Martha is a member of the Planned Parenthood of Southern New England STARS in Hartford, Connecticut.  She is a senior in high school and has plans to study business and political science in college in order to prepare for a full-time job of making the world a better place.

The 41st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision reminds us it is important to remember the work that led to that landmark case, and the people who have worked tirelessly since then to keep abortion safe, legal and accessible.  It’s also important to recognize we have a long way to go before the promise of Roe is fully realized. More than half the states have imposed new restrictions on abortion in the last three years, most aimed not at outlawing the procedure, but at making it almost impossible to get. In North Dakota, all abortions after six weeks are banned¹.   In Oklahoma, 96 percent of all counties do not have an abortion provider².  Many women* are not able to get abortions because of the restrictions and lack of abortion providers.

Abortions are only a small part of the reproductive and sexual freedom that has been challenged in the United States.  Every day, women face legal and societal pressures to conform on reproductive and sexual issues. Women are forced to fit into a skewed version of society’s standard of sexuality, even when these standards are often contradictory.  A woman who chooses not to have sex is considered a “prude,” and a woman who has too much sex (it’s not clear by whose measure) is considered a “slut.”  Everywhere they turn, women are asked to conform to society’s pressures and there are social consequences for those who do not.

The anniversary of the Roe v. Wade case brings up questions not only about abortion rights, but human rights and social pressures.  In what other ways are women not allowed their reproductive and sexual freedoms?  While sometimes it is obvious, like not having the means to get an abortion, other times it is not so obvious.  The oppression of reproductive and sexual freedoms can come from the inability to pay for birth control, or from the increasingly-popular belief that people who have been “friend-zoned” deserve sex because they have worked hard enough for it.  Just as there are contradictory views on how women should behave, there are contradictory views on what it means to have reproductive and sexual freedoms.  When I ask my friends for short quotes about what reproductive and sexual freedom meant to them, they have very different answers.

Reproductive and sexual freedom is important to me because it represents a concept that doesn’t deserve to become entangled in complicated legislation and political jargon.  Ignoring societal boundaries and divisions, it unites human beings through one of life’s most simple and essential liberties: the right to control your own life, the only one you’ll ever know.

-Lucas M.

Sexual and reproductive rights are important to me because women have been silenced and controlled for too long.  No man should make any decision for a woman about her body.

-Jasmine J.

Sex is one of the fundamental universals of the human condition.  By promoting a culture in which individuals are afforded the right and responsibility to make informed personal decisions about sex, we promote our own humanity, and replace arbitrary taboos, shamed silence, and repression, with openness, communication, and liberation.

-Liam M.

Despite giving radically different answers, my friends’ ideas shared a common theme: choice.  Of course, everyone mentions choice, because that’s the definition of freedom.  However, our society and legislature creates bundles of pressures and dead-end, wrong-turn, no-way-through decisions and presents them to us as “choice.”  Women can choose to have lots of sex, or they can choose to save themselves for marriage.  They can choose to drive hundreds of miles and sleep in their cars to have an abortion, or they can choose to carry a child that they’re not ready to raise.  They can choose to climb the corporate ladder, or choose to stay at home with their children, knowing that they will be criticized for either choice.

Unfortunately, the reality of our current situation is that “choices” are often contradictory or confusing. Even when they are clear, they might be blocked by societal pressures.  So, to me, we have not achieved true reproductive and sexual freedom until everyone has the ability to make decisions about one’s body without pressures or fear of disapproval.  I don’t claim to know exactly what this means, or how we will attempt to achieve this.  Everyone’s ideas of reproductive and sexual freedom are different, and possibly contradictory.  The idea is complicated, convoluted, and full of bad decisions and back-tracking.  However, in order to get anywhere, we need to start somewhere, and the ability to control whether or not to have a child seems like a good place to start.

