Pennsylvania NOW

Passing the Torch

2011-12-31T18:31:00.000-05:00

Once again, thank you everyone for your support of Pennsylvania NOW. Tomorrow, January 1, Pennsylvania NOW will be “passing the torch” to new statewide leadership. The new leaders (and their email addresses) are:

President Julia A. Ramsey – panow@panow.org
Vice-President Helene Ratner – helkos@msn.com
Treasurer Pamela Macklin – pmacfish@aol.com
Secretary Betsy Parziale – eparziale@comcast.net
At-Large Member Michele Hamilton – Hamilton.michele@yahoo.com
At-Large Member Joanne Tosti-Vasey – nowwomyn@gmail.com
At-Large Member Susan Woodland – woodlands103@yahoo.com

The phone number for Pennsylvania NOW – (814) 280-8571 – will remain the same. The new main office mailing address is:

Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.; Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund; and PA NOW PAC

P.O. Box 4
Fort Washington, PA 19034-0004

The Treasurer’s Office address will remain the same:

Treasurer’s Office
Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.; Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund; and PA NOW PAC
PO Box 8614
Wilkinsburg, PA 15221-8614

I have served as the President of Pennsylvania NOW and the Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund as well as the Chair of the PA NOW PAC since January 1, 2006. And I served as Treasurer for the 12 years before that. I am now moving over to an at-large member position on the Executive Committee and will continue my advocacy as a volunteer leader.

I would like to thank everyone who has worked with me over the years including former Presidents Barbara DiTullio and Kathy Wilson as well as my current executive committee, some of who are continuing in leadership and others that are stepping done tonight. They are:

Vice-President Kathleen Wilson
Treasurer Pamela Macklin (who is continuing as Treasurer)
Secretary Mary Kay Peterson
At-Large Member Michele Hamilton (who is continuing in this capacity)
At-Large Member Jasmin Rakestraw who had to step down earlier this year
At-Large Member Helene Ratner (who is the new Vice President)
At-Large Member Susan Woodland (who is continuing in this capacity)

I would also like to thank everyone both here in Pennsylvania and throughout the country whom I have worked with over the last 18 years. Some of you are NOW members and leaders. Others are advocates for equality either individually or as representatives of other organizations. And others are elected officials that I have had the great pleasure of working with to improve the lives of people here in Pennsylvania. You have all made the job a great pleasure.

My passion and concern for equality for all, especially for women and their families, is and will be on-going.

At this point I’m not sure where will I will end up. I am job hunting. So if you know of anything you think I might be good at, let me know. My email address is nowwomyn@gmail.com.

If you want to continue corresponding with me by mail, the address is

Joanne Tosti-Vasey

PO Box 68

Bellefonte, PA 16823-0068

Thank you everyone. And have a wonderful New Year!

Happy New Year and Thanks for Your Support: Summary of Accomplishments

2011-12-31T17:46:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Today is my (Joanne Tosti-Vasey’s) last day as President of the Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.; the Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund; and the Pennsylvania NOW PAC. I really have appreciated your support over the 18 years of my tenure as both President and Treasurer of NOW here in PA.

As part of passing the torch to our new President, Julia Ramsey, I’d first like to summarize the past six years. I will post the new leadership information in a second post.

We have done some awesome, successful work over the last few years.

1. We pressured Penn State University to change their policies towards all forms of campus violence. In 2006, as a result of this pressure, PSU did create a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of domestic and relationship violence, sexual assault, and stalking on campus. However this policy hit some rather bumpy spots, particularly within the Athletics department. As of result of the allegations of child sexual abuse against former PSU football coach Jerry Sandusky in November 2011, we have once again weighed in on calling for the University to fully investigate these allegations, to review policies and reporting methods of campus violence, and to include all forms of campus violence in both the investigation and upgrading of policies and reporting. You can read the most recent joint National NOW/PA NOW statement here as well as a copy of the letter to the PSU Board of Trustees detailing both the history of our involvement in this issue and our call for a broader, full investigation into all forms of campus violence. It is time to make sure that NO form of campus violence – sexual assault, relationship violence, or stalking – is ever again tolerated. Against any child. Against any adult. Anywhere, including at Penn State.

2. After a high school senior posted an online tabloid in 2006 discussing the breast and hip sizes, sexual proclivities, and sexual diseases of 26 female students, Pennsylvania NOW worked with a parent of one of these young women and with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to force the Mt. Lebanon School District to conduct sexual harassment training, to set up meetings with the parents of the girls that were harassed to provide input on how to change the policies surrounding sexual harassment, and we worked with the college where the boy matriculated (along with six of the women who were harassed) that resulted in a 4-year stay-away order. The superintendent and high school principal also lost their jobs as a result of their failure to properly handle this case of sexual harassment.

3. In collaboration with many women’s organization, we worked with the City of Pittsburgh to craft a zero-tolerance, police-perpetrated domestic violence ordinance in 2007. This ordinance was created after three police officers who had current or prior histories of domestic violence were promoted.Su

4. We worked with Philadelphia NOW, the PA Prison Society, and Senator Daylin Leach to pass the 2010 state law that prohibits shackling of incarcerated pregnant women in their 2^nd and 3^rd trimesters who are incarcerated in prisons and jails throughout the state. And in Centre County, I advocated for even stronger protections in the Centre County Correctional Facility than are provided in the state law. As a result of this advocacy, any pregnant woman incarcerated in Centre County at any point in her pregnancy will not only not be shackled, but she also will not be tasered. For details on what this 2010 law and Centre County Prison Board policy do, read a summary in one of our earlier blogs.

5. We provided testimony to the PA’s Independent Regulatory Review Board on the 2007 proposed regulations for sexual assault services in emergency rooms. As a result of this testimony as well as testimony from the Women’s Law Project, Planned Parenthood, and the PA Commission for Women, hospitals must post signs if they refuse to provide emergency contraception to rape victims and must provide them with transportation to another facility where they can receive EC if they want it. If a hospital refuses to provide EC, they are placed on a PA Deptartment of Health online list of hospitals denying full sexual assault services. Prior to the new regulations going into effect, about two-thirds of hospitals in PA did NOT provide EC in the ER. Now only 11 hospitals in the state refuse to provide EC in the ER.

6. We worked with State College Borough in 2007 and 2011 to create one of the most comprehensive sets of anti-discrimination ordinances in the country. The employment ordinance includes marital status, familial status, family responsibilities (protections for people who need to take care of or are assumed to be taking care of another adult family member), gender identity, and sexual orientation in addition to the state-level protections. The fair housing and public accommodations ordinance includes marital status, familial status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and legal sources of income in addition to the state-level protections. Also in 2011, we helped to fine-tune State College’s proposed inclusionary (affordable) housing ordinance to reduce the number of forms of identification from 5 to 2 for lower income people to apply for inclusionary housing units. This ordinance also provides the ability for domestic partners to apply for this housing if they have registered with the borough’s Domestic Partnership Registration that was also initiated this year.

7. We worked with Allegheny County Council in 2009 to pass a county-wide anti-discrimination ordinance that includes marital status, familial status, gender identity, and sexual orientation (but no family responsibilities protections) in addition to the state-level protections in employment, housing and public accommodations. Also got them to include source of income in housing.

8. In Spring 2009, we protested the make-up of Governor Rendell’s Stimulus Oversight Committee. Initially, this committee only had 1 woman, 1 person of color, and only people who lived in Allegheny County and southeastern PA. A coalition of women’s organizations and people of color organizations asked to have the committee expanded to add women, people of color and people from other sections of the state. We were only partially successful; 1 more woman and 1 more person of color were added to the committee.

9. We gave written testimony on August 30, 2011 to the House State Government Committee opposing Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s “National Security Begins at Home” anti-immigration bills. PA NOW focused on the effects of these bills on children in low-income families and on victims of domestic violence and sexual assault (including women who have been trafficked). As a result, there are some decent amendments being proposed to these really bad bills that we will continue to oppose.

10. I co-authored through the National NOW Foundation and the NOW Disability Rights ad-hoc Committee an article entitled “Reproductive Health Justice for Women with Disabilities” in the 2011 Center for Women’s Policy Studies Barbara Faye Waxman Fiduccia Papers on Women and Girls with Disabilities. I also co-authored the Pennsylvania Commission for Women’s “Status of Women in Pennsylvania” reports in 2004 and 2009 that were distributed to the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Governor Rendell, and to the public. Unfortunately, since Governor Tom Corbett shut down the all four advocacy commissions (the Pennsylvania Commission for Women, Governor’s Advisory Commission on African American Affairs, Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs, and the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs) on July 1, 2011 and the Commission’s website was taken offline. As a result, none of their reports or publications are available for public access.

11. We monitored and lobbied in Harrisburg on all forms of legislation dealing with women’s economic justice, budget and taxation, education, health care, immigration, human trafficking and ending racism, lesbian rights, reproductive justice, shackling of incarcerated women and children, violence against women, and voting rights. Summaries of some, but not all of these bills can be found in our Legislative Reports that appear in our semi-annual Pennsylvania NOW Times. Copies of these newsletters for 2010 and 2011 can be seen by clicking on each of the PNT links at this blog on the upper left side of the page. We have done this advocacy as a single organization as well as in coalition with

a. Pennsylvanians for Choice on issues related to reproductive justice, fighting the new PA TRAP law, and opposing restrictions on abortion access in general and in the new health care law);

b. Value All Families, led by Equality Advocates and the PA ACLU, to support expanded statewide hate crimes and anti-discrimination laws that would add gender identity and sexual orientation to both laws and to oppose multiple attempts to create discrimination in the PA Constitution by defining marriage as “the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized;”

c. Pennsylvanians Opposed to Vouchers to oppose legislation that would unconstitutionally give public funds to private and parochial schools though giving vouchers to parents to pay for their children’s private education;

d. Health Care for All PA to advocate for passage of single-payer health care.

e. Better Choices for PA to advocate, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, that lawmakers close tax loopholes and end special interest tax breaks before making deep cuts to schools and literacy programs, colleges, the environment, health care, and services for women; and

f. Pennsylvania Immigrant and Citizenship Coalition to oppose anti-immigrant bills that threaten the lives of anyone, especially women and children, who look like they might be undocumented.

12. We also attended and participated in monitoring tension, acts of bias, and potential hate crimes as a member of the Pennsylvania Tension Task Force. The Task Force is headed by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and the Pennsylvania State Police. In both 2003 and in 2009 we also made presentations before the Task Force on Pennsylvania NOW’s history and on gender-based hate crimes.

