White House to Stop Sneaking in Judicial Nominees

Subject: You spoke up - and we listened!
Date: 5/20/2004
From: can [at] ProChoiceAmerica.org

Big news! After tremendous outcry from outraged activists (that's
you!), the White House reached an agreement with Senate Democrats
yesterday and vowed to stop installing judicial nominees during
Congressional recesses. On two separate breaks in Senate sessions,
President Bush appointed controversial judges whose extreme anti-
choice views prevented them from earning Senate confirmation.
Congratulations on helping make sure this doesn't happen again, and
stay tuned for more info on our campaign to stop one more extreme
anti-choice activist judge whose nomination will be up for a vote
over the next few weeks...


Prescription for President Bush!
When we got the news that the Bush Administration's FDA rejected a
proposal to make Plan B®, an emergency contraceptive, available over-
the-counter -- effectively blocking a chance to reduce the number of
unintended pregnancies and abortions -- we decided that President
Bush could use a dose of reality. Our prescription for him? "American
women support family planning. If you were really serious about
reducing abortion, President Bush, you'd support the full range of
contraceptive options and responsible sex education."

We asked YOU to write a prescription for President Bush about
policies he should promote to reduce unintended pregnancy. We've
heard from so many activists and received hundreds of thoughtful,
funny, and creative prescriptions! Here's just a few of our favorites:

From Betty in TX: I am over 70 years old and up until now had really
thought that the FDA was on the side of truth and science. No more.
You have managed to corrupt it, too. For shame!

A simple prescription from an actual doctor, Irene in NY: Over-the-
counter emergency contraception.

From Karin in WI: 1. Full access to family planning facilities. 2.
Sex education in our schools. 3. Availability of emergency
contraceptives. 4. Keep the government away from my body! 5.
Insurance companies should cover oral contraceptives.


Send YOUR prescription to the president today, too -- just click here!
http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/images/prescription.gif

Get out the map!
Last month we unveiled a great feature for sharing stories and photos
from the March for Women's Lives – check out our March Map here! Not
only can you see where pro-choice marchers came from across the
country, you can also enjoy the pictures they took and their
inspirational thoughts about this historical event. Click all around
the map to get a more personal look at the largest women's rights
demonstration this country has ever seen.
http://march.prochoiceamerica.org/base.html

Got stories and photos of your own? Share them with all of pro-choice
America! Visit the map, then click on your state to upload your
story, your photos or both.


PRO-CHOICE AMERICA TO BUSH: LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!
Given that Barbara Bush is pro-choice, we thought Mother's Day would
be the perfect opportunity for pro-choice Americans to tell President
Bush to listen to his mother. Over 10,000 of you sent Mother's Day
messages to the President! Here's what a few of you had to say:

On April 25th over 1.15 million people flew to your doorstep to march
for reproductive rights and freedoms. Restricting a woman's right to
choose puts women's lives in danger. Comprehensive sex education IN
ALL SCHOOLS AND GRADE LEVELS is the BEST AND ONLY way to tell people
about their options so that they can be SAFE and RESPONSIBLE. This is
the only way to PREVENT ABORTIONS, if that is your true goal. Please
listen to the voices of the people who rallied in DC. Please listen
to doctors and the women of this nation (and world). Do not put
women's lives in danger. Give them the tools they need to be
responsible.

~ Sabrina
As a mother, I'm concerned about the choices my daughter will have to
make in her life. This is one choice I would like left open to her,
and not you or anyone else in your administration. Please allow the
choice to be left to those who are involved medically and personally.

~ Kay
I was among the 1.15 million women, men, and children from all walks
of life who marched for women's lives in Washington, DC on April 25,
2004. Believe me when I tell you that pro-choice Americans are the
majority of Americans, including your mother. I have great respect
for your mother for voicing her opinions about choice. You should
listen to your mother!! The government has no business in the medical
decisions of women (I thought Republicans were all about less
involvement of government in the lives of the people?!).