It’s hard for young people to get clear and accurate information on sex, sexuality, reproductive health and STIs.  Planned Parenthood of Southern New England’s peer education program, Students Teaching About Responsible Sexuality, addresses this critical issue by recruiting and training young people to provide information and resources to their peers.

Martha is a member of the Planned Parenthood of Southern New England STARS group in Hartford, Connecticut.  She is a senior in high school and plans to study business and political science in college in order to prepare for a full-time job of making the world a better place.

________________________________________________________________________

*When I use the word “woman,” I also intend to include males who could need an abortion or feel the same pressures that biological women feel.

1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/us-abortion-map/

2. http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/abortion-19-states-with-toughest-laws/3/

The Governor can expand the family planning benefit to include more Rhode Islanders by including it in the Medicaid Global Waiver that will be submitted later this summer to the federal government for a five-year renewal. In recent weeks, public health advocates have repeatedly asked the administration to expand the program this year, but to date, we haven’t heard the positive response we would have expected.

A broad coalition stands strongly behind this initiative including Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, March of Dimes, Economic Progress Institute, Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, RI Medical Society, RI Primary Care Providers Corporation and the RI Coalition for Reproductive Justice, among others. Over 40 Rhode Island physicians cosigned a letter in support of this program as well. We are not aware of any opposition to this program.

If politicians want to support preventative health care as well as reduce unintended pregnancies in Rhode Island, they should expand access to the state’s Medicaid family planning program. Currently, Rhode Island covers family planning services only for Medicaid recipients who deliver babies, for just two years post-partum. After that, low income women lose access to basic reproductive health services, annual exams, Pap tests, breast exams, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and yes – contraception which helps space their families. With over 62,000 women in need of publicly supported contraceptive services in our state, and a projected cost savings of $3.74 for every $1 invested in family planning, this program is a win-win for a state that’s been on the losing end of this fight for too long.

Governor Chafee, the women of Rhode Island need you to take the next step in your family’s legacy of support for our health! Support greater access to family planning, and you’ll make Rhode Island a healthier state. 

To contact Governor Chafee, call his office at (401) 222-2080 or email him at governor@governor.ri.gov.  Ask him to expand the State’s Medicaid family planning program to include ALL women under 250% of poverty.

Interestingly of the five bills heard, only three of the legislative sponsors came out to support their own legislation.  Rep. Fellela who sponsored the sex selection ban and Rep. Palumbo who sponsored the wait period “women’s right to know act” were noticeably absent. Over all, little time was spent explaining how any of the bills heard would reduce unintended pregnancy or abortion rates in Rhode Island, both of which are some of the highest in the New England region.

As the legislature enters its final five weeks of what has already been an active session with passage of marriage equality, we hope the General Assembly will remember that Rhode Island already has a range of restrictive regulations and laws on the books, many of which are unconstitutional and unenforceable.  Rhode Island already requires “informed consent” prior to abortion, prohibits public funding for abortion services and is subject to all the federal laws including the late term abortion ban upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2009. There is no need to replicate these policies in state law.

However, Rhode Island persists as an outlier in New England for its high unintended pregnancy and teen pregnancy rates.  Although those rates have been on a decline over the last ten years thanks to advances in long acting reversible contraception methods and greater public awareness of family planning services, none of the five bills proposed here today address unintended pregnancy and will do NOTHING to reduce the abortion rate in Rhode Island.

The  General Assembly does however have the opportunity this session to expand the Medicaid family planning benefit to include more low income women, and Rhode Island will receive $9 from the federal government for every $1 we spend on this program through the state’s Global Medicaid Waiver. We can and should do better in Rhode Island.  It’s time to move beyond the divisive political attacks on reproductive health and work together toward real solutions to real problems in public health.  Rhode Island is not North Dakota.  Rhode Island is not Texas.  Rhode Island is not Arkansas.  Rhode Island can do better.

In case you missed the hearing you may watch it online (the hearing on the abortion bills begins at minute 85).