We also have had some setbacks. The most recent one was last week’s passage and signing into law Pennsylvania’s new TRAP – Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers law. We will work in coalition with Pennsylvanians for Choice to stop this undue burden law from going into effect. We are still fighting more potential attacks on marriage equality, school vouchers, immigration, voting rights and access, reproductive justice and healthcare.

We will continue educating the public about women’s rights and equality through the Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund. We will continue our advocacy through Pennsylvania NOW, Inc. And we will work to replace enough members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to once again have a legislature that is concerned about and works for the betterment of all people’s lives and not just that of corporations.

It’s been a great six years. Thank you all and

Happy New Year!

Pennsylvania NOW Outraged at Passage and Signing of Pennsylvania's New Anti-Abortion TRAP Law

2011-12-22T16:41:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Corbett signed into law SB 732. This is a TRAP law; it is not a law that will protect women's lives. As described by the Center for Reproductive Rights:

"TRAP" (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws single out the medical practices of doctors who provide abortions, and impose on them requirements that are different and more burdensome than those imposed on other medical practices. For example, such regulations [including the law just enacted here in Pennsylvania]… require that abortions be performed in far more sophisticated and expensive facilities than are necessary to ensure the provision of safe procedures. Compliance with these physical plant requirements [will] require extensive renovations or be physically impossible in existing facilities. TRAP laws [including this new Pennsylvania law]… allow unannounced state inspections, even when patients are present. These excessive and unnecessary government regulations – an ever-growing trend among state legislatures – increase the cost and scarcity of abortion services, harming women's health and inhibiting their reproductive choices.

Make no mistake: This bill is not about patient safety, it’s about politics.

The people behind these regulations want to shut down high quality reproductive health care providers like Planned Parenthood. It’s part of their intent to make all abortion care illegal in this state, no exceptions. This law will force abortion providers to have the same construction guidelines as outpatient surgery centers. These changes will force safe providers to either close their doors or pass the enormous increase in cost on to patients.

The new law is supported only by organizations opposed to legal abortion. No physicians, nurses, or others in the medical field were consulted in the drafting of the law. In fact, leading health rights groups and doctors overwhelming oppose and have vocally spoken out against this new, politically-motivated law. These groups include the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR), the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the National Association of Social Workers, the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and dozens of doctors from across the state.

Pennsylvania NOW, in coordination with the Pennsylvanians For Choice Coalition, will evaluate the law and determine our next steps in opposing this law so at to help ensure that women across the state have access to locally available, safe, and legal abortion and reproductive health services despite this horrendous TRAP law.

Once Again: Call Governor Corbett and Tell Him to VETO SB 732.

2011-12-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

The PA Senate just concurred with the House on Senate Bill 732. The vote was 32 yeas and 18 nays. That's not enough yea votes to override a veto by Governor Corbett.

As stated in our previous post earlier today, this is the bill that could shut down ALL 22 stand-alone abortion clinics here in Pennsylvania.

Senate Bill 732 will force abortion providers to have the same construction guidelines as outpatient surgery centers. These changes have nothing to do with the safety of women and will force safe providers to either close their doors or pass the enormous increase in cost on to patients. This will cause a public health crisis in Pennsylvania.

Governor Corbett is our last chance to protect women's lives from back-alley, unsafe abortions. If he vetos this bill, then it goes back to both houses for a veto override vote. There were enough NO votes in the PA Senate to stop this bill from becoming law.

So...

Please call Mr. Corbett at 717-787-2500 and give him the following message: First tell him your name and that you are a constituent. Then say (in your own words) that you:

Appreciate his moderate approach to abortion regulation thus far, but you are very concerned with Senate Bill 732 and the impact it will have on access to safe and legal abortion in Pennsylvania. Ask him to oppose and VETO SB 732 and any effort to shut down abortion providers in the state.

Urgent - Tell Governor Corbett to VETO SB 732

2011-12-14T12:26:00.000-05:00

Last night, the PA House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed SB 732. This is the bill that could shut down ALL 22 stand-alone abortion clinics here in Pennsylvania. It now goes back to the Senate for concurrence. The Senate Rules Committee has scheduled a full floor vote for this afternoon, Wednesday December 14. This bill threatening women's lives could be on Governor Corbett's desk by tonight!

Please call the Governor TODAY and urge him to veto SB 732, and remind him that advocates for victims of domestic violence and rape vehemently oppose the bill as being devastating and dangerous for victims who require safe, legal health services. We do not ask this of you in vain; we know that the Governor pays attention to Pennsylvania voters and that these calls – both in quantity and quality – get through to him.

If you make one call this year to an elected official, let this be the call you make.

Call Governor Tom Corbett TODAY at 717-787-2500. It may take a few tries to get through as the lines are busy.

Your Message (in your own words): I’m calling to urge Governor Corbett to stop Senate Bill 732 from becoming law. Both the domestic violence and rape crisis organizations in Pennsylvania oppose Senate Bill 732 as dangerous and unnecessary. There is not a single medical group in support. On behalf of the victims, PLEASE stop this political attack on access to safe medical care.

Thank you.

NOW Urges Penn State to Allow Former FBI Director to Lead a Broader, "Fully Independent" Investigation

2011-11-22T09:23:00.000-05:00

Statement of NOW President Terry O'Neill and Pennsylvania NOW President Joanne Tosti-Vasey

Last week, in the wake of the recent appalling Penn State University child sexual assault allegations, the leaders of the National Organization for Women and Pennsylvania NOW called on Penn State University to expand the composition and goals of the committee tasked with investigating these allegations. We specifically called for an independent committee to investigate these allegations, to review policies and reporting methods across the board at Penn State and to include all forms of campus violence within its scope.

Yesterday, Ron Frazier, a member of the PSU Board of Trustees and Chair of the PSU Special Investigative Committee, announced that the committee has hired Louis J. Freeh, former FBI director, to lead the independent investigation. Mr. Freeh stated that he has been assured that his investigation will be "fully independent" and that it will focus on any incident that interacts with the university dealing with "these types" of incidents, including cases of adult sexual assault. Mr. Freeh also stated that he would be looking into the "governance, controls, procedures and leadership" at the university to improve the climate of safety at the university and that his team of investigators includes former FBI agents, assistant U.S. attorneys, pedophile investigators and compliance investigators.

NOW believes that this is a good start to our call for a broader, independent investigation if --and only if-- Mr. Freeh is "fully independent" as he stated. However, questions have been raised about his independence and these questions must be completely answered.

We call on Mr. Freeh to include in his investigation all forms of campus violence, including sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. Unless PSU's systematic climate of indifference, particularly within Athletics, is comprehensively reviewed and changed, we believe that these types of appalling acts will continue to be hidden and will not end. We also believe that, in addition to attorneys and law enforcement experts, the investigative team needs to include experts and survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence against both children and adults. Mr. Freeh and his committee must take their experiences and suggestions seriously.

Mr. Freeh has set up a hotline to his risk management firm at 855-290-3382 and psuhelp@freehgroup.com for individuals with any knowledge about any incident or policy, or the PSU climate to contact him.

NOW activists will be closely monitoring the investigation in the hope that it will be truly independent, comprehensive in scope and aimed squarely at achieving -- at long last -- full enforcement of the school's 2006 zero-tolerance policy.

For further information, contact: Joanne Tosti-Vasey (Pennsylvania NOW) Phone: (814) 280-8571 OR Latoya Veal (National NOW) w. 202-628-8669, ext. 116; c. 301-660-3447

Two News Reports Call for an Independent Investigation into PSU Sex Abuse Scandal

2011-11-16T13:31:00.001-05:00

There were two articles in the news today about the lack of independence and transparency in the Penn State University Board of Trustees investigation into the allegations of child sexual assault.

The first call for independence is in The Nation. It includes my full statement in response to Dave Zirin’s article of November 15, 2011 entitled “The World Joe Paterno Made." In that article, Dave Zirin quoted something I said in 2006. Here's what he wrote:

The signs of this malignancy did not emerge overnight. Looking backward, there are moments that speak of the scandals to come. In 2003, less than one year after Paterno was told that Sandusky was raping children, he allowed a player accused of rape to suit up and play in a bowl game. Widespread criticism of this move was ignored. In 2006, Penn State’s Orange Bowl opponent Florida State, sent home linebacker A.J. Nicholson, after accusations of sexual assault. Paterno’s response, in light of recent events, is jaw-dropping. He said, “There’s so many people gravitating to these kids. He may not have even known what he was getting into, Nicholson. They knock on the door; somebody may knock on the door; a cute girl knocks on the door. What do you do? Geez. I hope—thank God they don’t knock on my door because I’d refer them to a couple of other rooms.” Joanne Tosti-Vasey, president of Pennsylvania’s National Organization for Women in Pennsylvania, was not amused. With chilling unintentional prescience, Tosti-Vasey responded, “Allegations of sexual assault should never be taken lightly. Making light of sexual assault sends the message that rape is something to be expected and accepted.”

Mr. Zirin and I corresponded last night after this article was posted. This morning, he posted my full statement regarding NOW's current call for an expanded, independent review as part of his blog.

The second call for independence is made by the editors of the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News. They don’t ask for an expanded review, but do call for independence. And one of the people they mention as a better leader for the committee (rather than a PSU Board of Trustee member) is Barbara Hafer, former Commonwealth of PA Treasurer and Auditor General as well as a former, long-time NOW member.

Make the PSU Investigative Committee Independent; Broaden Scope to Include ALL Forms of Campus Violence

2011-11-12T19:45:00.003-05:00

Pennsylvania NOW leaders and our membership, like the PSU Board of Trustees and the rest of the country, are “outraged by the horrifying details contained in the Grand Jury Report.” We too have felt betrayed by these acts. However considering the long history of the Athletics Department, role models within Athletics, and the PSU Administration in minimizing reports of campus-related violence on adult women, we are not completely surprised that an alleged cover-up of child sexual assault has also occurred.

Since 1994, both the local NOW chapter in Centre County, PA and the state chapter of NOW have pressured the University to review to all forms of campus violence against women and to more specifically look at the ways to break down the wall of immunity that has historically and currently appears to exist between the Athletic Department and the rest of the University.

These earlier incidences involved Joe Paterno making insensitive remarks about domestic violence and sexual assault that were shrugged off as jokes by individuals, the Athletic Department, and the PSU administration; allowing a football player to play in a bowl game AFTER he was suspended for two semesters for an alleged rape; and the PSU administration weighing in on a rape case to have the sentence of a former Penn State wrestler placed at a minimal 6-month stay in the county jail.

