Pyrrhic victory: health care reform 1, women's reproductive rights 0

HR3962, The Affordable Healthcare for America Act, passed the House of Representatives by a narrow vote. Included in the bill was a controversial amendment, introduced by Congressman Stupak, a pro-life democratic from Michigan. Under this amendment, abortion would not be included as a covered health insurance benefit under a government sponsored, tax-funded health care plan.

Many of us have fought long and hard to ensure passage of this bill, which would provide near universal health care coverage to all Americans.

Conversation overheard on my Facebook wall:

N: I'm a pro-choice Democrat and the health care reform bill doesn't take away women's rights to choose... it just doesn't want to pay for it.... as is the case with many many other things the government doesn't want to pay for....

C: But if a woman cannot afford health care and must use the government option health care then it DOES take away her right to choose

N: I'm sure there will be a provision for women who are rape victims or incest victims, etc

C: Let's hope so, because as it stands now, there are NO such provisions for survivors of rape or incest

"Anti-abortion Democrats objected that the bill still would provide a federal subsidy for insurance plans that allowed abortion. After days of tense talks, they reached agreement early Saturday with Democratic leaders and the White House on an amendment that would refuse abortion coverage to "anyone who receives federal aid to buy an insurance policy or enrolls in the proposed government health plan."

N: That's not the finished product though and I think they will have enough reasonable thinking votes when all is said and done to allow for cases of rape and incest and when the mother's life is in danger.

J: the devil is in the details... they can enact certain provisions in the final rule implementation but only if they're not expressly forbidden in the law. Right now there seems to be no wiggle room. there is still hope in the consolidated bill, but I dont see the Senate correcting this problem. Not after 60 House Democrats supported it.

The National Organization for Women had this to day: http://www.now.org/press/11-09/11-08.html

What are your thoughts? Is this a setback for women's rights in our country? Was it a necessary sacrifice to ensure this bill would pass the House in some form?

An Empty Place at the Table for Domestic Violence Victims

While we put an announcement for this event in our newSWire publication last week, we were unable to make the vigil that took place in honor of Union County domestic violence victims this past Monday night. When agencies and students partner for projects like these, the results can be extremely powerful. You can read the full article here: http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2009/10/setting_places_at_the_table_fo.html

A Familiar Face for Equality

Carol Benevy, former NASW-NJ Sussex-Warren Unit Chair, took to the streets of Washington, DC in her wedding dress for the National March for Equality on October 11th.

You may have seen pictures of Carol, and Kendra Hayes (NASW-NJ Advocacy Coordinator), in newSWire last week, but you can also read Carol's own words and see her featured here: http://zackfordblogs.com/2009/10/faces-for-equality-carol-benevy/

Yeah Carol!

2009 Election Process for Those With Mental Illness

As social workers, we empower people in their everyday lives. But it's easy to forget that voting is another form of empowerment.

We know the election checklist:
1. find out names of state and local candidates
2. research their position on the issues
3. choose the candidates we support
4. make sure we're registered to vote
5. find the closest polling place
6. VOTE

But when it comes to our clients, we should also talk with them about what help they might need in getting to the polls or in voting. While we don't discuss politics with them, we can make sure their voice is heard and their vote is counted. We can do that by ensuring that they get help in voting from family, friends or responsible agencies.

Here's an article on a recent voting machine demonstration in Pequannock for a group of people with various mental illnesses: http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2009/10/pequannock_demonstration_helps.html

Feminism is Not a Dirty Word

It may seem counterintuitive to say so, but: many Americans today are feminists. On issues from abortion rights to fair pay to professional opportunity to the need for collaboration in domestic labor, feminists have by and large won the public to their side. And you would have to dig pretty deep into the reactionary barrel to find someone who thinks women should not have the right to vote. By now, basic feminist ideals about equality between the sexes are hardly controversial, abortion notwithstanding.

Why is it then that people who subscribe to feminist beliefs and critiques so often recoil at the notion that they are themselves feminists? As far as we can tell, feminism has nothing to apologize for. No feminist has ever started a war or caused an economic crisis; that’s more than you can say for democracies and capitalists, though there is no price to be paid for claiming allegiance to democracy or capitalism. More to the point, that is far more than you can say for the increasingly rickety patriarchal order of things, with its very specific ideas about the proper place of women and its violent and exploitative means of putting them there.

We frequently hear that feminism is an unattractive thing to identify with because it is a movement for harpies and hippies and bra burners. It seems that the law of patriarchy which dictates that everything women do must be ritually devalued and diminished applies most stringently to feminism itself. But there is no reason feminism has to accept its definition from people who are hostile to it - we define it ourselves. Feminism, in fact, is for a lot of people! You have radical feminism, liberal feminism, anti- and pro-pornography feminism, Critical Race Feminism, and many others. There is a feminism for everybody.

Try saying it out loud: I am a feminist! You might find it empowering.

Un paso en la direccion correcta (A step in the right direction)

New Jersey's domestic violence advocates do a great job in making sure that their literature is available in both Spanish and English. Explaining legal rights in English is difficult enough, but many bilingual court advocates are spending hours trying to convince undocumented immigrants that they have the right to be protected from partners and family.

To help empower and protect our New Jersey residents, we must be sure that they understand that their rights. To that end, please keep an eye out for a soon-to-be published brochure on legal rights in domestic violence situations. The 43-page Spanish handbook is entitled: "Surviving Domestic Violence: Your Legal Rights." This handbook can help guide clients and others who have experienced domestic violence in their lives.

We're happy to see that advocates here in New Jersey are ensuring that a handbook on state legal rights for domestic violence will be available in Spanish. It's a great start. Now we also need pamphlets in Creole, Portuguese, Italian, French, Russian, Hindi, Urdu Arabic, and all the other languages of immigrants living in NJ.

Read the article here: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/nj_domestic_violence_victims_r.html

To find a domestic violence program in NJ, click here: http://www.njcbw.org/gethelp_NJservices.html

Racism?

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man.”
Former President Jimmy Carter, September 16, 2009

This week President Carter said the words that many of us have been thinking but haven't said aloud. The former President pointed to racism for fueling the hysterical tone of many of President Obama’s critics. While a White House spokesperson was quick to rebut Carter's remarks, the former President's view comes after a summer of health care town hall meetings marked by out of control protests, confrontation, yelling, heckling, and berating.



Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 17, 2009

And, as you can take from Tony Auth's editorial cartoon above, the demonstrations also brought out a lot of other disturbing behavior, as evidenced by the signs with President Obama's image with a Hitler-like moustache, or those with sayings like "Obama is not a Nazi - he's worse."

Add to this Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who was formally rebuked Tuesday in a House vote for shouting "You lie!" during President Obama's speech to Congress a week ago.

As I wrote in newSWire last week, the level of political discourse in this country has slipped. Fueled by the Internet, and out-of-bounds radio and television commentary, we are on a slippery slope that, mixed with racism, can become dangerous.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

Walter Kalman, NASW-NJ Executive Director