Organizations & Individuals who testified in Opposition to Abortion Restrictions in RI

Paula Hodges – Planned Parenthood Southern New England

Steve Brown – RI American Civil Liberties Union

Carolyn Mark, RI NOW

Rev. David Ames, Planned Parenthood Clergy Advisory Board

Rick Harris – RI National Association of Social Workers

Kristina Fox, Ocean State Action

Mary Chace, RI League of Women Voters

Steve Alquist, Humanists of RI

Dr. Emily White

RI Medical Society

Sarah Kramer – Brown Medical Student

Marie Deluca – Brown Medical Student

Micala Venta, Brown Medical Student

Caitlin Naureckas – Brown Medical Student

Rachel Orsinger, RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Barbara Colt – Rhode Islanders for Abortion Rights

Rev. Elizabeth Barnum

Margret (Penny) Guyer

Rachel Bloom

Lauren Niedel

Jessan Dunn Otis

Gus Uht

The bills proposed would work to mandate a woman undergo an ultrasound prior to having an abortion, create 24 hour wait periods prior to an abortion, create additional laws around late term abortions and establish “fetal personhood.” The reality of these bills would establish invasive, unnecessary barriers to service and turn healthcare in a political tool. Make no mistake about it, these bills have one target: to prevent women from accessing their right to choose what to do with their own bodies in the state of Rhode Island.

Real Problems Deserve Real Solutions

Reducing the number of unintended pregnancies deserves real and thoughtful solutions. If the politicians proposing and supporting these kinds of bills were really working to help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies each year in Rhode Island, they would turn their attention to the expansion of Family Planning under the Medicaid program. Currently, Rhode Island covers family planning services for Medicaid recipients who deliver babies, for only two years post-partum. That means that after that time, women are dropped from the program and lose access to basic reproductive health services, including annual well woman exams, Pap tests, breast exams, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and yes – contraception, which would help space their families and work to prevent unintended pregnancies.

Rhode Island already gets a D+ grade from NARAL and has some of the most stringent abortion laws on the books in New England. We need to turn out focus toward investing in family planning programs that not only work to reduce unintended pregnancy but save the state $4 for every $1 invested.  Today, we have a chance to raise our voices against five dangerous bills that actively seek to stand between a woman, her physician and her personal medical decisions. We NEED your help to fill the hearing room, to testify as a Rhode Island voter – and your presence as a supporter of reproductive justice. If you can’t join us for the hearing, contact your state legislators and let them know that is enough is enough. Egregious bills like these don’t belong in Rhode Island and together we can stand up and say Not in Our State! Help us tell lawmakers that Rhode Island cares about reproductive justice and we won’t stand for radical abortion restrictions in the Ocean State.

Young Democrats of Rhode Island are  back and better than ever!  To celebrate, Drinking Liberally welcomes a new slate of young leaders to speak about their work in 2013 and beyond.

So join us and lift a glass to liberal politics. Come meet the board of YDRI, including newly elected State Senator Adam Satchell. Learn more about our plans to advocate for the issues young progressives care about and how you can make an impact in our upcoming campaigns! No matter what your age, please join us at the Wild Colonial this Wednesday for good politics and a good time. We’re all young at heart, right?

What: Drinking Liberally with Senator Adam Satchell & YDRI
When: Wednesday February 20, 2013 7-9pm
Where: Wild Colonial, 250 South Water Street Providence 02903
RSVP on Facebook today!
https://www.facebook.com/events/504930979557947/

Hope to see you Wednesday!

Speaking as a “millennial” myself, I can say that young women value the impact of Roe but recognize that the present day conversation rests within issues of sexual identity, health insurance coverage for birth control with no co-pays and the need to push past labels like “pro-choice” and “pro-life.”  It’s clear to me that the next generation of activists is ready and willing to build off the hard work of those who’ve come before us – and expand the conversation to those who have felt left out of the “choice” conversation for too long.