Over these past 17 years—due partially to our initial involvement and concern about this wall of indifference—there have been some, but not enough, efforts to address this issue campus-wide. But other than ordering that no suspended player can play sports at Penn State, nothing as far as we can see has been done to break down this wall between Athletics and the rest of the University for acts of violence against another person.

Earlier this week the Penn State Board of Trustees announced that they would be appointing an “independent” committee that includes “counsel and investigative teams” to investigate these allegations of child sexual assault. Yesterday, when the Board announced the members of this committee, they stated, ““The complete committee membership will be determined and announced in the near future and is expected to be composed of a majority of Board of Trustee members with representatives from each of the board's constituencies as well as representatives of the Penn State community including faculty, students and alumni.”

This statement, in our opinion, shows that there is little if no independence in this review. All of the investigative committee members that are to be appointed are Trustee members, current members of the University community, or alumni. There are no experts on sexual assault or domestic violence, or stalking. There are no survivors. And there are no members of the larger community – whether that be local here in Centre County or more broadly across the communities in Pennsylvania where the other Penn State University Campuses are located.

On Monday after the news broke of the alleged child sexual assaults, Pennsylvania NOW contacted the University President and the Board of Trustees. Since the child sexual assault issue appears to be part of a broader problem of indifference to sexual assault, relationship violence, sexual harassment, and stalking, we have asked them to broaden their review to all forms of campus violence and to more specifically look at the ways to break down the wall of immunity that has historically and currently appears to exist between the Athletic Department and the rest of the University.

After finding out that the committee is unlikely to truly be independent, we contacted Trustee members Kenneth Frazier, JD, President of Merck and Company and Ron Tomalis, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education. They have been appointed as Chair and Vice-Chair of the newly appointed investigative review committee; we have asked them to:

Appoint people to this committee that will make it a truly independent investigative review board. An effective independent investigative committee must, at minimum, include experts in the field of sexual assault and domestic violence, survivors of abuse, and others not associated with Penn State.
Broaden the review to include all forms of campus violence – sexual assault, domestic/relationship violence, and stalking – of both children and adults;
Broaden the review to 1) include ways to break down the wall of immunity between the Athletic Department and the rest of the University, and 2) review policies, programs, and reporting mechanisms across the University and within the Athletic Department on all forms of sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and stalking.

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Press Release: PSU Must Immediately Address the Full Range of Sexual Assault Issues on Campus and in the Athletics Department

2011-11-07T21:55:00.000-05:00

Earlier today, Pennsylvania NOW sent a letter of concern to Penn State University President Graham Spanier and Chair of the Board of Trustees Steve Garban.

We are greatly concerned and appalled about the allegations of child sexual abuse against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and the apparent lack of appropriate follow-through to notify law enforcement in a timely manner as required by law, and the alleged perjury to the Grand Jury resulting from this lack of follow-through indicating a possible cover-up of what occurred. We are calling on Spanier and the Board of Trustees as the corporate stewards of PSU to take immediate and far-reaching actions to ensure that Penn State students, staff and the families in the surrounding community never have to see this kind of behavior and resulting exposé ever again.

We are pleased that the Penn State Board of Trustees met last night and took appropriate action by accepting both Tim Curley’s and Gary Schultz’s request to step down from their current positions at the University. But we are concerned about Dr. Spanier’s statement of November 5 giving “unconditional support” for both of these men.

Our youth deserve better custodians of their lives while at the University. Everyone attending, working at, or participating in programs and activities at Penn State also deserve an environment free of violence. Therefore we are asking the Administration and the Board of Trustees to follow through on the Board’s plan to “conduct an independent review of the University’s policies and procedures related to the protection of children; review with administrators police reporting protocols; publicize the findings of the independent review; review with administrators police reporting protocols; and enhance educational programming around such topics.” As part of this process and to further advance the zero tolerance policy made in 2006, we have requested that the Board:

1. Broaden the review to include all policies surrounding sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, and stalking of both children and adults;

2. Broaden the review to include ways to break down this wall of immunity between the Athletic Department and the rest of the University, and to review policies and programs across the University and within the Athletic Department on all forms of sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and stalking.

3. Consider, as part of “enhanced” educational programming, bringing in outside training from people within the sports field who are respected by Athletics who may be more accepted by athletic staff and coaches (we initially suggested this in 2006, but as far as we know, this has never happened);

4. Create a protocol or policy that ensures that individuals are not retaliated against when they report allegations of abuse to authorities as required by law or university policy. As the New York Times reported, “The chronology of events laid out by the state attorney general’s office includes multiple episodes that seem to suggest a failure by a variety of Penn State officials or employees to act emphatically, whether out of fear, incompetence or, perhaps, self-interest.” As with sexual harassment, fear often results in stifling someone from speaking out; and

5. Fully enforce the 2006 zero tolerance policy, up to and including, separation and/or permanent resignation of individuals from the University who participate in, condone, or cover up this form of behavior through either their action or inaction.

The Ties That Bind: Our Health, Our Families, Our Future

2011-10-31T10:32:00.001-04:00

Members of First Pittsburgh NOW (National Organization for Women), South Hills NOW and East End NOW joined with the Pennsylvania Health Access Network in Wilkinsburg last week to send a message to Sen. Pat Toomey to "Keep Pennsylvania Covered." This YouTube video shows the quilt squares they made and tells why each person wants Senator Tommey to keep the "Super Committee's" hands off of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

As PHAN says on their website about the quilt,

"...a new Congressional 'Super Committee' is charged with reducing the nation's deficit by $1.5 trillion. While some on the committee favor a balanced, responsible approach that includes both revenue increases and spending reductions, others, like our own Senator Pat Toomey, are looking at a cuts-only, 'slash and burn' approach that could jeopardized the health and well being of thousands of senior, kids and people with disabilities here in PA who rely on Medicare and Medicaid [as well as Social Security] to maintain their health and dignity...

The Super Committee must vote on its plan by Nov. 23rd, before sending it on to Congress for a vote in late December."

That's why we need to act now, before the Super Committee votes. You too can tell Senator Toomey at his website to leave our health care and Social Security alone.

Loving Your Body Throughout Life

2011-10-19T14:53:00.001-04:00

Today, October 19, 2011, the National Organization for Women Foundation, NOW members, college and high school students, and many other men and women around the country celebrate the 14th annual Love Your Body Day. The National NOW Foundation created Love Your Body Day 14 years ago to have women of all sizes, colors, ages, and abilities to come together to celebrate and promote a positive body image. Whether you are a size 2, 12, 22, a S, M, L, or XXL; whether you are white or a person of color; whether you are 4 or 44 or 84 years old; and whether you walk or roll, be proud of who you are and be healthy.

My mother, Martha B. Tosti, died three weeks ago. Over her 84 year life span she had many looks – all different and all beautiful. When she was young, she was thin and wore her hair in curls. As a young mother, she decided that “fussing” with her hair was too much of a hassle and for over 50 years wore her hair in a short “pixie" style haircut. At times she weighed as little as 100 pounds (or less) and at others she weighed over 200 pounds. She also developed/acquired, like many women, several different disabilities as she aged.

Her body changed throughout these 84 years, yet she remained a woman who could be and was celebrated for who she was. Celebrated as a person rather than a body type that, through the use society’s unrealistic ideals of women’s bodies, might have been hailed at times and excoriated at others. She stood up for her kids. She made sure there was food on the table and nice clothes on everyone’s back. When money was tight, she figured out how to stretch the dimes to make ends meet. She intervened for her kids. And when things were not going in a way she thought they should be, she would – often in quite colorful language – let you know what she thought. She was a feisty woman who had her faults and her strengths. Her body took her through all of this until the very end. And we loved her regardless of her size, shape, clothing, or haircut.

That’s partially what Love Your Body Day is all about. Body image is all about believing in yourself regardless of what you look like. Because each and every woman is – as the 2011 Love Your Body poster says – “a masterpiece.” My mother enjoyed looking “good” but looking “good” was not so much a societal definition as a self-definition. As it should be for everyone.

PS. The Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund will have an exhibit table at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at the Philadelphia Convention Center. We will be located at booth number 242 in the Exhibit Hall. If you are coming to this conference, please drop by. We will have copies of the current and many of the past Love Your Body Day Campaign posters at the table.

- Joanne Tosti-Vasey, President, Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund

Action Alert: TRAP Bill Vote Expected TODAY!

2011-10-18T09:09:00.001-04:00

The PA House is expected to vote on SB 732 TODAY! This isPennsylvania's Targeted Regulations on Abortion Providers (TRAP) bill that willlikely shut down many of the 22 stand-alone abortion / reproductive healthclinics in Pennsylvania.

We've Had Enough!

Please callyour representative this morning and tell him/her to vote NO on SB 732. You can locate your legislator’s contact info at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/.

SB 732 passed out of the House Health Committeein the early summer after being amended to look exactly like HB 574 which had earlierpassed the House. All of the Senate language from the original billwas stripped out, and the content of HB 574 was substituted. Therefore, SB 732now applies to all surgical abortion procedures, even very early ones.It is not limited to abortions after nine weeks. SB 732/HB 574 would regulate Pennsylvania’s freestandingabortion providers as ambulatory surgical facilities (ASF), subject to boththe ambulatory surgical facility regulations and the ambulatorygynecological surgery in hospitals and clinics regulations. Instead ofpreventing another atrocity like the Gosnell “house of horrors,”this bill willhurt women.

Senate Bill 732 (SB 732)

SB 732 would force free-standingabortion providers to be regulated as Ambulatory Surgical Facilities (ASF)which require burdensome and unnecessary structural and staffing changes.

SB 732 could cause a public healthcrisis by making abortion care in Pennsylvania inaccessible.

· ASF regulations could cause the cost ofan abortion to rise significantly and could force providers to close theirdoors.

· Women need safe, reputable providers totrust when seeking an abortion.

More information about HB 574 and SB 732:

· These bills will increase the financial hurdles to abortioncare for patients. Women will not be able to affordsafe abortion care and may seek out a substandard illegal provider or be forcedto delay their abortions while they try to raise money to pay for higher-costprocedures. The increased costs of complying with these bills will be passedalong to patients. Many patients struggle to pay $350 for an early abortionprocedure. With increased regulation and increased fees, the cost may doubleand therefore become inaccessible to many women.

