ProgressWomen

courtesy of ppmissouri.org

UPDATE: The Missouri House Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities will hold a hearing on HB 87 today at 12 noon in Hearing Room 1 at the state Capitol. Late last night, SB 20 was perfected and ordered to be printed by the Senate.

by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Missouri Monday Monitor, January 28, 2013

This week public hearings in the House and the Senate took place to reinstate tax credits.  Both bills, SB 20 and HB 87, would allow for pregnancy resource centers to continue benefiting from tax credits.

At the hearing for HB 87, Pamela Sumners, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri, testified for informational purposes.  Sumners presented information from an investigation into pregnancy resource centers.  The investigation found pregnancy resources centers in Missouri often provide false information and do not offer comprehensive information and options regarding contraception. NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri findings included:

• 92% of centers refused to tell the woman where she could obtain birth control
• 92% of testers were not given the opportunity to speak to medical staff
• 70% advocated abstinence-only until marriage
• 54% of centers stated or implied that condoms are far less effective in preventing STIs, HIV/AIDS and pregnancy  than they actually are (with one suggesting that condom use actually increased the risk of HIV infection)
•  77% of these centers do not employ medical doctors or nurses
• 38% told women or implied in their written material that abortion increased the risk of infertility
• 62% employed nominal financial incentives, from free pregnancy tests to a “baby boutique” where pregnant women could shop for items for their babies
• 28% told women or implied in their written material that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer
• 69% of centers engaged in religious proselytism

The investigation took place from 2010-2012. Ten of the 21 facilities investigated were recognized by the state of Missouri as eligible for tax credits. CLICK HERE to read more.

UPDATE:  VAWA MOVING AT LIGHTENING SPEED!  WE APPLAUD!!!

by Jennifer Bendary, Huffington Post – WASHINGTON — The Senate will vote early next week to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, senior Democratic aides told The Huffington Post on Monday, January 28, 2013.

Courtesy of choiceusablog.org

The Senate has been moving with lightning speed to get VAWA up and out the door. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced their bill last Tuesday and, a day later, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that he was expediting it to the floor and bypassing the committee process.Leahy’s bill is similar to what he introduced in the last Congress: it reauthorizes VAWA and adds new protections for members of the LGBT community and Native Americans. The biggest change from last year’s version is it nixes a provision to increase the number of visas for immigrant victims of violence. Leahy took that provision out to keep House Republican leaders from accusing him of having a “blue slip” problem; instead, he plans to attach it to immigration reform legislation.  READ MORE HERE.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has been reintroduced in Congress after House Republicans blocked its renewal at the end of 2012.

The new bill (S. 47), sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont,  includes the protections for Native American and LGBT women that were contentious in the House, but not the U-visa measure that increases the number of visas available to victims of domestic abuse and ultimately caused last year’s legislation to fail. Also included is the SAFER Act, which was also passed by the Senate in 2012, a provision that provides resources to test backlogged rape kits and create a nation-wide DNA database of the evidence they contain. 

courtesy of policymic.org

Passed with a Senate supermajority last year, S. 47 has bypassed committee hearings and is now eligible for floor debate in the Senate. An almost identical piece of legislation, H.R. 11, has been introduced by members of the House Judiciary Committee, although it is not expected to move as quickly.Violence Against Women Act Reintroduced by Lana Schupbach of MSNBC 01/23/2013:

Among its first order of business, the newly sworn in 113th Congress is trying yet again to expand protections for women across the country. Who knew it would prove so difficult?

On Tuesday, Sen. Mike Crapo, R—Idaho, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D—Vermont, reintroduced the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

VAWA, which aims to protect victims of rape and domestic abuse, was allowed to expire late last year by the 112th Congress after the Senate reauthorized the measure with bipartisan support, but the GOP-led House refused to sign off on it.

CLICK HERE to read more…

Courtesy of Google Images

There is SO much to a campaign: raising money, making  calls, relating to constituents, endorsements, going to events and even kissing babies.

Long story short, campaigns are difficult and require a lot of commitment. But, recently, The Barbara Lee Foundation did a little bit of research of what makes a “winning” candidate. But, not ONLY a “winning” candidate, but  a “winning” women candidate!

 Pitch Perfect: Winning Strategies for Women Candidates research:

 Voters continue to have high standards for what they consider a “qualified” woman candidate.
 Confidence is critical. Women candidates for major statewide office must come across as confident, qualified, and competent in their initial presentation.
 Women candidates especially need to tout their experience and track record, including taking on political insiders.
 Voters want assurance that women can get the job done in the largely male game of politics.
 For women candidates, there is a correlation between being qualified and being likeable. That is not the case for men.
 Because qualifications and likeability are so closely linked, there are dual negative consequences for women when they make mistakes on the campaign trail.

Read more here to learn about The Barbara Lee Foundation’s Research…

by Adelle M. Banks, Washington Post

Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, will be the first laywoman to give an invocation at a presidential inauguration when she prays at President Obama’s swearing-in on Monday.Evers-Williams, 79, an author, activist and former NAACP chairman, is a scholar at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.

She talked with Religion News Service about the confluence of the second-term inauguration of the nation’s first African American president, the 50th anniversary of her husband’s death in June 1963, and the swearing-in on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Courtesy of www.bgsu.edu

Q: What was your reaction when you were chosen to give the invocation at President Obama’s second inauguration?

A: First of all, it’s a major honor to do that. Secondly, it had been years ago at the March on Washington when I was scheduled to be a speaker there and unfortunately I could not get there. That was one thing that has haunted me over the years. Fifty years later, I receive an invitation to deliver the invocation.

Q: How do you feel about this occurring on the 50th anniversary of the murder of your husband, who was very active in civil rights work?

A: The focus has been on Dr. King, and there certainly is nothing wrong with that at all. But I have always wanted to see Medgar be recognized for what he did. Medgar’s remains are in Arlington Cemetery, only [a few] miles away from the spot where the inauguration will take place. It’s kind of a miracle for me that all of this is happening at this particular time.

READ MORE HERE…

SPECIAL EDITORIAL COMMENT:

Since women make up 51% of the United States population, you would think there would be more women involved in the political process to represent the large amounts of women in this country, right? WRONG.

Courtesy of Google Images

Although us women are making some sort of progress (at least in Congress, anyways) by having women make up 19% of Congress, we haven’t made FULL progress. Plus, President Obama’s new picks for his cabinet and advisers is not making headway among women.

Obama’s first cabinet and advisers in his first term was made up of minority races, women and people belonging to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. Not only that, but a bleak number of just SEVEN women in his cabinet out of twenty positions. Let’s repeat that number if it didn’t sink in: SEVEN. Obama’s second cabinet and advisers in his second term is looking.. well, not so much the same.

No, calling me a sexist won’t do anything good. Plus, I wouldn’t come to quick conclusions. I’m not saying that women are better than men. My point is that having too many white, older gentleman doesn’t exactly represent the whole entire United States population as a whole. Besides, do we remember how having white, older gentlemen represent women and our opinions works? Ongoing War on Women, anyone? Sounds familiar? We DO need more women in politics and especially in Obama’s cabinet. It’s important that us women are to be represented and fairly, at that. You certainly do have a voice, ladies - be sure to use it.

Read more:  Andrea Mitchell On Obama Cabinet: Women In The White House ‘Are Not Happy’