Every 11 hours

Ilyse G. Hogue President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

Every 11 hours we move closer and closer to a world without the rights we’ve fought so hard to preserve. That’s because every 11 hours, another piece of anti-choice legislation is introduced somewhere in America. Nearly 300 anti-choice legislative attacks have been introduced in Congress and in states across the country this year — and the year isn’t even half over. That’s more than two anti-choice bills for every single day of the year so far. But, before the next anti-choice legislative attack is introduced, you have time to make a difference by helping NARAL Pro-Choice America track and defeat anti-choice legislation — protecting women’s reproductive rights across the country. Please make an urgent contribution to NARAL Pro-Choice America before another 11 hours pass. We’re watching every single one of these legislative attacks. We’re fighting them in Congress. We’re fighting them in the states. We’re fighting for women. But the clock is ticking. Before extreme anti-choice politicians have time to make another move, please stand with us. Together, we can make choice real for all women. Are you with us? Tick, tock, tick, tock … Ilyse G. Hogue President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

Fired …

When Rhonda Lee defended herself against racist comments on her TV station’s Facebook page, she was fired. Claudia started a petition demanding that she get her job back.                               Sign Claudia’s Petition   When a viewer left racist comments about meteorologist Rhonda Lee’s hair on her TV stations’ Facebook page, she thought she defended herself with a polite and thoughtful response. But instead of supporting her, Rhonda was surprised when she was fired from KTBS-TV for violating an unwritten social media policy. Rhonda says that she alerted her boss of the offensive comment but never received a response, and decided to address it herself. After she was fired, the Network Director informed her that the social media policy was discussed a month prior at a meeting she says she was not present for. Claudia Zayas heard about Rhonda’s story and was outraged. As a mother, she says that stories like Rhonda’s are important to kids who grow up feeling like they are valued based on their looks alone. She started a petition on Change.org asking Rhonda’s TV station, KTBS, to give Rhonda her job back immediately. Click here to sign. The commenter suggested that Rhonda “wear a wig or grow some more hair” and she replied by saying that she is proud of her African-American ancestry, which includes her hair. She said, “women come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty”, and that kids need to see that their goals can be reached regardless of how they look. Claudia wants her daughter to grow up feeling confident about herself and her hair as a young black woman. She believes that when women are publicly punished for speaking up, it sets an example to young girls and women of color everywhere that their opinions aren’t important. After Claudia started her petition she had over 1,000 signatures within just a few hours. She knows that the more signatures her petition has, the more likely KTBS will respond to the groundswell of pressure, and give Rhonda her job back. Click here to sign Claudia’s petition demanding that KTBS-TV give Rhonda Lee her job back immediately. Thanks for being a change-maker, Tim and the Change.org team

CARE2

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What anti-choice can do to your family

They really laid it all out last night. Paul Ryantold the nation that a Romney-Ryan administration would oppose abortion in almost all cases. He claimed that providing women with basic health care is somehow a violation of religious freedom.And we agree entirely with Joe Biden: the next administration will have the power to reshape the Supreme Court, which could determine the future of reproductive freedom.Does it seem like you’re in the middle of a bad dream? It can’t be true that the anti-choice, anti-woman Romney-Ryan ticket is pulling closer to President Obama in the polls every day. It’s not possible that the extremist politician on stage last night could be elected vice president of the United Statesin less than four weeks…is it?It is possible. And it will happen. Unless we do something about it right now. Please, Help us tell undecided pro-choice voters how terrible Romney, Ryan, and other extreme anti-choice candidates would be for women, and help support all our grassroots and lobbying work to protect choice at all levels. We need your help right now. We don’t have much time. But we DO have a plan. We know the voters we must reach. We know how to persuade them. We know how to win. All we need is you. Please join us and support our work ensuring reproductive rights for generations to come. Otherwise, what you saw last night could be the start of a long four years. Sincerely, Nancy Keenan President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