· Poor women and rural women will have even less access tosafe abortion care. Only 22% of PA counties have anabortion provider. The enactment of either bill would force some of theseproviders to close. Women who need abortions will then leave the state wherePennsylvania can no longer regulate their safety.

· Abortion providers are already well-regulated. Current law provides for required equipment and medicalsupplies, hospital transfer agreements for emergency services, equipmentrequired for anesthesia, clinical staff licensing requirements, mandatory counselingand informed consent requirements, laboratory and pathology requirements,required blood tests specific to abortion care, extensive reportingrequirements for each abortion, parental consent requirements, abortionfacility requirements, and complications reporting. Women don’t need moreregulations. They need accessible care and better enforcement of existingregulations.

More detail and talking points can be found in the pdf file from Pennsylvanians for Choice(PFC)which is located at our We've Had Enough website.PFC, fyi, is the statewide reproductive rights coalition working to ensure fullreproductive justice and rights for women here in Pennsylvania.

Thanks for making the call. Again here’s the link to findyour legislator’s contact info - http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/.Make that call today and tell your Representative to vote NO on SB 732.

Calling All Activists: ADVOCACY IN THE ERA OF THE TEA PARTY

2011-10-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

A Workshop Sponsored by Pennsylvania NOW

· Learn cutting-edgemessages that work in hateful times

· Connect withlike-minded progressives

· Help develop ourfight-back strategy around budget cuts

Saturday October 22nd

1 PM - 3 PM

Schlow Library

First Floor Community Room

211 S. Allen St.

State College, PA 16801

(parking available in library lot)

Special presentation by thePennsylvania Budget and

Policy Center on what’s ahead for2012 in Harrisburg.

Please RSVP by Oct. 12th to Michele Hamilton:

hamilton.michele@yahoo.com or (814) 235-5095

Debate in Harrisburg on School Vouchers - October 26, 2011

2011-10-09T17:45:00.000-04:00

School Voucher Forum Harrisburg 10-26-11

New Executive Committee Elected

2011-10-02T11:06:00.000-04:00

Pennsylvania NOW elected their new Executive Committee yesterday (October 1, 2011) in Trevose, PA at our biennial convention.

They are:

President: Julia Ramsey from Philadelphia NOW
Vice-President: Helene Ratner from Bucks County NOW
Treasurer: Pamela Macklin from East End NOW (Allegheny County)
Secretary: Betsy Parziale from Montgomery County NOW
At-Large Member: Michele Hamilton from Ni-Ta-Nee NOW (Centre County)
At-Large Member: Joanne Tosti-Vasey from Ni-Ta-Nee NOW (Centre County)
At-Large Member: Susan Woodland from NW PA NOW.

Congratulations everyone!

The new committee will take office on January 1, 2012.

2011-09-19T22:45:00.001-04:00

Event Registration Online for Pennsylvania NOW Convention

Online Ticketing for Pennsylvania NOW Convention powered by Eventbrite

We've Had Enough! Rally for Women's Lives on September 27

2011-09-19T14:48:00.000-04:00

In the first six months of 2011, Pennsylvania lawmakers spent 30% oftheir days at the Capitol working to restrict access to safe,legal abortion.

Following the lead of Kansas — the most anti-choice state in the nation —Pennsylvania lawmakers chose to make the very first vote of the session aboutan unnecessary, dangerous Senate abortion bill. As House members prepared todepart for their summer vacations at the end of June, a bill aimed at closinghealth centers was poised for a vote up until the very last minute. When theyreturn in September (on September 27), you can bet they’ll be right at itagain.

Two bills, inparticular, threaten a woman's right to choose to have an abortion - one underthe guise of patient safety and the other is a blatant attempt to chip away ata well-established legal right.

Senate Bill 732 (SB 732)

SB 732 is a TRAP (Targeted Regulations on Abortion Providers) law that would forcefree-standing abortion providers to be regulated as Ambulatory SurgicalFacilities (ASF) which require burdensome and unnecessary structural andstaffing changes.

SB 732 could cause a public health crisis by making abortion care in Pennsylvania inaccessible;
ASF regulations could cause the cost of an abortion to rise significantly and could force providers to close their door. There are 22 stand-alone clinics in Pennsylvania; all of these clinics currently do not meet the onerous regulations included in this legislation; and
Women need safe, reputable providers to trust when seeking an abortion.

Senate Bill 3 (SB 3)

SB 3 would baninsurance companies participating in the yet-to-be established state healthinsurance exchange from offering abortion coverage.

Currently, an estimated 80% of insurance plans provide abortion coverage. If SB3 passes, many women will lose the coverage they currently have; and
Without coverage for abortion services, women will be forced to seek care from non-reputable providers.

Don’t miss this important rally to help protect women’sreproductive lives. The rally is scheduledfrom 11:30 am to 1 pm on Tuesday, September 27 in the Capitol Rotunda inHarrisburg; lobbying your legislators to oppose these bills will occur bothbefore and after the rally. The keynote speaker at the rally, FYI willbe Ellie Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority, and former President ofboth National NOW and Pennsylvania NOW. Details and sign-up (for both lunch and buses) are on the website at http://www.wevehadenoughpa.org (information) and http://www.wevehadenoughpa.org/rally.html (registration page).

(Note, due to security checks atthe Capitol, you might want to arrive by 11 am to get through the metaldetectors before the rally starts).

There are buses coming from Allentown,Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and PlymouthMeeting that you can sign up for at http://www.wevehadenoughpa.org/rally.html. You can also reserve lunch on this page. Information on busdeparture and return times as well as locations is available at http://www.wevehadenoughpa.org/bus-departurereturn-information.html.

If you are interested in takingthe van from the State College area, please contact Joanne Tosti-Vasey, President of Pennsylvania NOWdirectly at panow@panow.org or at 814-280-8571 to reserve a free seat.

Pennsylvania NOW Convention just 3 Weeks Away with TWO Featured Speakers: Terry O'Neill and Sioban "Sam" Bennett

2011-09-09T12:52:00.000-04:00

The Pennsylvania NOW Convention“United We Rise” is just three weeks away. It will be held on Saturday,October 1, 2011 at Crowne Plaza‐Bucks County ♦ 4700 Street Rd ♦ Trevose,PA 19053.

PA NOW 2011 Convention InvitationBIGNEWS! We now have confirmed two GREAT featured speakers! OurFeatured Speakers will be Terry O’Neill, National NOW President and Siobhan“Sam” Bennett, President and CEO Women's Campaign Forum & 2008 PACongressional candidate.

Sam will beour featured speaker at the PAC luncheon that starts at 11:35 am. Siobhan "Sam" Bennett,President/CEO has served as the President and CEO of theWomen’s Campaign Fund (WCF) and its affiliated programs The She Should RunFoundation and WCF PAC since March 2009. Under Sam’s leadership, WCF’s combinedbudget has more than doubled and the organization’s programmatic reach hasexpanded to every state in the country and been featured in nationalsyndications, including USA Today and over 200 AP newspapers. Sam has lent herunique perspective as a candidate at the local and federal levels to broadenWCF’s impact on women leaders at all levels of government who supportreproductive choices and options, and women who may run for office in thefuture. Cost for the luncheon is a minimum of $50/person.

Terry will be our featuredspeaker during the afternoon plenary. Terry O'Neill, President, National Organization for Women is a feministattorney, former law professor, and an activist for social justice. O'Neilloversees NOW's multi-issue agenda, which includes: advancing reproductivefreedom, promoting diversity and ending racism, stopping violence againstwomen, winning lesbian rights, ensuring economic justice, ending sexdiscrimination and achieving constitutional equality for women.

We also have a great line-up of workshops that includethe following topics:

Voting Rights, Removing Barriers to Voting, and the Elections process

Caregiving Care for Caregiver

Health Care issues including single-payer health care and reproductivehealth and justice

Collaborating with other feminist organizations

School Vouchers and Violence in Schools.

Please spread the word!

Cost for NOW members to attend the Convention is $50 with a sliding scale down to $0.00. Non-members can register for the Convention for $70.00, which includes a one-year membership in NOW.

To register, you can download this registration form (see below). After completing the form, either mail or email the form with your check/credit card number to our Treasurer, Pamela Macklin. If you want to pay online for the PAC and/or the luncheon you can do so by credit card at our main website. Go to http://panow.org and click on the "Donate" button. Then send the completed registration form to our treasurer at pmacfish@aol.com.
Registration Form for PA NOW Convention and PAC Luncheon
Notetwo deadlines. The guaranteed reduced rate for hotel reservations ends onSeptember 15 ($99/night + tax); call the hotel at 1‐215‐364‐2000 to make your reservation. People interested in the PAC luncheonneed to reserve their seat at the luncheon by Friday, September 23. Youcan either pre-register or register on-site for the convention plenaries,workshops, and cocktail party. If you are putting your check in the mail for the PAC luncheon, please email our Treasuer at pmacfish@aol.com and let her know that you put the check in the mail to ensure she adds your name to the PAC luncheon.

And here are the directions to the hotel.
Direction Card Crowne Plaza

Again…

Join us atPennsylvania NOW’s 40^th anniversary convention ON OCTOBER 1 and Please spread theword!

Thank you and see you on October 1.

Testimony Opposing Anti-Immigration Bills

2011-08-26T19:02:00.000-04:00

On Monday, August 22, 2011, I submitted written testimony to the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee and asked if I could speak at the hearing on August 30 before the committee when they hold hearings on the so-called “National Security Begins at Home” package of anti-immigrant bills. I received an email from a Republican majority staff member telling me that my written testimony was accepted but that I would not be allowed to speak at all during the hearing. As noted in my previous blog posting the Pennsylvania Immigrant and Citizenship Coalition's media advisory about a press conference to be held just before the hearings start on Tuesday, August 30,

"Unfortunately, the list of witnesses for the hearing has been limited, preventing many sound practical, legal, and moral arguments against this legislation from being heard."

I was later told that this "limited" list of witnesses is only for people and organizations opposing this bill: only four witnesses selected by the Democratic side of the committee will be allowed to speak over the two days of hearings.

So after some thought, I decided to post my entire letter to the committee for you to read. Please review. Call and write your legislator. Tell him/her to turn their attention away from divisive proposals that threaten to harm vulnerable Pennsylvanians - particularly women and children, waste taxpayer dollars and embroil our Commonwealth in burdensome lawsuits; instead, tell them to put the focus back on creating jobs and growing our economy.

