courtesy of 3Dchristianity.wordpress.com

Sigh. After a heated discussion between Republicans and Democrats (I would know, I was watching in awe this afternoon at the words shared between Congressmembers on C-SPAN), HR 1797 passed the House 228-196. HR 1797, also known as  The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, proposes the idea of banning 20-week abortions based on medically disputed theory that fetuses can feel pain after 20 weeks.

According to the Huffington Post, the piece of legislation contains exceptions for women whose lives are in danger as well as some rape and incest victims who can prove that they reported their assaults to criminal authorities, but it contains no exceptions for severe fetal anomalies or situations in which the woman’s health is threatened by her pregnancy.

Although HR 1797 unconstitutional, conservative are still pushing the bill to make sure it is introduced and passed on to the Senate.

Read more at Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/20-week-abortion-ban_n_3462180.html

“I’m just not that interested in politics.” “Politics? Oh, that’s boring. It’s filled with old guys.” “Why would you be interested in something like politics? All they do is sit around and talk about… stuff.”

When I’m asked what my interests are and what I want my future occupation to be, I get these kind of responses. Sadly, these painful responses are often from young women my age.

As I have realized, not every young woman is cut out to hold a political office or a leadership position. What frustrates me is that the young women who have wonderful leadership skills and interests, many would rather not get involved in changing the world.

My generation is diverse, creative, intelligent, and clever. Because of society’s pressure on young women, our talents aren’t recognized,which results in diminishing our true potential.

It’s important that we understand we can live up to society’s expectations. I’m here today to talk to you all about my generation and how the country will benefit from our participation.

There are 3 things we need to focus on:

1.  Young women’s lack of motivation
2.  Why it’s important we get involved
3.  What happens when we get involved

Number one: Young women and our lack of motivation. What are a few words you think of when you when you hear the words, “teenage girls”? Drama, boyfriends and texting. That’s stereotypical, isn’t it?

I’d like to move away from the stereotypes for a moment and picture a world where you hear “teenager girls”, you think of ambitious, motivated, and outspoken.

Of course, falling in love & texting are great and although we would love to get rid of drama, we should focus on young women’s true potential.

Promoting intelligence is key. We are intelligent, but that’s not what we think the world cares about. Girl, it’s all about the hips, legs and thighs… and it shouldn’t be! It should be about our I.Q., words and actions.

I believe focusing on merely looks rather than one’s mind leads young women to be unmotivated, as if their body and what you see here* is more important than what’s up here* and what we have to say and think. While looking your best gives you confidence and how great that is, speaking your mind and having your voice heard by others is vital. Politics isn’t a beauty contest. We all need to put away thestereotypes of young women and looking forward to what we NEED to see in young women. If we’re encouraged for what really matters, that’s exactly how we can be motivated to get involved in the political process.

Number two: Why it’s important for young women to get involved. When is the last time you’ve heard of a young woman my age impacting the country politically? Exactly. Although my generation is intelligent, many of my peers lack the encouragement to make educated opinions on political issues. Programs and conventions exist throughout the country which inspire young women to get involved in the political process. Current issues affect all of us, including education, equality in the workforce and healthcare. But, when we silence our voice on issues which tremendously affect us, it harms us all. Wonderful women’s groups including EMILY’s List, Emerge America, and Women’s Campaign Fund encourage women, specifically young Democratic women, to get active in politics to change the world. Soon enough, there will be no Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton or Gloria Steinem to lead us on. That’s scary to think about. Who will take on their torch? Ladies, we all better be looking in that mirror. As I already mentioned, not every woman is ready for elected office or a leadership position, but those who are, as Senator Gillibrand and Sheryl Sandberg would say: get off the sidelines and lean in.

Your voice is needed.  Actually ALL of our voices are needed.  You need to look out for us young women, because we’re about to shake up the world.