-Beth Shipp : Political Director, NARAL Pro-Choice America

This election is going to come down to just a few key states. Ohio. Florida. Wisconsin. Colorado.Women’s rights, health, and lives hang in the balance. Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and other anti-choice candidates would set women’s rights back by literally decades. But NARAL Pro-Choice America has identified 1.2 million voters in nine key states who would vote for pro-choice candidates, if only they knew what I just told you. Click here to help us get the word out, swing this election for President Obama and other pro-choice candidates, and support our grassroots and lobbying work to protect choice at all levels. We’re launching an aggressive campaign to target voters in 25 swing counties. They’re women. They’re pro-choice. But they need to be reminded of how many of their rights would be taken away under a Romney presidency and an anti-choice Congress. Will you help us put our electoral plan into action to contact these persuadable voters and tell them about the dangers of Mitt Romney and other extreme anti-choice candidates on the ballot, and to protect choice at all levels? Thank you for all you do to protect choice. Sincerely, Nancy Keenan President, NARAL Pro-Choice America DONATE NOW

a message from Nancy Keenan : NARAL

This election is going to come down to just a few key states. Ohio. Florida. Wisconsin. Colorado. Women’s rights, health, and lives hang in the balance. Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and other anti-choice candidates would set women’s rights back by literally decades. But NARAL Pro-Choice America has identified 1.2 million voters in nine key states who would vote for pro-choice candidates, if only they knew what I just told you. Click here to help us get the word out, swing this election for President Obama and other pro-choice candidates, and support our grassroots and lobbying work to protect choice at all levels. We’re launching an aggressive campaign to target voters in 25 swing counties. They’re women. They’re pro-choice. But they need to be reminded of how many of their rights would be taken away under a Romney presidency and an anti-choice Congress. Will you help us put our electoral plan into action to contact these persuadable voters and tell them about the dangers of Mitt Romney and other extreme anti-choice candidates on the ballot, and to protect choice at all levels? Thank you for all you do to protect choice. Sincerely, Nancy Keenan President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

NARAL : a message from Nancy Keenan

July 2012

ACT NOW

Tell the Romney-Ryan Ticket What You ThinkWe’ve known for months who we’ll be supporting in November: President Obama.But this week has shown us exactly what we’re up against: anti-choice extremists who think that “legitimate” rape can’t cause pregnancy; a party that pretended to be horrified by such statements, then turned right around and proposed a platform that denies a woman her right to choice, privacy, and freedom; a presidential ticket that has supported “personhood” measures that would ban abortion in almost all cases.Tell Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: That’s not my platform. That’s not what I believe in. A platform based on disrespecting women has no place in our society.Tell the Romney-Ryan ticket to take the War on Women out of the GOP platform.

HALL OF FAME AND HALL OF SHAME

Hall of Fame: President ObamaThis isn’t the first time we’ve awarded President Obama with the Hall of Fame listing. This month, we recognize the president because on August 1, the first phase of his no-cost contraceptive-coverage policy went into effect! It’s one of the greatest advancements in women’s health in decades. And it’s why we’re seeing women share photos online of their pharmacy receipts totaling zero dollars.   See what no-cost birth control means for women >>Hall of Shame: Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) Rep. Akin’s outrageous belief about women who have been raped and are facing potential pregnancy because of that traumatic experience are inexcusable.  Rep. Akin and his despicable views, which are unfortunately shared by other candidates seeking office this year, are nothing short of dangerous to women’s health. Read more about this on Blog for Choice >>

CHOICE IN THE NEWS

The unacceptable views voiced by Rep. Todd Akin echo the positions of the Romney-Ryan ticketRep. Steve King (R-IA) decided to echo Rep. Akin’s outrageous statement on “legitimate rape” Nancy Keenan has been tapped to speak at the Democratic National Convention

