Take Action Today :: Women's Reproductive Rights & The US Health Care Bill

Today is the Not Under The Bus Campaign's Take Action Day, sponsored by the Women's Media Center.

Right now, the US Congress is reconciling the US House of Representatives' and the US Senate's versions of the health care bill behind closed doors. According to The Hill newspaper, the pace will pick up Wednesday, January 13th when six House Democrats (Reps. Pelosi, Rangel, Steny Hoyer (Md.), James Clyburn (S.C.), George Miller (Calif.), and Henry Waxman (Calif.)) join a group of five Democratic senators (Sens. Dodd, Harry Reid (Nev.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Max Baucus (Mont.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa)) at the White House.

One of the issues up for debate is women's reproductive rights. I've blogged about this before, but here's a nice recap from the National Women's Law Center:

The Stupak-Pitts amendment in the House bill prevents women from using their own personal funds to purchase an insurance plan that includes abortion coverage in the new health insurance exchanges -- taking away essential coverage that most insurance plans provide today. Senator Ben Nelson's addition to the Senate bill also contains an unworkable and unfair approach to abortion coverage by imposing arbitrary and burdensome hurdles to secure access to abortion care.



Please sign NARAL Pro-Choice petition by 12noon on January 20th, here.

The other petition I like, that I think you should sign is the National Women's Law Center's petition hosted on the Change.org website, here.

If you sign one or both of these petitions then you'll be in good company! Change.org reported last month that the Berkeley, CA City Council sent coat hangers to 20 Members of Congress.

From the Change.org blog post:

"It's great to send a letter, but I think it's more effective to send a coat hanger," Councilmember Kriss Worthington argued before the vote. So the care package included both, the letter reading: "The City of Berkeley is sending you this coat hanger as a symbol of the horrible pain and suffering endured by women as a result of years of anti-choice policies imposed by our government. ... We strongly support health care reform but it is unconscionable that this should come at the expense of a woman’s reproductive rights."

If you are a student then join The Hanger Project by printing out the above graphics as tags, attaching them to wire hangers, and displaying them around your dorm or campus. More info here.