Now, here's Pennsylvania NOW's testimony on these anti-immigration bills:

Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.

PO Box 68

Bellefonte, PA 16823-0068

Email: panow@panow.org s website: http://www.panow.org

Phone: 814-280-8571

Fax: 814-355-3057

8/22/2011

· · ·

Susan Boyle

Republican House Committee Legislative Staff
41B East Wing
Capital Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
(sboyle@pahousegop.com)

Dear Ms. Boyle:

We are writing on behalf of the approximately 14,000 dues paying members and contributors to the National Organization for Women in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania NOW, Inc. is the statewide chapter that works to bring about full equal rights for all women. We are writing you to express our opposition to several of the anti-immigration bills before the House of Representatives that will be heard during this hearing on August 30. We understand that the following bills are likely to be covered during this hearing (listed by Name, Bill Number, Prime Sponsor, and the current status of each bill)

· Identification of Lawful Presence Bills

o SB 9 / Scarnati / Passed Senate and Referred to Committee on State Government

o HB 41 / Marsico / Referred to Committee on State Government

o Arizona Model Legislation/ HB 738/ Metcalfe/ Referred to Committee on State Government

· Penalties and Duties of Agencies / HB 355 / Readshaw / Re-referred to State Government

· License Revocation / HB 439 / Mustio / Re-referred to Committee on State Government

· State Compact/ HB 474/ Cox/ Referred to Committee on State Government

· Criminal Records / HB 798 / Creighton / Referred to Committee on State Government

· Memorandum of Understanding / HB 799 / Creighton/ Referred to Committee on State Government

· Power of Law Enforcement/ HB 801/ Creighton/ Referred to Committee on State Government

· Sanctuary Bills

o Sanctuary Cities Funding/ HB 810/ Perry/ Referred to Committee on State Government

o Sanctuary Cities Victims / HB 865 / Knowles / Re-referred to State Government

· Smuggling of Human Beings/ HB 856/ Kauffman/ Re-referred to Committee on State Government

· “Commonwealth Citizenship Act” / HB 857/ Metcalfe/ Re-referred to Committee on State Government

· E-verification / HB 858 / Metcalfe / Re-referred to Committee on State Government

We oppose all of these bills in general as they are an immigration-enforcement only form of legislation and do not take into account the disparate impact these laws would have on all residents – documented and undocumented. They also impose new burdens on our workers, businesses, and the economy in general. Women and children, in many of these bills, would also be even more harshly hit. The following is a selective review of a few of these bills and why we believe that these particular bills would most harshly impact women and children here in Pennsylvania.

Identification Bills

There are two types of bills dealing with identification issues. One deals with employment and obtaining forms of identification. The other type deals with access to public benefits.

HB 858 requires all Pennsylvania employers to enroll in the federal E-Verify program to confirm employee Social Security numbers. It also denies any form of registration (including driver’s licenses) to individuals who cannot prove that they are legal residents of the US. This bill could cause serious problems for victims fleeing domestic violence situations without any identification.

Senate Bill 9 and House Bills 41 and 738 require individuals to produce a government-issued form of identification to prove their lawful presence in Pennsylvania in order to receive either public benefits or benefits from non-profit agencies who receive any funding from the state. Senate Bill 9 is the furthest along in the legislative process; it has passed out of the Senate and is currently in the State House Government Committee.HB 738 is modeled on Arizona’s Anti-Immigration law. All three will tie up government programs, cost the state millions of dollars, further hurt our fragile economy, and place the lives of women and children in danger.

Both SB 9 and HB 41 require identification for “lawful presence” in the United States as a prerequisite to the receipt of public benefits. Among the restrictions are denial of any benefit that the state or local government provides including, in the case of HB 41, access to any local food banks & “services provided to women, infants, & children through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children” (WIC). (Let’s starve the kids!). Both also require that the identification be verified through the flawed federal Homeland Security’s “Systematic Alien Verification of Entitlement (SAVE)” database.

HB 738 is much broader then either SB 9 and HB 41 and as previously stated, mirrors much of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law SB 1070. It has several sections. First, like SB 9 and HB 41, it requires all agencies and municipalities to verify that applicants for public benefits are either US citizens or lawful immigrants. This applies to applicants for Federal, State, or local public benefits programs. All other applicants not exempt would have to sign an affidavit swearing lawful immigration status, subject to verification through the flawed Systematic Alien Verification of Entitlement Program. Second, it fines officials, agencies, and municipalities for failure to enforce the law. Third, it makes it a crime to be undocumented. Forth, it penalizes employers who hire undocumented workers. And fifth, it allows police to seize any vehicle they suspect might be used for transporting undocumented workers.

These bills all rely on the use of the flawed federal E-verify system

According to the National Immigration Law Center, there is an error rate of between 0.08 and 2.3 percent in verification of employment eligibility for documenting immigrants’ legal status in the US. Nationally, that means that with an estimated 60,000,000 new hires each year, somewhere between 480,000 and 1,300,000 legal immigrants and US citizens will be flagged as undocumented[1]. According to the 2010 Census, 4.2 percent of the total adult US population reside in Pennsylvania.[2] Assume for a moment that 4.2 percent or 2,425,000 of these new hires occur in Pennsylvania each year. That means for employment searches alone, an estimated total of between 1,940 and 55,775 legal residents will likely be flagged as undocumented. This number will be even higher if the E-verify system is used not only for employment but for access to public benefits. And this number will be higher once the state attempts to verify children as well as adults.

The lack of ids will tie up programs.

Requiring an individual to either produce a government id and/or to be verified through the flawed E-verify system will tie up programs at great expense to the state and to individuals who need access to services. On March 1, 2011, the Women’s Law Project and Community Legal Services along with 24 other organizations submitted testimony to the Pennsylvania Senate regarding the government identification requirements found in SB 9. Their concerns, in our opinion, also apply to these other bills as well.

In that letter, they point out that a government issued photo id may be hard to obtain. That could be due to the need for having other forms of government id, such as a birth certificate. For example, a birth certificate to prove birth in the United States can take time to obtain so that you can then obtain a picture id, such as a driver’s license or a passport. People who have lost their original birth certificate or who have no access to their documentation—such as domestic violence victims who have fled their violent homes without any identification or for people who have lost all of their belongings in a disaster--could result in delays that they cannot wait for. In addition, people without personal transport could be further delayed by not being able to travel to a photo id center to obtain a photo id.

Beside the complications in obtaining government issued photo ids proving a legal basis for being in the United States, there is the additional cost for setting up and maintaining these identification programs. This can cause financial problems to the state in addition to delaying the distribution of needed benefits to documented individuals. For example, Colorado reported that the state incurred over $2,000,000 in additional costs in the first year of full implementation of their photo-id law and Governor Rendell’s administration estimated that implementing the photo id requirements for the Unemployment Compensation program alone that is required by SB 9 would cost an additional $20,000,000. [3]

These bills will endanger lives.

According to the New York University’s Law School’s Brennen Center for Justice[4], about 11 percent of all US Citizens do not have a government-issued id. That number rises to 15 percent for low-income families who would most likely need the public benefits covered under these bills.

Women are more likely than men to have problems providing proof of citizenship. According to this same study, one-third of women 18 and older, one-quarter of African-Americans, and 16 percent of Latinas and Latinos do not have ready access to citizenship papers – passports, naturalization papers, and/or birth certificates. And for those with some form of citizenship papers in their possession, 10 percent do not have the paperwork to show both their current name and current address. This number rises to 18 percent for adults ages 18-24; this younger cohort include lower-income individuals who are more likely to be parents with young children that need time-critical public benefits.

In Pennsylvania in 2007, nearly 1.4 million Pennsylvanians, or almost 12 percent, were living below poverty. It is estimated that over 806,000 (approximately 58 percent) of these individuals were female[5]. Given that females are more likely than males to live below the poverty line and are thus more likely to need access to public services, this requirement for identification could endanger their and their families’ lives.

Additionally, women who have been made homeless (92 percent of homeless women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives[6]) or who are fleeing domestic violence and leave without any documentation are particularly vulnerable. Yet only SB 9 mentions an exemption to providing documentation for domestic violence victims if they sign an affidavit of domestic violence. Homeless victims who have an even more desperate life and are in need of services may not have either the ability to or the knowledge of how to obtain either this needed identification or this limited exemption from having this form of identification. And since they have no permanent domicile, obtaining a photo id with a current address is not likely to happen.

HB 738 additionally relies on racial Profiling

In addition to the general concerns about all of these identification bills, we have an additional concern about HB 738. In addition to the id requirements, it allows police officers to stop and seize any vehicle they suspect might be used for transporting undocumented workers. Like with HB 856, this section of the bill relies on illegal racial profiling.

This bill allows police officers to stop any vehicle driven by someone they think might be transporting undocumented workers if “reasonable suspicion” exists. What determines “reasonable suspicion?” Since September 11, 2001, Arabs, Muslims, and Hispanics have most often been the targets of suspicion either due to the belief that all Arabs and Muslims are or could be terrorists OR the belief that the majority of undocumented people are of Hispanic origin[7]. This form of “reasonable suspicion” results in victimization of the innocent who are not involved in trafficking. This profiling also fails to actually find and prosecute individuals themselves who do not fit the profile of undocumented foreigner.

Commonwealth Citizenship Act

HB 857 seeks to prevent automatic citizenship for children born in the US to undocumented aliens. It denies citizenship rights within the border of Pennsylvania to any child born anywhere in the US whose parents are not either citizens of the US or who are not legal resident aliens that now reside in Pennsylvania. This bill on its face is unconstitutional as it violates the 14^th amendment to the US Constitution. The 14^th Amendment was ratified in 1868 and guarantees that all children born in the United States (with minor exceptions for children of foreign diplomats and invading forces) are citizens. Since it is the US and not states that grant citizenship, Pennsylvania cannot deny benefits to citizens, even if they have undocumented parents.

The 14^th Amendment is a cornerstone of the movement for civil rights for all (it is partially the basis for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act in addition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the American with Disabilities Act of 1992, etc.) and it has played a critical role in our country’s cultural diversity.