Forty years may have passed but Planned Parenthood’s mission remains the same: to protect the fundamental right of all individuals to manage their own fertility and sexual health and to ensure access to the services, education and information to realize that right. In Rhode Island, we recognize the need to not only protect the right to abortion but also to ensure access to a wide range of reproductive health care – including well woman exams, STI testing and treatment and access to all methods of contraception from the pill to intrauterine devices.

So, although Planned Parenthood advocates for access to a wide range of preventative family planning programs, Rhode Island lags behind our New England neighbors when it comes to unintended pregnancy rates.  Even though we know that for every dollar invested in family planning services, the state saves $3.75, we’re forced to waste time fighting unnecessary, shaming legislation like mandatory-waiting periods and ultrasounds.

Rhode Island is one of 22 states – and the only state in New England – that the Guttmacher Institute designates as “hostile” to women’s reproductive health.   NARAL Pro-Choice America gives Rhode Island a D+ rating on their national score card.  How could this be you might ask?  Rhode Island has dozens of archaic laws on the book some of which include:

• An unconstitutional and unenforceable criminal ban on abortion;
• “Informed consent” laws that subject women seeking abortion to biased-counseling requirements;
• Restrictive insurance coverage of abortion for some (state employees) and unenforceable laws that restrict private insurance coverage for abortion for all;
• Laws that allow certain individuals, health care providers and entities to refuse to provide specific reproductive health services, referrals or information including information and prescriptions for birth control.

It’s time that the Rhode Island legislature understand that investing in prevention and comprehensive sex education is the only proven way to address unintended pregnancy.  We encourage you to take action and share your stories with friends, family members and elected officials.  To get you started, here are three actions you can take today:

1. .  Tell them to support access to preventative family planning programs and NOT to support shaming legislation like mandatory ultrasounds or any politically motivated abortion ban.
2. Tell Planned Parenthood your story.   One in five women have visited a Planned Parenthood in their lifetime.  With anti-choice politicians determined to take away women’s access to healthcare, it’s never been more important to share your story and show that Planned Parenthood is a vital organization in your community.
3. Join the Planned Parenthood Action Network.  Stay informed about current events and legislation on the national and state level.

Paula Hodges is the Public Policy & Advocacy Director for Planned Parenthood Southern New England and Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island.

Coalition leaders are working actively in the legislature and the community to preserve women’s access to a wide range of health care options and to advocate for affordable, quality healthcare for all.  In addition, a new organization, Rhode Island Clergy for Reproductive Choice has been formed and will work in concert with the Reproductive Justice Coalition to bring faith voices into our advocacy and grassroots work on these important issues.

Despite a woman’s constitutional right to make her own personal medical decisions without interference from politicians, access to safe and legal abortion is still at risk in legislatures across the country including our own. Rhode Island is one of 22 states – and the only state in New England – that the Guttmacher Institute designates as “hostile” to women’s reproductive health.

Recent public opinion research conducted by Planned Parenthood Federation of America concluded that the way in which people identify with the issue of abortion has shifted over the years. Labels like “pro-choice” and “pro-life” no longer reflect the way most people think about the complex decision-making that is required when women consider abortion. Americans recognize that these decisions are deeply personal, and should be left to a woman to decide in consultation with her family, physician and faith.

Partner Statements

Peter Stein, Chair of the RI Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice:

Rhode Island’s proud heritage is grounded in broad religious freedom and tolerance.  We are home to the first synagogue in the country, the first Baptist church in America, and many other grand and significant houses of worship.  We are blessed with a vibrant and important religious life in our state.  We must always defend the freedom of religion and celebrate the diversity of viewpoints in our state.  Quite simply, when access to abortion, birth control and other medical services is limited, it prevents women from taking action that is permitted by their personal religious teaching.  As we remember the Roe v. Wade decision, let us celebrate that it allows women to be respected as moral decision makers who are in control of their own bodies.

Harry Knox, National President Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice:

We celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade at a time of increasing attacks on the very freedoms Roe provides.  The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is growing to meet these challenges so that people of faith will be heard in the public square calling prophetically for empowerment of women’s moral agency and expansion of access to compassionate abortion care.

