amendment, TRAP, and the new introduction of SB 258, a very similar bill to the one just passed in SD.

I guess what I'm saying is that we need to amass and tell our schools, our community, our city, state, and nation that we're not going to take it. Feeling a little helpless after the Bush/Kerry election and Alito's nomination… You're asking, what can I do? We need to write letters to our editors, circulate petitions, lobby, train, sponsor panels, organize rallies, marches, and protests. We need to support our red state sisters in this fight. If you aren't sure how to get started, just ask, come to a meeting, its easier than you think.

I urge you, please, to come to our next meeting. Lets not stand idly by while our sisters in states not so far from our very own have their basic human rights taken away. Let them not take these rights away from us as well.

Come to our emergency meeting on March 14th, learn to lobby, lets do something about these grave injustices.

Joy
President
Students for Reproductive Rights

__________________________________________________________
Hello,

Well, the fight continues. The State Board of Education want to weigh in again on sex ed. They will receive information and potentially take action on Wednesday, March 15 @ 11:00 am.

Please join me for a planning conference call on Monday, March 6 at 9:30 AM or Noon (The call-in number: 1-800-944-8766. The code is 26810#.) to discuss our strategy for the meeting.

We should consider:
1. Packing the room with supporters
2. Choosing 3-5 strong speakers to carry the message during open forum (Open forum is Tuesday, March 14 @ 10:30 AM)
3. Developing a media plan, including letters to the editor

If you cannot make the calls, please let me know if you are able to be at the Board Meeting during open forum on Tuesday or during the information/action on Wednesday. Also, please suggest speakers. I'll send out an email to recruit volunteers to show up–please send to your lists as well!

Best,

Sarah London
913-207-2409
Sarah.London@ppkm.org
____________________________________________________________________________________

today's news from feminist.org:

State Policies Linked to Unintended Pregnancies

3/3/2006 – In a recent study, researchers from the Guttmacher Institute found that 33 states made access to contraception and reproductive health services more difficult or expensive for women. From 1994 to 2001, many states passed laws restricting access to birth control, cut funding to state family planning services, and moved to abstinence-based sex education programs in schools. These changes made knowledge about contraception and access to family planning especially difficult for young or low-income women, resulting in more unintended pregnancies.

Sharon L. Camp, president of Guttmacher Institute, told the Washington Post that "Unintended pregnancy in the United States is twice as high as in most of Western Europe," pointing out that this number contributes to the US's higher abortion rates, as well, and reduction of unintended pregnancy has been a government goal for several years. In 2000, the federal government set a goal of reducing unintended pregnancies by 40 percent by 2010, and the study evaluated the progress states have made toward that goal. California, New York, Alabama and South Carolina had done the most to increase women's knowledge of and access to contraceptive services, while Indiana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, and Utah were lagging furthest behind. In the states that did the most to improve access to birth control, unintended pregnancy rates declined by over 30 percent, reports the Christian Science Monitor, while lowest-ranking Nebraska saw only a 17 percent decline.

The common factor in a state's success was recognition of the links between unplanned pregnancy and welfare dependency, with states using creative measures such as extending family planning services to low-income women through Medicaid. Camp said that "By following the example of states ranging from California to South Carolina and Alaska to Alabama, which have made huge strides in improving access to contraception, we can make similar progress toward reducing unintended pregnancy in all states."