Limiting the scope of the 14^th amendment by denying citizenship as defined in HB 857 will actually make things worse by increasing the number of undocumented immigrants and will create “significant bureaucratic and financial burdens” for all Americans. A panel at the Center for American Progress listed these burdens if the Citizenship Clause were revoked at the federal level or ignored via legislation at the state level. They stated[8] that:

“A large, new and expensive federal bureaucracy [would be needed] to investigate the citizenship status of parents before birth certificates could be issued to their newborn children.” Since birth certificates are issued by states, Pennsylvania would have to greatly increase funding for the Department of Health to work with the federal government to ensure that at least one parent is a US Citizen before issuing the birth certificate

2. The departments of State and Homeland Security – which routinely charge fees for immigrant visas and related services – could charge parents up to $600 to verify the legal status of each birth. And the verification process itself could also take weeks, months or even years. This long delay and high cost to low-income individuals could jeopardize the lives of these children/adults due to the delay in verification; and

3. “Repealing or limiting the scope of the Citizenship Clause would blur the line between who is a citizen and who is not, creating a U.S. caste system that would forever relegate those deemed to be of lesser status from fully participating and contributing to our nation.”

Smuggling of Human Beings (aka Human Trafficking)
HB 856 is an amendment to 18 Pa. C.S. (Statute on Trafficking of Human Beings) that creates a third degree felony for people who knowingly or recklessly transport undocumented workers for profit or commercial purpose. It adds a clause similar to the one proposed in HB 738 that allows police officers to stop any driver of a vehicle that they have “reasonable suspicion” of transporting undocumented workers.

Women coerced into sex work, domestic workers and agricultural workers who are forced into unpaid or underpaid labor, and commercially sexually-exploited children, are the most common victims of human trafficking. According to the Polaris Project, “Victims of human trafficking in the United States include U.S. citizens or foreign nationals, adults or minors, and men or women. Foreign-born victims in the U.S. may be either documented or undocumented.[9]”

This bill makes two assumptions about human trafficking. The first false assumption is that human trafficking is another word for human smuggling. In fact, they are two separate federal crimes. Smuggling requires illegal border crossing. Human trafficking is a crime against a person who has been induced or forced into commercial sex acts or labor whether or not transportation is involved. The second false assumption is that foreign national trafficking victims are always undocumented and are here in this country illegally. Foreign nationals can be here in the United States either legally or illegally. A significant percentage of trafficked victims, according to the Polaris Project, are here legally and are documented. To quote the Polaris Project, “Human trafficking encompasses both transnational trafficking that crosses borders and domestic or internal trafficking that occurs within a country.[10]

The statistics on human trafficking are scare, particularly for domestic trafficking. And what statistics are available are often contradictory due to the covert nature of the crime, the very high levels of underreporting, the invisibility of victims, inconsistent definitions (including assumptions that trafficking is only an international issue), and the lack of data collection and research on this issue, particularly for domestic adult trafficking. Of the statistics available, 53 percent of adult victims and 66 percent of child victims of trafficking are female. And it is estimated that between 100,000 and 300,000 children from within the borders of the US are victims of prostitution.[11]

These statistics indicate that focusing on human trafficking by creating a law that allows police officers to stop any vehicle driven by someone they think might be transporting undocumented workers does not really deal with the terrible problem of human trafficking. Rather it is another civil rights violation through the use of racial profiling.

What determines “reasonable suspicion?” Since September 11, 2001, Arabs, Muslims, and Hispanics have most often been the targets of suspicion either due to the belief that all Arabs and Muslims are or could be terrorists OR the belief that the majority of undocumented people are of Hispanic origin[12]. This form of “reasonable suspicion” results in victimization of the innocent who are not involved in trafficking. This profiling also fails to actually find and prosecute traffickers who do not fit the profile of undocumented foreigner.

The current state law on human trafficking combined with the federal laws will not be improved by this bill. Although it might catch some traffickers, it will harm others who are innocent of this crime and will not deal at all with domestic trafficking.

Putting further emphasis on enforcing the current law—18 Pa. C.S. (Statute on Trafficking of Human Beings—as well as passing two other bills before the General Assembly would improve the lives of victims of human trafficking. We urge you to pass HB 235. It mandates the posting of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, in key locations throughout the state to provide assistance, tip reporting and training on human trafficking to victims, community members & law enforcement. We also encourage you to have the Senate consider and pass SB 885 and send it to you for consideration and passage. This bill amends Section 3002(a) of 18 Pa. C.S. to allow prostitution convictions to be vacated if the woman (or man) can show that the arrest occurred while being a victim of sex trafficking. Both of these bills would give police access to information about real human traffickers rather than having them rely on inaccurate and illegal racial profiling.

Thank you for taking time to listen to our concerns on these bills. We look forward to your response to our concerns.

Sincerely,
Joanne L. Tosti-Vasey, Ph.D.
President

Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.

Cc: Amy Hockenberry (ahockenb@pahousegop.com); Elizabeth Sickler (esickler@pahousegop.com); Cathy Wadding (cwadding@pahousegop.com), and Kim Hileman (khileman@pahouse.net

[1] Moran, Tyler (June 11, 2011). Statement of Tyler Moran, Policy Director, National Immigration Law Center to the US House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement: Hearing on the Legal Workforce Act. Retrieved August 21, 2011 from http://nilc.org/immsemplymnt/ircaempverif/Legal-Workforce-Act-imm-subcomm-testimony-2011-06-15.pdf.

[2] 2010 Census. Retrieved August 21, 2011 from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP1&prodType=table and http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_NSRD_QTPL&prodType=table.

[3] Women’s Law Project (March 1, 2011). Advocates letter to PA Senate Opposing SB9. Retrieved August 21, 2011 from http://www.womenslawproject.org/legislative/SB9_opposition.pdf.

[4] Brennen Center for Justice (November 2006). Citizens Without Proof. Retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/d/download_file_39242.pdf.

[5] Pennsylvania Commission for Women (2009). The status of Pennsylvania women report 2009. Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Commission for Women.

[6] Pennsylvania Commission for Women (2009). The status of Pennsylvania women report 2009. Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Commission for Women

[7] Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (no date). Wrong then, wrong now: Racial profiling before and after September 11, 2001. Retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.civilrights.org/publications/wrong-then/racial_profiling_report.pdf.

[8] Azcona, Sergio (May 12, 2011). Repeal of Citizenship Clause Would Carry Heavy Consequences. Retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2011/05/1191-citizenship.html.

[9] Polaris Project (no date). Human Trafficking. Retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/overview.

[10] Polaris Project (no date). Common myths and misconceptions about human trafficking in the US. Retrieved August 22, 2011 from https://na4.salesforce.com/sfc/play/index.jsp?oid=00D300000006E4S&v=06860000000Hqhh&d=0i1GKP5PVjb5g7wWmouadOJ20Kk%3D&viewId=05H60000000IwPe.

[11] Polaris Project (2011). Human trafficking statistics. Retrieved August 22, 2011 from https://na4.salesforce.com/sfc/play/index.jsp?oid=00D300000006E4S&v=06860000000HqhN&d=0i1GKP5PVjb5g7wWmouadOJ20Kk%3D&viewId=05H60000000IwPe.

[12] Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (no date). Wrong then, wrong now: Racial profiling before and after September 11, 2001. Retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.civilrights.org/publications/wrong-then/racial_profiling_report.pdf.

Pennsylvanians Tell House State Government Committee: Anti-Immigrant Legislation Is Bad For Our Commonwealth

2011-08-26T18:10:00.000-04:00

Media Advisory

Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

Advocating for immigrants, migrants and refugees

2100 Arch Street, 7th Floor

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Phone: (215) 832-0636 Fax: (215) 832-0527 Email: admin@paimmigrant.org

On August 30 and 31, the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee will hold hearings on Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s “National Security Begins at Home” package of anti-immigrant bills. These Arizona-style measures would be costly to our state and local governments, creating new bureaucracies which duplicate responsibilities constitutionally assigned to the federal government. Unfortunately, the list of witnesses for the hearing has been limited, preventing many sound practical, legal, and moral arguments against this legislation from being heard. For that reason, a diverse group of leaders from the faith, business, legal, and immigrant communities will join the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition for a press conference prior to the hearings to encourage the State Government Committee to defeat all 14 bills.

The anti-immigrant bills that will be discussed at the hearing include:

· Arizona-style measures that would jeopardize public safety by forcing local police to act as immigration agents;

· Proposals that would deny vulnerable Pennsylvanians public benefits by requiring them to show government-issued ID;

· Bills that would restrict job creation by mandating the use of the inaccurate E-Verify database;

· Legislation that attempts to strip Pennsylvanian children born to undocumented immigrants of their constitutionally guaranteed citizenship;

· Measures that would deny critical services to many Pennsylvanians by allowing the state to withhold funding from cities or municipalities that offer any type of service to undocumented immigrants.

This legislation is a distraction. On August 30, we will ask our legislators to turn their attention away from divisive proposals that threaten to harm vulnerable Pennsylvanians, waste taxpayer dollars and embroil our Commonwealth in burdensome lawsuits, and instead put the focus back on creating jobs and growing our economy.

WHERE: Rotunda, Main Capitol Building

Harrisburg, PA

WHEN: 12 p.m., Tuesday, August 30

NOTE from PA NOW: This press conference immediately precedes the two days of hearings being held by the PA House State Government Committee that is chaired by Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R), the prime sponsor of many of these bills. Please attend this event in Harrisburg on Tuesday and/or contact your legislator. Tell him/her to vote NO on all of these anti-immigrant bills that threaten the lives of anyone, especially women and children, who look like they might be undocumented.

I'll be posting a second blog that includes a list of all the bills that will be heard at this hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 30 and 31. This blog also includes Pennsylvania NOW's testimony on several photo identification bills (HB 858, HB 41, HB 738, and SB 9), a bill (HB 857) that denies citizenship to children born in the United States whose parents are not US citizens, and a bill (HB 856) that uses racial profiling to target undocumented laborers.

###

Fall Issue of the Pennsylvania NOW Times

2011-08-24T15:02:00.002-04:00

The Fall 2011 issue of the Pennsylvania NOW Times is now available online. The newsletter includes:

The PA NOW PAC Voters' Guide for the November 8, 2011 General Election
Legislative Updates for the 2011-2012 legislative session in the Pennsylvania General Assembly
"We've Had Enough!" Information on the September 27 rally at the Capitol in Harrisburg opposing the legislators' attacks on women's reproductive health
United We Rise - article on the upcoming October 1, 2011 PA NOW Convention and PAC fundraising in Bucks County. There is a discount on registering for the convention if you register by Friday August 26, 2011 (Women's Equality Day).
Proposed By-Laws Amendment
My First National Conference - a first-hand report of the June 2011 National NOW conference in Tampa, FL by Michelle Weisen, member of Ni-Ta-Nee NOW.
What Can We Do? - tidbits on what you can do for women's equality
Chapter Exchange - information of actions and programs of some of the local NOW chapters across the state.