My last point: So, what exactly happens when young women get involved in the political process? Oh, many lovely things. Picture it: future Hillary Clinton’s, Nancy Pelosi’s, and Kristen Gillibrand’s. We’ll inspire future little girls, just like how Congresswoman Pelosi and Secretary of State Clinton inspire us. Issues that tremendously affect women will continue to be addressed and the debate will be more diverse. We can forget the days of an all-male panel testifying on birth control at Congressional hearings. We can leave behind the days of state legislatures and Congress being made up of only 20% women on average. We can move on from Sunday morning political shows with predominately male guests. By getting involved, we give ourselves and my generation a voice for true equality.

Ladies, the time for silence is over. I don’t want to be – and I can’t be – the only fifteen year old out on the campaign trail helping qualified candidates, who truly care about women, get elected. It shouldn’t be unusual that a teenager on Facebook is posting online about revamping the feminist movement. I can’t be among the few young women who aspires to serve in Congress and impact the country in big ways someday. It’s time. Get off the sidelines, lean in and make a difference.

This country needs you.  I need you.  We need each other.

Courtesy to Huffington Post

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) made the ridiculous comment of saying that  pregnancy rates for rape victims are “very low”.  Franks wants to ban abortion after 20 weeks, and his bill The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act has no exceptions, including rape or incest. He defended his belief that only women facing death should get an abortion after 20 weeks in front of the House Judiciary Committee by  saying:

“Before, when my friends on the left side of the aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject — because, you know, the incidence  of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low. But when you make that  exception, there’s usually a requirement to report the rape within 48  hours. And in this case that’s impossible because this is in the sixth month of gestation. And that’s what completely negates and vitiates the purpose for such an amendment.”

REALLY?

Then again, the National Journal has ranked Franks among the “most conservative” members of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2009. Surprising.

Read more at Jezebel: http://jezebel.com/deja-vu-gop-rep-says-pregnancy-rates-for-rape-victims-512892704

Read “Who is Trent Franks?” at the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/06/12/who-is-trent-franks/

Courtesy to Twitter

Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for a documentary that is aimed at young women leaders and wants to inspire us to get involved in the political process? I’ve been waiting for years, and a documentary finally exists! The documentary is called, “Raising Ms President” and explores why young girls and women don’t “put themselves out there” — and how we can change that.  As women only hold 18.1% of the 535 seats in Congress and as the country has never had a woman President, the documentary is raising awareness about the problem we have of not having a lot of women, particularly young women, active in politics.

Read more about “Raising Ms. President” on Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/03/raising-ms-president-documentary-next-generation-political-leaders_n_3379356.html

Visit their website for more information:  http://www.politicsofwomen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raisingmspresident
Twitter: https://twitter.com/raisingmspres

Use the hashtag #raisingmspres while discussing the documentary on Twitter!

Courtesy to The Atlantic

The late Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) passed last week and ProgressWomen is saddened to hear of his passing. In honor of his career, we’re glad to share the top 5 ways the Senator helped women while in the Senate.

(Courtesy to NWLC)

1. The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, known as the Lautenberg Amendment, which prohibits firearm access for individuals convicted of domestic violence or restrained by a protective order. Passed in 1997 and sponsored by Senator Lautenberg, this ban increases the safety of survivors of domestic  violence.
2. The Peace Corps Equity Act, which would provide Peace Corps volunteers with insurance coverage for abortion if the volunteer is a survivor of rape or incest, or in the case of endangerment of the life of the pregnant volunteer. Senator Lautenberg trusted women to make decisions about their healthcare and their bodies.
3. The Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Service Act, an act that would require the Federal Trade Commission to enforce it rules prohibiting crisis pregnancy centers from misleading advertising that implies that they provide abortions. Senator Lautenberg knew that women deserve to know all of their healthcare options when they discover that they are pregnant.
4. The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Antiharrassment Act, which would require federally-funded colleges and universities to enact an anti-harassment policy for students based on a number of identities, including race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. The bill focuses on prevention, education, and counseling, and would provide women of many identities a safer educational environment while studying at a college or university.
5. Senator Lautenberg was a consistent supporter of policies to reduce poverty and inequality, including supports for low-income people, a higher minimum wage, and fair tax policies. In 2011, poverty rates for all groups of women were higher than their male counterparts. Women need the critical supports that Senator Lautenberg championed.