Please stop your attack on women's rights.
~ Dr. M

...And one to US, from Jaylyn:
Thank you for making me aware of this on Mother's Day. As a mom and a
pro-choice voter, I appreciate the opportunity to be heard. What a
wonderful Mother's Day gift it would be if my daughter were to know
her rights and her body were safe from men like Bush.


THE GOOD: Wisconsin rises above recent FDA ruling... Though the FDA
recently failed to make emergency contraception available over-the-
counter, a Wisconsin health group moved forward with a plan to get
emergency contraception into the hands of women who need it. The
Wisconsin Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
recently established a toll-free hotline, which is run by the second
largest family health organization in the state. Callers are directed
to the nearest family planning clinic, can get a prescription by
phone, or are mailed the pills overnight. Bravo to Wisconsin for
giving women an option to prevent unintended pregnancy! Read more
here.

THE BAD: New Hampshire governor keeps birth control out of women's
hands... In another blow to access to emergency contraception, it's
been reported that the governor of New Hampshire will likely veto a
bill that would allow pharmacists to dispense EC directly to women
without a prescription. The state legislature passed this bill
because EC is most effective when taken as soon after unprotected
intercourse as possible. If passed, specially trained pharmacists
could give EC directly to women without a prescription. We applaud
NARAL Pro-Choice New Hampshire for their work on this bill. Get more
info.

THE UGLY: Florida legislature blocks privacy for young women... In an
11th-hour maneuver to require young women to notify their parents
before they may obtain abortion services, anti-choice politicians
passed a measure to amend the state Constitution to limit young
women's right to privacy. Voters will now decide in November whether
to support the constitutional amendment and allow the parental
notification law to go into effect. The constitutional amendment is
in response to a 2003 Florida Supreme Court decision that struck down
the state's parental notification law because it violated young
women's right to privacy. Click here to read more.
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/01/State/Abortion_bill_for_min.shtml

More news headlines here...>>
http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/about/newsroom/headlines.cfm

May 2004

A message from Elizabeth Cavendish

Dear Ann:

With pro-choice spirits still high from the March for Women's Lives,
we've heard from many of you in the last month. All the energy and
commitment sparked by the March is translating into serious activism.
So we wanted to share some of the amazing personal responses we've
received around our most recent campaigns.

Starting with your feedback to the FDA's outrageous decision not to
make Plan B® back-up birth control available over-the-counter, to our
Mother's Day campaign, to the photos and stories you've shared from
the March – you and other pro-choice Americans are showing that we
will do whatever it takes to keep the government out of our private
reproductive health decisions.

Thank you for all your comments and for taking action to protect our
rights. We can't win without your help.

~ Elizabeth Cavendish
Interim President,
NARAL Pro-Choice America

PS -- We're curious. What blogs are your favorites? Click here to let
us know.

NARAL Pro-Choice America's mission is to develop and sustain a
citizenry that uses the political process to guarantee every woman
the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of
reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy,
bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion.
Learn more...


HERO OF THE MONTH
SENS. MURRAY AND BOXER, REP. DAVIS:
For years, servicewomen and female military dependents have been
banned from accessing abortion services in all circumstances – even
when using their own private funds - at military hospitals overseas.
They don't even have the same right Medicaid recipients do to public
support in cases of rape or incest.

This month, Senators Patty Murray and Barbara Boxer and
Representative Susan Davis plan to offer amendments that would end
these restrictive policies. Their courage could ensure that our
servicewomen get the options and respect they deserve. Urge Congress
to support these amendments -- just click here!

ZERO OF THE MONTH
Bush Administration's FDA: Bush has played politics with women's
reproductive health throughout his presidency, but he crossed a line
when he sacrificed an effective and underutilized birth control
option to the agenda of conservative extremists.

If President Bush is serious about reducing unintended pregnancy and
the need for abortion, he should make better access to contraception
a priority. For its role in blocking the application to make Plan B®
available over-the-counter, the Bush Administration's FDA earns the
distinction of Zero of the Month.


© 2004 NARAL Pro-Choice America. NARAL Pro-Choice America is a non-
profit organization.