President Obama Nominates Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court

Statement from the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

Yesterday, President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Kagan would become the third woman to sit on the nine-person court, making it the most representation by women in the history of the court. Solicitor General Kagan would fill the seat of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, a long-time supporter of civil and reproductive rights.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) applauds President Obama for his decision to nominate a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kagan is a well-qualified nominee with extensive legal experience, who has long been known for challenging traditional stereotypes. A former Harvard Law School Dean, she currently is the first woman to hold the position of Solicitor General.

We expect the confirmation process to take place over the coming months. During that time, NLIRH will be reviewing previous statements by the nominee and listening closely to Kagan’s responses during the confirmation hearings on a number of critical issues for the Latina community, including her positions on Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, immigration, gender justice, LGBTQ equality, and civil rights.

NLIRH will continue to post updates on what we learn about the nominee’s experiences and her positions on women’s health and rights during the confirmation process.

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A Bittersweet Health Care Reform Victory…at the Expense of Women and Immigrants

Last night, the House of Representatives voted 219-212 to pass health care reform.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health commends Congress and the Administration for continuing to push for much-needed health reform and we encourage the Senate to pass the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act that includes critical pieces affecting our community.

However, this battle was fought on the bodies of women and immigrants. In the eleventh hour, President Barack Obama caved to the demands of a handful of anti-choice Democrats by agreeing to use the lives of women as trade. He will use his pen to add weight to the already cumbersome abortion restrictions in the health care bill. Latinas, immigrants, and women of color are deeply affected by any language restricting abortion access – because women of color and immigrants are disproportionately poor, they are less likely to be able to pay for reproductive health care out-of-pocket, which puts them at risk for seeking alternative, unsafe abortion methods. While health reform might lead to more Latinas being covered, it leaves out a significant portion of the population. By excluding and stigmatizing immigrants and women who need abortions, we are pushing them to the shadows of our health care system and placing unfair burden on the already-strained system of community health care centers and emergency rooms. Over half of all immigrants are women, and 53% of all immigrants are from Latin America; though it has yet to be signed by the President, this bill is outdated already.

NLIRH has been working tirelessly over the past year to ensure that the health care reform process was one that included the needs of women and families in our communities.Our activists have been engaged in unprecedented numbers – evidence that the women in our communities know more than anyone else how deeply health care reform is needed. If passed by the Senate, reconciliation package will cover an estimated 9 million uninsured Latinos and increase funding for community health centers, which is a lifeline for many in our neighborhoods. In addition, 4.4 million Americans in Puerto Rico and territories will receive $6.3 billion in new Medicaid funding, increased flexibility in how to use federal funding, access to the Exchange and $1 billion in subsides for low-income residents. Finally, we also know that this bill will expand family planning under Medicaid, increasing access to preventative reproductive health care service.

However, that women were used as wedges in this process is absolutely unacceptable. Over and over, our needs were compromised away. The fact that health care reform has passed in the House represents a truly historic moment for the United States. That it is marred by the President’s inability to protect the rights of women is truly disappointing.

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What the Utah bill will really mean for women’s rights and health

The Governor of Utah, Gary Herbert has signed into law a bill that would charge a woman with criminal homicide if she knowingly carries out a self-abortion. In order analyze the impact this law will have on Latinas, particularly immigrant and low-income Latinas, let’s take a step back and review how this law, with its deep contempt for women on all levels, got passed in the first place.

Whereas many states have laws already in existence regarding fetal homicide, legislators in the state of Utah put forth a bill criminalizing “any act resulting from a woman who knowingly, recklessly, or intentionally causes a miscarriage”, in which the pregnant woman herself may spend 15 to life in prison. That bill was returned to legislators because although Gov. Herbert agreed with the goal of the bill, he “also believes very strongly that the state should not enact a law with unintended consequences.”  Indeed, Marina Lowe, the of the Utah American Civil Liberties Union had advised Mr. Herbert to veto this bill due to the consequences that could arise.  She said, “So many things can happen, and it’s all in the eye of the beholder – that’s what’s very dangerous about this legislation.” In other words, Herbert was concerned that if a woman had a miscarriage due to say, a fall on a patch of ice, there was the possibility that she would be criminally charged. The solution? The word “recklessly” was removed from the bill and on March 8 Gov. Herbert signed into a law a bill that allows homicide charges to be brought against women themselves for ending their own pregnancy.

