ACT NOW

Fremont demonstration January 22, 2010

7:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Vine Cinema
1722 First Street, Livermore
Iron-Jawed Angels - 
a film depicting the struggle for women in the United States to win the right to vote.  The history of the 19th Amendment (1912-1920).

 From National NOW...

Please send a message to your senators and House member asking them to assure that restrictive abortion language in health care reform legislation be withdrawn, that a strong public plan is included, that age discrimination is removed, that better cost control measures are included and insurance is made truly more affordable for everyone.

Background:

Abortion Provision Must be Removed - Congress is negotiating a final health care reform bill behind closed doors, since the Democratic leadership decided to bypass a formal conference committee where they would have to contend with Republicans intent on defeating the legislation. An agreement will be made without much opportunity for public comment on severely damaging abortion restrictions, and that's why your messages to Congress are needed right away. Both House and Senate versions contain highly restrictive provisions that will greatly limit abortion access for millions of women and these must be removed!

Public Plan Must be Included - There is a danger that the better elements of the House bill, like a public option, will be dropped and that the more conservative Senate bill's provisions -- which do not include a public plan -- will prevail. Without a strong public plan private providing competition, insurance costs will continue to rise.

Additionally, the Senate bill will allow insurers to charge older persons (perhaps as young as 40) three times as much (!) as the rate charged to younger persons, making health care costs for many middle-aged women burdensome. The Senate bill has very weak provisions to bring health care costs under control and lets employers off the hook in requiring them to provide health insurance for employees. A new tax on so-called Cadillac health insurance plans will mean that union families who have accepted these high end plans in lieu of increased wages will be taxed, and that's not fair.

Costly, but Needed Reforms - Really, the Senate legislation is the profit-driven insurance industry's dream bill, delivering more than 30 million new customers and forcing everyone to have health insurance coverage or pay a penalty. Many of those 30 million will need government subsidies in order to help pay for their coverage, and that means tax dollars will go to private insurance companies.

NOW believes that is poor public policy and says that an insurance mandate should also offer a public option. That said, there are many good and needed elements of health care reform; covering a large proportion of the 47 million uninsured population is absolutely essential. The costs to taxpayers to extend coverage and to achieve these modest reforms will be great. But it is a start -- NOW activists must keep up pressure in the future on our elected leaders to continue to improve upon these reforms -- especially now in the reconciliation process and in coming years.

Congress Must Make Changes - We agree with House progressive leaders, Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) that the following major concerns must be addressed:

• A public option - If the bill requires people to buy health insurance, there must be a public option to bring down costs by providing lower-cost competition to private insurers and choice to consumers.
• Affordability protections - The legislation must protect lower- and middle-income individuals by ensuring that subsidies make coverage affordable and that Medicaid patients have access to primary care physicians.
• Tighter market regulation - New regulations must keep premiums reasonable and end abusive practices. Insurance companies should no longer be exempt from anti-trust laws, and any premium increases must be reviewed before they take effect.
• Employer mandates - If individuals are required to buy insurance, employers should be required to provide it.
• Tax surcharges - Health care reform should be financed by tax surcharges on the wealthy, not excise taxes on health insurance plans offered to many workers and union members.

Send a Message and Call - Please send a message to your senators and House member now.  Also, if you can take a minute to call members of your delegation and leave a message about these needed changes in the health care reform bill, that's even better.

May 26, 2009

"Today's decision by the California Supreme Court to uphold Prop 8 is a devastating setback, but I believe it will be another galvanizing moment in the struggle for equal marriage," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "We commend the court for allowing to stand the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place under the court's earlier decision."

"NOW members will be out in force at protests in California and across the country Tuesday and in coming days. And we will continue working to right this wrong," said Gandy.

The National Organization for Women, California NOW and the Feminist Majority had submitted a joint amicus curiae brief to the court in support of the plaintiffs' challenge to the validity of the Proposition 8 ballot measure, which passed at the polls last November by a slim margin.

NOW's friend of the court brief urged the court to rule that fundamental rights already protected by the California constitution, such as the right to marry, cannot be taken away by popular vote. We argued that upholding Prop 8 would set a dangerous precedent that would leave no fundamental right -- including the right to equal protection and the right to privacy on which many women's rights hinge -- safe from the whims of a bare majority.

The California court's decision flies in the face of recent progress on the issue. In the last two months, same-sex couples won the right to marry in Iowa, Vermont and Maine. The Washington D.C. city council voted 12-1 to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere -- a major step for our nation's capital that first must be approved by Congress before it can take effect. Other states, such as New Hampshire and New York, appear to be on the verge of endorsing same-sex marriage in the near future. However, it's important to remember that more than 40 states still have statutes or constitutional amendments banning marriage for same-sex couples.

"For decades, NOW has been a leader in the fight for full equality and the right to marry," said Gandy. "This ruling demonstrates that there is still much work to be done, and we can expect both ups and downs along the way. But I am confident that we will continue moving in the right direction, and justice will ultimately prevail."