Breaking News: The threat to women just doubled

The biggest threat to women’s health?You’re looking at them. Help us spread the word. DONATE NOW The threat to women’s reproductive lives and health just doubled. Just this morning, Mitt Romney announced his choice for his vice presidential running mate: Anti-choice extremist Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Anti-choice forces are thrilled with Ryan, and it’s no wonder why: During his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, Ryan cast 59 votes on abortion and other reproductive rights issues. He voted anti-choice each and every time. Ryan repeatedly voted for and cosponsored the Federal Abortion Ban, a law that criminalizes some abortion services, endangers women’s health, and carries a two-year prison sentence for doctors. Ryan is outspoken about his anti-choice beliefs: “I’m as pro-life as a person gets. You’re not going to have a truce. Judges are going to come up. Issues come up, they’re unavoidable, and I’m never going to not vote pro-life.”1 We need your help to defeat the anti-choice Romney-Ryan ticket and all anti-choice politicians who are dangerous threats to women’s health. Make no mistake about it: Ryan is 100% behind the War on Women agenda and, if elected on November 6, he’s ready to work with Mitt Romney the day after the inauguration to: Defund Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation; Eliminate the Title X family-planning program, which provides mammograms and cancer screenings to low-income individuals; Deny women in the military — who defend our freedom overseas — the right to use their own, private funds for abortion care at military hospitals; Pass legislation to effectively ban abortion coverage in state health-insurance exchanges; and Allow hospitals to refuse to provide emergency abortion care, even when a woman’s life is in danger. Please help us get the word out: Romney and Ryan are dangerous to women’s health. With nothing to stand in the way of the extreme Romney-Ryan agenda, we could lose the protection of Roe v. Wade, women’s health and lives will be at risk — and anti-choice zealots could wipe out decades’ worth of reproductive rights we’ve fought so hard to win. We can spread the word about these and other anti-choice candidates. But we’re running out of time. With less than 90 days to go, we need to knock on every door, make every call, and sound the warning bell to every pro-choice voter we can find. If we can get them to the polls, we can defeat anti-choice politicians running across the country and continue with all our important grassroots and advocacy work to ensure the right to privacy. Please make the most generous gift you can to NARAL Pro-Choice America — right now — to beat the Romney-Ryan ticket, protect our pro-choice allies, and defend choice at all levels of government. Thanks for all you do. Nancy Keenan President, NARAL Pro-Choice America DONATE NOW

¹The Weekly Standard, Paul Ryan: GOP Must Continue Fighting for the Right to Life by John McCormack, September 22, 2010.

a message from .. NARAL Pro-Choice America

Rush Limbaugh is at it again. He came to Mitt Romney’s defense by calling NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood “death squads.” Tell Romney a real leader would stand up to a bully like Limbaugh. We’ve all heard about Rush Limbaugh’s rants attacking strong women. Thanks to pro-choice people like you, he faced an onslaught of criticism for his offensive language against Sandra Fluke. Well, he is at it again. Yesterday, he came to Mitt Romney’s defense by calling NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood “death squads.” First, he claimed that the “Democrats [are] funded and underwritten by Planned Parenthood and NARAL,” and then said, “If they’re not death squads, I don’t know what is.”1 Limbaugh’s inflammatory rhetoric is outrageous and needs to be condemned. Join me in calling on Romney to stand up to Limbaugh’s remarks. It’s alarming that a politician who is running for the highest office in the nation fails to address Limbaugh head on. When Limbaugh went after Sandra Fluke, Mitt Romney refused to call for Limbaugh to apologize. Instead, Romney cowardly said, “it’s not the language I would have used.”2 Will Romney duck Limbaugh’s incendiary language a second time? Tell Romney that a real leader would stand up to a bully like Limbaugh. Make sure he knows that when he refuses to denounce Limbaugh for his offensive language, he fails women. We’re not going to let these outrageous attacks on women’s freedom and privacy go unanswered. In solidarity, Nancy Keenan President, NARAL Pro-Choice America 1 – “Limbaugh On Planned Parenthood And NARAL Pro-Choice: ‘If They’re Not Death Squads, I Don’t Know What Is’,” Media Matters, August 8, 2012 2 – “Romney Fails the Leadership Test,” The Root, March 5, 2012

A political organization, NARAL Pro-Choice America is the nation’s leading advocate for privacy and a woman’s right to choose.

Women and their RIGHTS to birth-control coverage

 

I know you care about stopping attacks on women’s birth control, so I wanted to make sure you heard about this.

There is a new bill in Congress that would let any boss – even the owner of a fast-food restaurant – block his employees from getting insurance coverage for birth control. It’s ridiculous!

The lawmaker behind the bill is a big supporter of the recent “Fortnight for Freedom.” This was a series of nationwide events organized by the anti-choice United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

I hope you take a moment to tell your representative that this bill cannot stand. It’s wrong to stop women from getting birth-control coverage.

http://bit.ly/MhKpsh

Thanks for getting involved!