We still need to bring light the dangers that this law, whose authors had creatively invented something called “criminal miscarriage,” still poses for many women.  The bill proposed was a response to what happened about a year ago, where a 17 year old that did not want to carry her pregnancy to term paid a man $150 to beat her up, anticipating that the outcome would be a miscarriage.   While I agree that these circumstances should not happen to any woman who does not want to carry her pregnancy to full term, this law makes no headway in preventing it. Even with a cursory understanding of this law, it is clear that it in no way addresses the reality of the situation- that women are not able get affordable, timely abortion services, particularly adolescents.

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Take a look at our Q&A: Where does NLIRH stand on health care reform?

Health care reform has been a long, complicated process.  Unfortunately, this battle has been fought on the bodies of women and immigrants, and the process has been full of compromises that will be felt distinctly in our communities.  We have been left with a bill that may expand health care coverage to millions of Americans and yet contains some of the most egregious setbacks to reproductive rights since the 1970s, excludes immigrants, and denies the U.S. territories full parity.

To find out where NLIRH stands, check out our Q&A here.

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An attack on women of color and the right to choose

An anti-abortion group in Atlanta has produced several billboards that read, “Black children are an endangered species.” The anti-choice group, Georgia Right to Life, claims that too many African American women are having abortions and that this is reducing the population rate of African American children. They are also targeting Planned Parenthood for providing abortions services and claiming that Planned Parenthood is targeting African Americans specifically.

In addition, House Bill 1155 proposed to the Georgia General Assembly, states that anyone that persuades another person to have an abortion based on race, sex, or color is a criminal act and for that they must be punished. According to the recent New York Times article, Georgia Rights to Life states that they do not want any of these messages to objectify African American women, rather to shed light on a situation that is affecting the entire population.

The billboards — there are 65 now and will eventually be 80, Ms. Davis said — were created in conjunction with a new Web site, http://www.toomanyaborted.com, which says that all of Georgia’s abortion clinics are in “urban areas where blacks reside.” The Web site connects abortion to segregation, saying that after the civil rights era, racists went “underground,” and that today “abortion is the tool they use to stealthily target blacks for extermination.

Yet none of these assertions are supported by data, which according to the Center for Disease Control, shows that African American women remain amongst those with the highest rates of childbearing.

So why do Planned Parenthood’s exist in African American communities?  The purpose of Planned Parenthood is to provide women with information, offer reproductive health services, and to allow folks to make informed decisions about their health. The existence of clinics in these neighborhoods ensures better access to health care services, improving the overall health of a community.

We need to look at the bigger picture and realize the consequences that these billboards and messages will be creating. Our ally SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective suggests that if this bill passes, not only will we be taking away a woman’s right to abortion, but it will also put women’s health in jeopardy. This bill could possibly alter the relationship between a patient and a doctor, affecting the medical services that could be available to women.

These billboards are not solving a problem; they are trying to create a barrier between a woman and her right to choose. As reproductive justice advocates we work toward a world where every woman has the ability create the family she’d like to create–without fear of persecution or propaganda.

By Sheila Reynoso, Research Intern

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Remembering Susan Hill, abortion provider and fierce defender of women’s rights

The Winter 2010 issue of Ms. Magazine writes about the death of Susan Hill from breast cancer at only 61.

Hill was not only an abortion provider since 1973, but she lived and fought a mission of women’s health and rights. Instead of backing down or closing clinics when anti-abortion protesters vandalized and bombed her facilities, Hill filed lawsuits and continued to provide abortion services. Another newspaper notes that Hill opened clinics in rural areas where women had no access to abortion services.

In addition to receiving regular threats to her own life, Hill also lived through the murders of doctors and staff at abortion clinics, including David Gunn, a doctor at one of her own clinics. Most recently, Hill’s good friend Dr. George Tiller was murdered by an anti-abortion activist.

Hill was a brave woman. And, although she, sadly, succumbed to breast cancer last month, Hill was courageous til the end.

Liza Fuentes, Senior Research Associate

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Thanks for the budget President Obama, but isn’t 33 years of Hyde enough??

On Monday, President Obama delivered the proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 to Congress.

We are grateful that the Administration has expanded federal funds for Title X family planning programs and clinics, which invest in reproductive health and wellness for Latinas and immigrant women and provide reproductive health care to many Latinas.  Latinas have the highest uninsured rate of women of any other racial or ethnic group, at 37%, and it is critical that during our national economic crisis we continue to offer an essential source of reproductive health and preventative services, especially for low-income women.