Source: http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/5-ways-senator-lautenberg-helped-women

courtesy of glogster.com(Adapted from an AAUW commentary)

Imagine you’re a set of twins graduating from college. You are getting good grades, playing on an athletic team and has taken advantage of summer internships. Your twin brother is getting slightly lower grades, played on a team and did two summer internships. Both of you owe more than $30,000 in student loans.

You and your brother have had equal opportunities at this point in your lives, a loving and supportive home and good educations, but things will soon change. The data show that your brother will earn more than you — on average 18 percent annually, or a total of $500,000 more over his lifetime.

WHAT’S THIS ABOUT???

Recently I ate brunch in D.C. in the same restaurant right next to Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary.  It was all I could do not to go over and interrupt her and her party to ask her why she fell for this inane policy on emergency contraception.    

We are ALL tired of the politics that KEEP swirling around women’s access to safe and legal birth control, especially when doctors, scientists and the FDA tell us it’s perfectly fine.  

Thank you Hannah for speaking up and saying what most of us are thinking.

photo courtesy of Shutterstock

by Hannah Weintraub for RH Reality Check

I’m at that age when so many adults just don’t get my life.  

While I often use this complaint too liberally, I find that the Obama administration’s attempts to restrict access to emergency contraception on the basis of age fail to recognize the true challenges and realities of being a teenager. Telling teenagers to fork over photo identification before accessing emergency contraception means they simply don’t “get” us and our real lives.

While I have jokingly griped and groaned over the age limits on buying lottery tickets and drinking alcohol, these are parameters that, honestly, I can live with. More life threatening is the age restriction pushed by the Obama administration for emergency contraception. Unveiled in late April, the plan made emergency contraception available over-the-counter only for people ages 15 and up.

On Wednesday, the administration lost that battle, in part, when the Food and Drug Administration was ordered to immediately make two-dose emergency contraception available over-the-counter without an age restriction. The administration is continuing to appeal age restrictions for one-dose emergency contraception, like Plan B One-Step.

Why would the Obama administration support such restrictions, which not only put the health and lives of young women at risk, but also further disable young women from taking control of our sexuality with the empowerment and liberation that many of us wish for?

Placing an age limit on emergency contraception is simply discrimination. For example, while the administration’s plan allows women age 15 and up to purchase emergency contraception, it says that a store clerk must first verify a woman’s age before she is allowed to buy the drug. For many but not all adults, proof of age is a non-issue if they have driver’s licenses or state-issued identification at the ready.

But let’s be real: Many 15-year-olds, and for that matter women of all ages, do not have licenses, permits, or other forms of easily accessible government identification. In Maryland, where I live, teens can’t apply for a learner’s permit until they are 15 years and nine months old.

If my own experience is any judge, I was late in getting my permit and then promptly lost it for a stretch of time. Under the rule the Obama administration wanted to impose, my mistake would require me to lug in a passport or a birth certificate to get completely safe and time-sensitive medicine. Digging through documents is not always practical when emergency contraception should be taken as soon as possible for maximum effectiveness.   READ MORE OF HANNAH’S RESPONSE HERE.

Courtesy to wandactioncenter.org

WAND is an action center, as described by their mission statement, their main focus is to empower women to act politically to reduce violence and militarism and redirect excessive military resources toward unmet human and environmental needs. Their goals include challenging and promoting alternatives to militarism and violence as the solution to conflict, preventing violence against women, and increasing women’s political leadership to further WAND’s goals.

