UPDATE: The bill has passed the Senate. It's now in the House with a vote likely the week of 3/13. Sen. Michele Brooks is jumping on Trump’s “Women Must be Punished” bandwagon. This ban is part of the plan by anti-choice zealots to punish women and criminalize doctors who perform abortions. Here is what you need to know about 20-week bans: 20-Week Bans Are Part of an Agenda to Ban All Abortion: The introduction of these bans doesn’t come in isolation. They’re part of a dangerous, out-of-touch, and coordinated effort to chip away at abortion access. Anti-abortion politicians in the General Assembly are pushing their agenda, bit by bit, to ultimately outlaw abortion completely. 20-Week Bans Criminalize Doctors: Politicians shouldn’t have the right to take options away from doctors in dangerous medical situations or prevent them from informing patients about all their health care options — and politicians certainly shouldn’t be allowed to force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term with no chance of survival. 20-Week Bans Are Unpopular: These bills — and the extreme agenda they are part of — are deeply unpopular with the public. When Americans understand the real-world impact of 20-week bans, a solid 60 percent of voters oppose them. In fact, 78 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of Republicans, and 71 percent of Independents — say this is the wrong issue for legislators to be spending time on. 20-Week Bans Are Unconstitutional: 20-week bans are unconstitutional and a clear attempt to erode Roe v. Wade at the expense of women’s health. In fact, 20-week ban proponents are outspoken about their goal to challenge the 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion.

Can you imagine barging into the clergy study to muzzle a minister offering spiritual guidance to someone in their critical moment of decision? But some Kentucky lawmakers are preparing to do just that with HB 149. HB 149 would prevent public funds from being “used, granted, paid, or distributed to any entity, organization, or individual that provides abortion services or that is an affiliate of an entity, organization, or individual that provides abortion services.” In other words, if an organization were to provide “abortion services,” that organization would forfeit any right to local or state funds. The problem with this bill is that it would make possible the designation of clergy who provide referrals or information about abortion services, or who promote or encourage abortion, as abortion providers. The designation of abortion provider could jeopardize public funding sources, and leaves open the possibility of further legislation that could jeopardize a faith community’s non-profit status. Prohibiting certain kinds of speech by clergy, regardless of how one thinks about the issue of abortion, is profoundly troubling for at least one relatively obvious reason: Allowing the government to interpose itself in the pastor/parishioner relationship is a dangerous precedent to set, not only because it abridges free speech and the free exercise of religion, but also because it raises the obvious question: What pastoral speech gets outlawed next? This issue is one that all Kentuckians of faith ought to be able to agree on: The government has no place telling clergy what they can and cannot say in the context of their pastoral counseling relationships. To argue otherwise is to abandon the call of clergy to be both prophetic and pastoral, not to mention to abandon some fundamental American values around what it means to live in a democracy.

Catcalling threatens women and girls everywhere, the act of catcalling even by using one derogatory word can be extremely intimidating and is minimized in its legitimacy. Starting from even pre adolescent years, girls are catcalled and harassed publicly which is both scary, and an unacceptable treatment of women.

My son Casey was born 2 months and 2 days early, I had no idea how my life would change forever. Each year, 1 in 10 babies in the United States is born prematurely and some babies have longer stays in the neonatal care depending on their condition. With him being born to soon and having a rare condition, the reality of life in the neonatal care is very different from what a mother would expect after giving birth to her child. The first month that my son had been born, he was in critical condition; he had lines, monitors, life support machines that assisted him to live. Parents with premature babies have to wait days and weeks to hold their newborn child due to the risks of the baby being unstable. Instead of bringing your baby home with you, you leave home with your baby continuing their stay in the hospital and going to visit every day. The cost of medical care for a premature baby for the first year of life is about $49,000.00 . This does not include any of the long term health implications for the mother, risks such as developing postnatal depression and post- traumatic stress disorders. I was forced to go back to work after my unpaid maternity leave because of my household financial stability; as a typical family household requires both parents to work to be financially stable. However, as a mother I need the time to bond with my tiny baby at the hospital, recover from the traumatic journey, and time with my baby once he is discharged and allowed to come home. Extending the standard maternity leave and pay would give mothers the emotional and financial support needed at a time of great stress and trauma. In allowing this it gives the mothers of premature babies the opportunity to spend more time with their premature babies in the hospital to allow them be part of the babies care and allow for Kangaroo Care which helps with boosting the babies mental development, promoting health weight, helps with the mothers milk supply which is critical for a premature baby, helps reduce baby stress and pain, helps for the baby to have a shorter hospital stay, and prevents postpartum depression on the mother. This overall it will lead to a more positive return to work for the mother and better outcomes for the babies development. We call on President Donald Trump, Government colleagues, Governor Jerry Brown to recognize the significant and unique needs of families with children born prematurely and to extend statutory leave accordingly.