It is also good news that the President has increased funding for evidence-based sex education and for community health centers, which are an essential source of reproductive and preventive health care for low-income Latinas and immigrant women.

However, we are deeply disappointed with the President’s decision to preserve the harmful provision known as the Hyde Amendment in the FY 2011 budget.  A woman’s ability to access a legal, safe abortion remains under attack, and as evidenced by health care reform debates, the Hyde Amendment only serves as ammunition.  Over a quarter of women on Medicaid are Latinas, and low-income Latina and immigrant women are disproportionately impacted by restrictions to abortion access.  Preserving this provision will enable a politically-motivated barrier to continue and restricts safe, legal abortions for poor women.

While it is important to recognize that the budget includes some victories for reproductive health access, it is also crucial to speak out against provisions that prevent true reproductive justice. Basta! 33 years is enough!

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After only 37 Minutes, a Jury Convicted Dr. George Tiller’s Murderer

Today, after only 37 minutes of deliberation, a jury of Scott Roeder’s peers rightfully found him guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Dr. George R. Tiller.

For years, extreme members of the anti-choice community have used threats of violence against reproductive health care clinics in an attempt to limit women’s legal reproductive rights. Today’s decision is an affirmation that abortion providers have the support of the justice system. And, I hope, the decision will discourage other anti-choice fanatics from thinking about following in Roeder’s footsteps.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health just released a statement in response to Roeder’s jury conviction. Here is an excerpt:

“Dr. Tiller was a faithful champion for women’s reproductive health in spite of the threats and constant intimidation he and his family faced. He recognized that women facing difficult health decisions need comfort and care, and placed the health and well-being of his patients above his own personal safety concerns. It is fitting that Dr. Tiller often wore a ‘Trust Women’ button.

“Our thoughts are with his family as they continue to mourn their loss. We are also hopeful that the conclusion of this trial will aid his congregation, which endured this violent murder in their sanctuary, as they continue their healing process.”

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Securing Real Choices Means Going Beyond “Choice”

By Silvia Henriquez

RH Reality Check

Friday, January 22, 2010

This post is part of RH Reality Check’s “What Does Choice Mean to You?” series commemorating the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

I was a junior in high school the first time I understood the political meaning of the term pro-choice. My very progressive, feminist “herstory” teacher organized a school trip to attend the 1992 abortion rights march in Washington DC. Sadly I was unable to go, but I eagerly made feminist signs, created slogans, and supported my friends who did attend. I soaked in everything about the abortion rights movement.  It was a turning point in my political consciousness.

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The health care reform fight continues, but your voices are being heard!

The ongoing effort to reform our health care system received a shock on Tuesday with Scott Brown’s upset win against Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts Senate election race to replace the late Edward M. Kennedy Jr.. This means that Democrats no longer have the filibuster-proof 60-seat majority to pass health care reform as planned, and are currently in the process of re-assessing their efforts and strategies.

Several options have been put forward, but it is as-of-yet unclear what strategy will prevail. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has already announced that the House will not adopt the Senate bill, a strategy that would have avoided another vote in the Senate. The Senate version of the health care reform legislation includes the problematic Nelson-Casey provision that would place tremendous bureaucratic obstacles for abortion to be included in insurance packages in the Exchange. Additionally, the Senate bill would not allow undocumented persons to purchase health insurance from the Exchange with their own money. Another option, one put forward by President Obama, would be to pass a smaller, pared-down bill that encompasses some “core elements” of the reforms currently being proposed. Yet another option would rely on the budget reconciliation process. What has become clear, however, is that lawmakers are operating under different circumstances than they were before the Massachusetts election results.

Staff from the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) visited the offices of key legislators this week, and we will continue to work towards the best possible package. Legislators said they have received a record number of phone calls and letters from our activists on the ground and in their districts. We must sincerely thank you for your support and continued hard work – your voices are being heard.

As we commemorate the 37th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, it is critical for us to advance a national reproductive justice agenda. We will continue to update you as this situation develops, and continue to demand that health care reform not be passed on the backs of women and immigrants. ¡Que siga la lucha!

In Solidarity,

The NLIRH staff

P.S. Check out some of our recent media hits related to health care reform!

RH Reality Check: “Securing Real Choices Means Going Beyond “Choice”

Silvia Henriquez, NLIRH Executive Director on GritTV

Houston Chronicle: “Now is the time for Latinas to speak up!”

CNN.com: “Latinas need a voice in the abortion debate”

New York Times Letter to the Editor by Silvia Henriquez

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