The following statement was released from WAND regarding military sexual violence:

Military Sexual Violence: Outrage to Action

Posted by: Jessie on May 24th, 2013

We’ve been horrified, sickened and outraged as we hear the stories, scandals and statistics unfold. The very military leaders charged with programs to prevent and respond to sexual violence are committing sexual assaults, and pandering.  The most recent story is of secret video-taping in showers at West Point.

There has been growing attention and awareness to sexual violence in the military. A recent Department of Defense report found that last year some 26,000 individuals in the military reported unwanted sexual contact – that comes to more than 70 per day.  Unfortunately, the Pentagon officially reported only 3,374 formal allegations. This is a problem that must be more effectively addressed.

Beyond these alarming statistics is a human issue. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) identified it well in her statement, “Too often, women and men have found themselves in the fight of their lives not in the theater of war – but in their own ranks, among their own brothers and sisters, and ranking officers, in an environment that enables sexual assault.” [1]

Sexual violence issues reflect security in its most intimate definition.  Danger and combat are an expected component of military service, but this compromise of personal security is a most covert and abstruse friendly-fire.

Read more of WAND’s statement here: http://www.wandactioncenter.org/2013/05/24/military-sexual-violence-outrage-to-action/

Courtesy to Google Images

This is something we have all been waiting for: there are seven women on the Armed Services committee. It took long enough, right? These seven women are making a huge impact on the committee. How? They’re asking the right questions.

Sexual assault has been a problem in the military for a while, but has not gotten that much attention up until now. According to the New York Times, “When I raised the issue of rape in the military seven years ago, there was dead silence,” said Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat and member of the committee. “Clearly they are changing things around here.”

Last month, we all recall of women Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) grilled the secretary of the Air Force during a hearing. According to the New York Times, Gillibrand said during the hearing “I do not think you should pat yourself on the back,” Senator Gillibrand admonished them. Sexual assault, she said, is “undermining the credibility of the greatest military force in the world.” Since then, Gillibrand has introduced legislation that would give military prosecutors rather than commanders the power to decide which sexual assault cases to try Her goal is for more people to report sex crimes without the fear of retaliation.

Sexual assault has caught the attention of the women on the Armed Services committee in part because a few of the women have some law enforcement backgrounds, including Senator McCaskill (D-MO) who is a former prosecutor who handled sex crimes and homicides and Senator Ayotte (R-NH) was the head of the homicide division in the New Hampshire attorney general’s office.

These women saw how sexual assault was being dealt with and felt they were out of step with the criminal justice system. They started shaking up the questions and the discussion. According to the New York Times, Senator Gillibrand said there was a similar male-female pattern when she served on the House Armed Services Committee. “The men asked all the questions about ships, hardware, that sort of thing,” she said. “We asked why divorce and suicide rates were so high.”

Read more at the New York Times: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/us/women-in-the-senate-gain-strength-in-rising-numbers.html

Courtesy to Huffington Post

Oh, Congressman Blackburn is at it again.

According to the Huffington Post, during a roundtable discussion on NBC’s Meet The Press, former White House advisor David Axelrod asked if she would support a law promoting workplace gender equality. Blackburn responded with, “I think that more important than that is making certain that women are recognized by those companies. You know, I’ve always said that I didn’t want to be given a job because I was a female, I wanted it because I was the most well-qualified person for the job. And making certain that companies are going to move forward in that vein, that is what women want. They don’t want the decisions made in Washington. They want to be able to have the power and the control and the ability to make those decisions for themselves.”

This isn’t the first time Blackburn has voiced her opinion on equal pay. In 2009, she voted against both the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Isn’t it odd how a woman could be against equal pay legislation?

(Blackburn is referred to as Congressman in this article because in the past she has requested being called Congressman as it’s “traditional”. Sigh.)

Read more on Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/02/marsha-blackburn-equal-pay-laws_n_3375167.html