United We Rise! Pennsylvania NOW Convention on October 1, 2011

2011-08-19T11:48:00.001-04:00

We need and will rise to fight the War on Women that is currently being waged against women in the US and here in Pennsylvania. A war that includes: 1) women continuing to earn only 78% of men’s salaries, 2) Congress and the PA General Assembly’s attempts to take away our reproductive rights; 3) Threats to public education; 4) etc.

Join us at our biennial convention October 1, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Philadelphia Bucks County, 4700 Street Road, Trevose, PA 19053 (215-364-2000). We will be focusing on this war on women and how, United, we can fight back.

Lodging is $99 + tax/night; deadline for this rate is September 15. To receive this rate, contact the hotel and mention Pennsylvania NOW when you make your registration.

This all-day conference will include workshops focusing on reproductive rights attacks, school vouchers, single-payer health care, maternity care, and care giving, as well as working in coalitions, voting, and election work to make sure our united voice is heard. In addition, we will be electing new officers, holding a luncheon PAC fundraiser, voting on the proposed by-laws change, and hosting a cash-bar reception in the evening.

ELECTIONS

We will be holding elections for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, & three At-Large Executive Committee members. The four officers must run together as a slate. If you are interested running for office, you must contact our Elections Committee. Chairing this committee will be Cindy Purvis (814-460-3568, cindypurvis@velocity.net). Lois Herr (717-371-5721, herrlk@me.com) and Irene Boyle (215- 913-0108) are the other two members of this committee.

PA NOW PAC FUNDRAISER

We have moved the traditional PAC fundraiser from Sunday to Saturday so that more people have a chance to attend if they are not staying overnight. The keynote speaker at the PAC luncheon will be Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, President and CEO, Women’s Campaign Forum and 2008 NOW PAC-endorsed Congressional candidate from Allentown, PA.

The luncheon will also present current and past NOW PAC-endorsed candidates to the attendees.
This fundraiser will help get out our Voters’ Guide and to also support our endorsed candidates. Cost is a minimum $50.00/person. You can use the form below to send in your registration. You can also register online with your credit card for the luncheon at http://panow.org/PAC_file/PANOWPAC.htm. Then follow-up the online payment with an email to Treasurer Pamela Macklin, pmacfish@aol.com, saying your PAC donation is for the PAC luncheon. Deadline for registering for the PAC luncheon is Friday, September 23.

REGISTRATION FEES

NOW member registration fee is $50.00; early registration by August 26 is $40 in honor of Pennsylvania NOW’s 40th anniversary. Non-member registration, including a one-year membership is $70.00. Current members can register and attend the convention on a sliding scale down to $0.00.

Register online with your credit card at http://panow.org/contribution.htm. Please follow-up all online payments with an email to pmacfish@aol.com, saying your “donations” are for your registration and/or PAC luncheon.

You may also register by printing out and mailing in the registration form pictured below. You can also contact us at panow@panow.org and we will email you a full-size copy of this registration form.

Registration Form for PA NOW Convention

We've Had Enough!

2011-07-30T20:38:00.000-04:00

Across the country, women’s reproductive rights are being attacked. In some cases it’s shouting and harassment when a woman seeks treatment at a women’s health clinic for either an abortion or for other reproductive health services. In other instances, it’s legislative attacks that attempt to deny a woman access to all forms of reproductive health services, including screenings, contraception, and abortion services.
In some states and at the Federal level, this has taken the form of funding restrictions on Planned Parenthood. The federal effort fortunately failed in the US Senate. Some states, including Indiana, New Hampshire, and Texas, have unfortunately restricted this funding.

Other states, including Pennsylvania, have attacked women’s reproductive health by passing TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider) laws which require extensive renovations that may be physically impossible in existing facilities and which are different and more burdensome than for other medical facilities; they also often include unannounced inspections. SB 732 has passed the PA Senate and the House Health Committee. A full House vote is expected in September or early October. This bill, if and when it becomes law (the Governor has said he will sign it) will shut down the 22 free-standing abortion clinics throughout PA. This amendment requires all free-standing abortion clinics to meet the standards for the Ambulatory Surgical Centers in addition (and in some cases, in contradiction) to the Abortion Control Act, the Ambulatory Gynaecological Surgery Facility Regulations, and the MCARE Act which they already have to follow. Take a moment and go to the Pennsylvania NOW blog to compare what the current abortion clinic regulations are and what this TRAP law would do.

Other legislative attacks occurring across the country—e.g.,in Tennessee and Missouri as well as here in Pennsylvania—are attempting to pass “Stupak on Steroids” bills that will, starting in 2014, prohibit women who purchase health insurance through the new federal health insurance exchanges, from purchasing, WITH THEIR OWN MONEY, coverage for abortion services and, depending on how it is interpreted, possibly even the purchase of contraceptives. Specifically Senate Bill 3 will deny insurance plans participating in the insurance exchange from covering abortion services except in the cases where the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, or where the life of the woman is in danger. Note that this legislation is not necessary. The question of whether abortion will be covered in federally subsidized insurance exchanges has already been settled. In response to concerns raised by US Senator Ben Nelson, a staunch opponent of abortion, women who want to use their own money to purchase a health insurance plan that covers abortion services must send a separate payment so the funding for abortion coverage is completely separate and paid entirely by the individual.

And against the backdrop of this wave of anti-abortion legislative assaults previously mentioned, Operation Rescue/Operation Save America are targeting abortion clinics in Orlando, FL and Germanantown, MD, in an attempt to shut these clinics down via efforts to block clinic entrances and harassment of women attempting to receive treatment at abortion facilities in these two cities. In Orlando, Operation Rescue/Operation Save America attempted, but failed to shut down six clinics during the week of July 22. In Germantown, Operation Rescue has announced plans for a “Summer of Mercy 2.0″ targeting the brave and outspoken Dr. LeRoy Carhart in Germantown, MD, July 31-August 7. Operation Rescue is the same organization that hounded Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, KS, for years (until he was assassinated by one of their associates in May ’09). Their original “Summer of Mercy” in 1991 shut down access to the Dr. Tiller’s clinic for six weeks and resulted in 3,400 arrests, they are invoking this alarming history again in their “Summer of Mercy 2.0” event.

WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!

You can show your support for women seeking abortion services by helping out in Germantown this week. Between July 31 and August 7, activists will be needed from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. outside of Dr. Carhart’s clinic, located at 13233 Executive Park Drive in Germantown, Maryland. These shifts will kick off with the Summer Celebration of Choice Kick-Off Walk on Sunday, July 31 and continue through the evening of Sunday, August 7. To sign up for a shift, please go to www.summerofchoice.com or contact NOW Field Organizer Anita Lederer at fieldorg@now.org.

You can also speak out against the legislation winding its way through the Pennsylvania General Assembly by participating in Pennsylvanian’s for Choice “We’ve Had Enough” rally on September 27 in Harrisburg in the Capital Rotunda. Join us in telling the PA Legislature to STOP the attacks on women’s health in Pennsylvania! You can sign up at http://www.wevehadenoughpa.org/take-action.html to join in our effort to stop this legislation. Help us fight these dangerous bills and join us in declaring that…

WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!

Contraception is Prevention

2011-07-14T22:22:00.000-04:00

From Raising Women's Voices...

Contraception is Prevention: Make Sure Health Reform Treats It That Way

The new health care reform law is lowering the cost of preventive health services by eliminating co-pays and deductibles for these services in all new insurance plans. Amazingly, however, contraception is not yet included in the list of preventive services exempt from this kind of “cost sharing” – even though birth control is one of the preventive services that’s most critical for protecting women’s health.

This summer, U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will decide whether contraception should be added to the list of preventive services that are exempt from co-pays and deductibles under health reform. She will receive a recommendation from medical experts at the Institute of Medicine in July and is expected to issue a ruling in August.

Take Action Today:

Tell HHS to add contraception to the list of preventive services exempt from insurance company co-pays and deductibles so that comprehensive contraceptive care will be available at no additional cost.

Sign our petition at http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/contracpt-is-preventn-petition/

Mobilize your friends and neighbors to speak out on this issue!

Between now and when HHS announces its decision, you can help secure this women’s health victory by raising the visibility of this issue in your community. You can make sure that policy makers in Washington hear the message loud and clear– comprehensive contraceptive care should be exempt from cost-sharing, just like other medically proven preventive health care. Raise the topic at community meetings and educational forums on health reform and other places where women’s health is being discussed. Here are key points to make

Women strongly support removing co-pays for preventive health care services.
Contraception is essential preventive care for women, and better access to comprehensive contraceptive care leads to better health for women and their babies.

The Case for Having Contraception Exempt from Co-Pays and Deductibles

Eliminating cost barriers to contraception will prevent health problems for women and families. Cost-sharing requirements, like co-payments, make people, especially low-income people, less likely to get health services, including preventive care and prescription drugs.1

In 2009, 30 percent of sexually active low- and middle-income women reported having put off a gynecology or birth control visit to save money; one-quarter of those who used the contraceptive pill reported saving money by using the method inconsistently.2

In states that made it easier for low-income women to afford contraception by extending Medicaid family planning coverage to more people, there was a dramatic drop in the incidence of short birth intervals (a year or less between babies) for women in the program. Shorter times between a birth and a subsequent pregnancy make preterm birth and low birth weight more likely, which has serious negative consequences for the babies’ health.3, 4

There is broad public support for making contraception available at no additional cost. Public opinion research shows that 84 percent of adults nationwide believe family planning services, including contraception, are important to basic preventive health care services. This strong support crosses many demographic lines: 5, 6

· 77 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Independents and 93 percent of Democrats agree.

· 77 percent of Catholic women voters say insurance should cover the full cost of contraception

· Latinas and African American women ages 18-34 are almost unanimous in their support for this policy (89% and 92%, respectively).

Medical and public health experts agree with the public – contraception is prevention.