 

Neil A. Corkery, former member of the RI House of Representatives, current member of the Board of Directors of Catholics for Choice:

Rhode Island was founded under a just doctrine: that individuals have the right to determine the course of their lives according to their personal beliefs. In this state there should be no question: every woman has the right to decide the future of her pregnancy according to her conscience, whatever her reasons or circumstances. A just society simply does not compel women to continue an undesired pregnancy.

Paula Hodges, RI Public Policy & Advocacy Director at PPSNE:

A majority of Americans oppose efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, which was made crystal clear in November, when they voted to protect a woman’s ability to make her own personal medical decisions without interference from politicians. Legislators who interfere with a woman’s access to safe and legal abortion fail to recognize the views of their constituents.  It is time for Rhode Island to focus on helping women and families get access to preventive health services, annual exams and access to effective and affordable birth control.  In doing so we can work together to empower families, reduce unintended pregnancies and align Rhode Island with other New England states.

Kate Brock, executive director of Ocean State Action:

Today we are reminded of the great strides women have made in achieving full equality in Rhode Island and beyond. At the core of this progress is the ability to control one’s reproductive decisions, and they are decisions that belong with a woman, her family and her doctor, not politicians in the Statehouse.  

Carolyn Mark, president RI National Organization for Women:

On the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we need to remember that women’s reproductive rights have been and will always be inextricably linked to our ability to achieve economic and social equality in this country. When women have access to comprehensive reproductive health services, including abortion, we gain the capacity to participate fully in all aspects of public and private life. While there are forces in this country that seek to deny women our basic rights, there remains a persistent majority that respects the fact that decisions regarding reproductive health care are a matter of privacy and should remain that way. We can never go back.

2012 was a powerful and important year for the RI Coalition for the Homeless because of the landmark passage of the Homeless Bill of Rights, the first bill in the nation to prohibit discrimination of individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Come learn more about the Coalition’s tireless work to end homelessness in Rhode Island at our next DL and help out the homeless by donating pairs of socks or making cash or check donations to help those most in need as we head into the winter months. Donations may also be made online at www.rihomeless.org.

What is the elections’ postmortem week in Rhode Island without the subjective coverage of those who really “won” in state races? I think many progressive voters and activists in Rhode Island can agree that women were a force to be reckoned with up and down the ballot. More so, that Planned Parenthood Action Fund was one of the most successful and strategic PACs, with a near perfect record on all the national races we played in—a true winner. Karl Rove may be in denial, but we take nothing for granted in the electoral landscape. After all, Planned Parenthood used those magical tools like the 2010 census, the voter file and data to talk strategically to the right subset of voters:  women.   Consequently, this subset now comprises a majority of the electorate.

In addition to the work of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s federal PAC), Planned Parenthood Votes! RI worked hard in the Ocean State to use the resources and momentum that existed nationally and statewide to leverage our advocacy on behalf of women. Going through our own mandatory ultrasound fight in Rhode Island this spring and helping identify progressives to run for office with partners like Ocean State Action helped us put more energy into the movement locally.

The unsung heroes of the 2012 elections consist of approximately 100 new and veteran volunteers who participated tirelessly to generate over 26,000 educational calls over the course of three months. Furthermore, our supporters raised nearly $20,000 for our PAC over the past year. PPV!RI had to ensure our legislative champions had proper backing to win re-elections and that non-supporters of women’s health did not go unnoticed in a hostile year for women’s health. I guess in the words of Bob Dylan, I really hope and believe that for Rhode Island women, Times, They are a Changing.

Having come into Rhode Island politics from Missouri just this year, I am constantly amazed and reminded just how tangible victories are in the Ocean State. We don’t have to raise $100,000 for a single State House seat and candidates really don’t campaign for 10 months. In fact you’re lucky if they’re building campaigns 10 weeks before the election. Our win numbers are 3,700 not 13,700. Women can win in Rhode Island. Progressives can win in Rhode Island. It takes a laser-beam focus, a clear message and a real grassroots strategy. At Planned Parenthood Votes! RI, we are positioned to do just that, especially when we work effectively in coalition.