Pledge to protect immigrant families! The Women’s March is a beautiful reminder of the power we wield when we come together. And it is just the beginning of a growing national opposition to President Trump’s politics of hate. President Trump has already taken action on his anti-immigrant platform. With recent executive orders, he laid out plans to build a border wall, punish local governments that stand with immigrants, and increase detentions and deportations of families and children. He has threatened to target Muslim communities and dismantle life-saving refugee programs. He has promised to end important programs like DACA — which allows nearly 1 million DREAMers to live, work, and go to school in the United States. It’s up to us to transform the momentum of resistance into a movement with the power to fight these dangerous policies. Together we can protect our families, our communities, and our democracy. Eleven year old Leah joined hundreds of immigrant leaders at the Women’s March in Washington, DC. Leah’s mother is undocumented, so she traveled from Miami, Florida “to tell the new president that girls are STRONG and that we will defend our immigrant mothers and community from hate. WE ARE HERE TO STAY!” “As a kid I live with the fear of being separated from my mother everyday. It’s not fair. It breaks my heart. However, as part of the We Belong Together campaign I know my family is not alone. We are a community of women and kids who love each other.” In February, Leah will be returning to DC with a delegation of children from Florida to deliver the Pledge and show that immigrant families like hers are here to stay. Join Leah and sign the Women's Pledge of Unity today!

Eviter que ces actes portant atteinte à l'intégrité de la personne humaine restent impunis

The Supreme Court and the people of the United States have chosen to protect a woman's right to make reproductive choices about her own body, including obtaining safe and affordable abortion. It may not be an optimal choice, but it is her choice, and only hers to make. H.R.7 - No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017 deliberately prohibits a woman's ability to exercise her right safely and affdordably. This is a politically motivated bill which intentionally undermines safe access to abortion and health care by poor and middle class women, and is a clear example of gender discrimination. Women's rights are human rights and this bill violates both, and should not be passed.

This bill is directly aimed at taking away a woman's right to choose and dismantling Roe V. Wade. This has already been decided so many times. It is also religious propaganda NOT based in fact. They cannot change science to make rules up, especially when it comes to a personal right already decided by the highest court. We must stop the bill before it even gets to The House and wastes time. UPDATE: THERE ARE NOW 28 CO-SPONSORS OF THIS BILL. NONE OF THEM ARE WOMEN I MIGHT ADD. We must stop this NOW!

The Rally for Reproductive Justice is organized by the Arkansas Coalition for Reproductive Justice. We are a grassroots coalition of individuals and organizations who stand together to demand reproductive justice for all Arkansans.

The debate surrounding women's healthcare, specifically related to reproductive rights, continues to focus on moral and ethical dilemmas unrelated to actual health outcomes. To this end, the current efforts to repeal ACA, and the contraceptive coverage mandate espoused within, without a clear plan to replace with equivalent coverage serves to leave women with a substantial increase in their annual health costs. Contraceptive coverage should be routine. The research supporting routine contraceptive coverage is clear and overwhelming (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/17/509734620/u-s-abortion-rate-falls-to-lowest-level-since-roe-v-wade). For advocates of abortion restrictions, to simply ignore this evidence is foolish, despite being in contrast to their views. In 2017, it is time to fully endorse this routine coverage for women without the potential to revoke in the future. If congress cannot see to this, we propose a full ban on coverage of agents for erectile dysfunction (Viagra, Levitra, Cialis, etc). Surely, if contraception is in conflict with religious beliefs, then so too are artificial erections induced by modern day pharmaceutical agents. If women have to pay for their birth control, men have to pay for their medicated erections. To our congress: be consistent in your ideology and demand coverage of all routine women's contraceptive care, or revoke coverage for erectile dysfunction drugs. You pick!

I live on the lands of the Ohlone People and believe they deserve Federal and State "Recognition" .

Rep. Nisly’s so-called “Protection at Conception” bill would ban and criminalize abortion in Indiana. This legislation is stridently unconstitutional and directly in opposition to the viability criteria established in Roe v. Wade. If enacted, Rep. Nisly’s legislation would create an impossible choice for many pregnant Hoosiers: violate their conscience or violate the law. In effect, this legislation would force pregnant Hoosiers to give birth - even if doing so jeopardizes their health or life. Simply put, Rep. Nisly wants to lead a crusade against a safe, legal medical procedure at the cost of criminalizing doctors who provide needed health care and patients who seek trusted medical counsel. Let’s be clear: Hoosiers do not lose their constitutionally-protected rights because politicians don’t like them. This is an extreme agenda and it will not fly in our state. Speaker Bosma, this legislation, if signed into law, will almost certainly be challenged in court and overturned. We urge you to use your leadership to stop this bill before it is officially filed and keep Hoosiers' rights protected.