There is a strong public health consensus that contraception is an essential tool in preventing bad health outcomes for women and children. The CDC cites family planning as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century, noting that access to contraceptive services and supplies is responsible for expanding intervals between births, “contribut[ing] to the better health of infants, children and women.”7

“Contraception is an essential and basic preventive health service; it reduces the number of unintended pregnancies and thus the need for abortion.”8

Association of Reproductive Health Professionals

References

1 Swartz K, Cost-sharing: effects on spending and outcomes, Research Synthesis Report, Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2010, no. 20

2 Guttmacher Institute, A Real-Time Look at the Impact of the Recession on Women’s Family Planning and Pregnancy Decisions, 2009. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/RecessionFP.pdf

3 Conde-Aguedelo A, Rosas-Bermudez A and Kafury-Goeta AC, Birthspacing and risk of adverse perinatal outcomes: a meta-analysis, Journal of the American Medical Association, 2006, 295(15):1809-1823.

4 Zhu BP, Effect of interpregnancy interval on birth outcomes: findings from three recent US studies, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2005, 89(supplement 1):S25-S33.

5 Survey Findings on Public Support for Family Planning, Lake Research Partners, June 3, 2011

6 Fully Covering Rx Birth Control, June/July 2010, Hart Research for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Achievements in public health, 1900-1999: family planning, Morbidity and Mortality

Weekly Report, 1999, 48(47):1073-1080.

8 http://www.arhp.org/about-us/position-statements#11

VOUCHERS ARE MOVING IN THE SENATE – WE NEED YOUR CALLS AND EMAILS TODAY

2011-06-24T07:57:00.000-04:00

Please contact your own State Senator today urging them to vote NO on any school voucher bill and then contact as many of these critical Senators as time permits. The following Senators are especially critical as they may swing the vote:

Argal (717) 787-2637 dargall@pasen.gov
Greenleaf (717) 787-6599 sgreenleaf@pasen.gov
Gordner (717) 787-8928 jgordner@pasen.gov
Alloway (717) 787-4651 alloway@pasen.gov
Vogel (717) 787-3076 Evogel@pasen.gov
Ward (717) 787-6063 kward@pasen.gov
Yaw (717) 787-3280 gyaw@pasen.gov
Vance (717) 787-8524 vance@pasen.gov
Baker (717) 787-7428 lbaker@pasen.gov
Boscola (717) 787-4236 boscola@pasenate.com
Stack (717) 787-9608 stack@pasenate.com

If your Senator isn't listed above, you can find his/her contact information at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator.

House Education Committee to Hold Hearing on School Vouchers This Wednesday and Thursday

2011-06-21T20:37:00.000-04:00

I received an email this afternoon from Carol Karl, the Assistant Director of Government Affairs for PSEA. She had just been notified that the House Education Committee is holding hearing tomorrow, June 22 and Thursday, June 23 on "Charter School Law and School Choice.” By the latter, they mean tuition vouchers.

The first hearing starts 9:00 AM tomorrow, Wednesday, and will be held in Room G50, Irving Office Building, Harrisburg. The second hearing starts at 9:00 AM on Thursday and will be held in Room B31 Main Capitol, Harrisburg. The people testifying on Wednesday are primarily legislators and officials, with one charter school representative. The Committee is working on Thursday’s schedule, which is where our groups would fit in for testifying against school vouchers.

As many of the PA NOW leadership will either already be in Tampa, FL or on their way down there for the National NOW Conference, I sent an email out to the Republican leadership of the House and to the Republican members of the House Education Committee asking them to oppose any school voucher bill or amendment, including SB 1, which I've previously blogged about (see here and here and here). Here's that email.

You too can email, call, or fax these same legislators. To help you do this, the Keystone State Education Coalition has created a list of these legislators' contact information. Click here, find the your Representative and contact him/her. If your Representative isn't listed here, the contact the Republican House leaders to express your opposition to school vouchers. Representative Mike Turzai is the House Majority Leader and Representative Stan Saylor is House Floor Leader.

Dear Representatives Turzai, Saylor, Clymer, Tallman, Milne, Quiqley, Rapp, Cox, Emrick, Fleck, Gillen, Murt, O'Neill, Rock, Simmons, and Truitt
On behalf of the approximately 14,000 contributors and dues-paying members, I am writing you to ask you to vote no on SB 1, the proposed School Vouchers bill when it comes up in the Education committee for review. Here is why.
Two thirds of the public oppose school voucher that give tax-payer money to private and parochial schools. This bill removes funds for public education from struggling school districts by creating a voucher program to send taxpayer monies to private and parochial schools with little or no oversight as to the education provided in these schools.

Pennsylvania NOW opposes school vouchers for several reasons.
School vouchers are clearly unconstitutional under the Pennsylvania Constitution. Article III, Sections 15, 29, and 30 clearly prohibit state funding of non-public schools:
Article III, Section 15 states, "Public school money not available to sectarian schools. No money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school."
Article III, Section 29 states, "Appropriations for public assistance. No appropriation shall be made for charitable, educational or benevolent purposes to any person or community nor to any denominational and sectarian institution, corporation or association…" The only exception to this constitutional prohibition is for state grants and scholarships for higher education.
Article III, Section 30 states, "Charitable and educational appropriations. No appropriation shall be made to any charitable or educational institution not under the absolute control of the Commonwealth [emphasis added], other than normal schools established by law for the professional training of teachers for the public schools of the State, except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House."
Schools accepting the vouchers can discriminate in whom they accept, which could possibly violate the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act. SB 1 specifies that nonpublic schools may not discriminate in its enrollment decisions based on race. All other forms of educational discrimination would be allowed as this bill provides wide flexibility to these schools regarding other admissions policies. Therefore, a non-public school could receive monies from the state while being able to deny admissions based on gender, religion or ability. Boys, but not girls could be accepted. Christian, but not students from a Jewish or Muslim home, could be accepted. In addition, children who do not have a disability or who are "gifted" would be admitted but children who have a physical, emotional, or cognitive disability could be denied admission under SB 1. Note, it is the private schools – not the parent or the public school – who determines who is admitted. Thus, a private school can select whomever they want and still take public funding. Likewise, these schools can kick out any student they want to at any time without any protective recourse as is present in the public school system.
Voucher programs provide little to no accountability to Pennsylvania taxpayers. Private schools do not have to follow the Department of Education's academic guidelines and students are not required to take any of the state-mandated school assessment tests. As such, there is no way for parents to determine if their children would be receiving a similar quality of education.
Vouchers do not improve academic achievement. The schools that are targeted in SB 1 are the "under-achieving" schools in the state. The vast majority (n=125) of the 144 school districts listed by Senator Piccola are urban school districts with high levels of poverty. Research has shown that out-of-school factors such as food insecurity; lack of access to health care and insurance; family relations and family stress; and the community environment all affect academic achievement. Students who are hungry have problems concentrating in school. Students in stressful family situations and/or who are victims of or witness abuse often develop social and emotional problems that manifest themselves in low academic achievement. School vouchers do nothing to ensure that these out-of-school factors will change or improve. Without changes to the environment surrounding people living in poverty, the negative impacts of poverty will simply follow the student and continue to undermine his or her achievement potential. School vouchers do not change this one iota. This failure of education provided through a voucher program can be seen in Milwaukee, WI. The Milwaukee schools have been using school vouchers for 20 years and have spent $1 billion spent on these vouchers. Last year, for the first time, voucher students were finally required to take the same state assessment as the public school students. The results for voucher students were dismal, especially in math at all grade levels.
Children who remain in the public schools have less funding available for their education. In a tight economic environment and with a mandate to expand funding for vouchers from a minimum of $53.4 million in the first year to over $1.3 billion in the third year and thereafter, public school funding will be even further threatened. Where is this money going to come from? New taxes? This number assumes that ten percent of eligible students will use the vouchers. By pulling state funds away from the public school system and still requiring those schools to continue paying for the "in-kind" services of transportation and books, the struggling school districts will have even larger financial holes that they will need to dig out of. Robbing Peter to pay Paul – or in this case robbing public schools to pay for private, parochial education – will contribute to more, not less, problems in these school districts. Moreover, it will threaten the very existence of the right to full education for all as these schools continue to fall further and further behind.
We therefore strongly encourage you to oppose and vote NO on any school voucher bill or amendment that comes up before the Education Committee or that comes to the floor of the House.
Please respond and let us know how you will handle this issue.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Joanne L. Tosti-Vasey, Ph.D.
President
Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.
P.O. Box 68
Bellefonte, PA 16823-0068

Please take a moment and contact the House Education Committee. Add your voice to the people testifying on Thursday by calling, emailing, and or faxing the House Committee members and telling them to vote no on ALL School Voucher proposals, including SB 1.

Thank you.

Petition Opposing SB 732: Please Read and Sign

2011-06-09T22:23:00.000-04:00

Tell the PA General Assembly & Corbett to vote NO on SB 732.This bill will shut down the free-standing abortion clinics in PA. The final vote in the Senate is expected as soon as Monday June 13.

Here's what the petition says:

To: Governor Corbett and the Legislative Assembly of Pennsylvania

We are writing to ask you to vote NO on Senate Bill 732, a bill that requires freestanding abortion clinics that do abortion procedures over 9 weeks gestation to comply with ambulatory surgical facility regulations (“ASF regulations”). Over 10,000 women had abortions over 9 weeks in Pennsylvania in 2009, and this bill would reduce access to services for thousands of women in Pennsylvania each year, and especially impact the poor and under-served.

ASF regulations require building changes that would force all of Pennsylvania’s freestanding facilities to move and rebuild in order to continue providing abortion care to women over 9 weeks. This could cost freestanding clinics millions of dollars and could take years to comply. None of these building changes would improve the health and safety of women receiving the services – instead, it will force safe providers to discontinue offering the service, or force them to close altogether as clinics may not be able to sustain themselves by limiting their services.

95% of abortions in Pennsylvania are performed in freestanding clinics. Abortion care in hospitals costs thousands of dollars – over 10 times the cost in clinics. Women will not be able to afford abortion care in Pennsylvania if these regulations take effect.

Pennsylvania’s focus should be on enforcing existing regulations, not forcing safe abortion providers to make building changes that will put them out of business, forcing women to seek cheaper services from illegal providers, providers who are out of state where Pennsylvania cannot regulate, or worse, lead women to feel they have no choice but to attempt to self-abort. SB 732 will harm women more than it will help!

The anti-abortion movement has made it very clear that one item on their legislative agenda is to push legislation that requires abortion clinics to abide by more restrictive facility regulations in states across the nation. This movement does not care about the health of women, they only care about making abortion illegal.

Please side with public opinion, not the vocal anti-abortion minority, and vote NO on Senate Bill 732!

You must be a resident of Pennsylvania in order to sign this petition. Please do so now at http://www.petitiononline.com/69117322/petition.html. And then spread the word.

Thank you.