There is a multitude of progressive groups, allies and players who helped bring in a new wave of legislators for Rhode Island. When we all work in unison to communicate to our constituencies, we win, and Planned Parenthood modeled that behavior. We messaged to thousands of progressive women about which candidates you can trust to stay out of personal health care decisions. Planned Parenthood Votes! RI doesn’t have a history of heavily promoting our publicly endorsed candidates like Marvin Abney, Linda Finn, Gus Uht, Cathie-Cool Rumsey, Adam Satchell, Art Handy, Laura Pisaturo and the others to the mainstream media, we spend our time   speaking with and educating the voters that matter in those races.

I for one am proud to have spent Election Day in Richmond in a faux wood paneled HQ with a pretty cold bathroom, making thousands of calls around folding tables with plastic patio furniture alongside Clean Water Action staff, Marriage Equality RI interns, Ocean State Action staff and former members of the Libby Kimzey and Gus Uht campaign. We did more than help Cathie Cool-Rumsey win and the many other candidates win, we worked together to build a winning formula for 2013, 2014 and beyond.

Together, we can and will continue to win for women.

Paula Hodges is the Public Policy & Advocacy Director for Planned Parenthood Votes! RI and PPV!RI PAC.  Interested activists, pundits and politicos may follow PPV!RI’s work on Facebook and Twitter.

Planned Parenthood Votes! RI PAC is pleased to announce its 2012 state legislative PAC endorsements. PPV!RI PAC supports its candidates by educating voters through phone calls and social media to ensure Rhode Islanders know what is at stake for women and women’s health ahead of the September 11^th primary and the November 6^th general election.

Also, PPV!RI PAC will participate in the “Women are Watching…and Voting” National Day of Action on Saturday, September 8, 2012. This special event comes on the heels of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s two-week “Women Are Watching…and Voting” battleground bus tour, which made stops in 11 states and traveled more than 5,000 miles. For more information on the Women are Watching Campaign, visit www.womenarewatching.org.

This year, women will decide the outcome of elections across the country, and are watching very closely to ensure that they elect candidates — up and down the ballot — who will protect women’s health care.

If you are interested in volunteering this weekend or anytime with Planned Parenthood Votes! RI PAC, please contact us at ppvotesri@ppsne.org or call (401) 421-7820 x3145.

PPV!RI PAC is a State of Rhode Island Political Action Committee (PAC) formed to elect public officials who will protect the fundamental right of all individuals to manage their own fertility and sexual health. It is associated with PP! Votes Rhode Island, the political and advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.

RI State House
Marvin Abney – HD 73
Edie Ajello – HD 1
Joseph Almeida – HD 12
David Bennett – HD 20
Chris Blazejewski – HD 2
Michael Connolly – HD 48
Robert Craven – HD 32
Grace Diaz – HD 11
Frank Ferri – HD 22
Linda Finn – HD 72
Gordon Fox – HD
Scott Guthrie – HD 28
John Hanley – HD 68
Joy Hearn – HD 66
Art Handy – HD 18
Libby Kimzey – HD 8
Donald Lally – HD 33
Deb Ruggiero – HD 74
Teresa Tanzi – HD 34
Charlie Tsonos – HD 63
Augustus “Gus” Uht – HD 52
Larry Valencia – HD 39
Donna Walsh – HD 36

RI State Senate
Cathy Cool-Rumsey – SD 34
Gene Dyszlewski – SD  26
David Gorman – SD 33
Maura Kelly – SD 5
Josh Miller – SD 28
Donna Nesselbush – SD 15
Laura Pisaturo – SD 29
Lewis Pryeor – SD 24
Adam Satchell – SD 9