Cafecito: Should contraception count as preventive health care?

Health care reform was recently signed into law, but federal officials are currently deciding what preventive care and screenings for women will be included. Still undecided is whether family planning will be included as a preventive health service.

Join us for a virtual cafecito on July 14th to discuss this issue in more detail and learn what you can do now to ensure that Latinas and other women have access to the full range of birth control options as a basic preventive health care service!

Wednesday 07/14/2010 – 1:00pm EST

It’s virtual (on the phone)! So bring your cafecito (coffee), and we will provide the call-in information upon registration. Click here to register for the Cafecito and receive the call-in information.

Note: This same cafecito will be facilitated in Spanish at 2pm – a separate registration is required. Please click here to register for the Spanish cafecito.

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Kagan confirmation hearings conclude with extensive panel of witnesses

By Lucy Panza, DC Policy Intern

 

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court concluded yesterday evening after three panels of approximately two dozen witnesses in total testified for and against her confirmation.  The panelists ranged from military veterans to a women’s rights activist to current and former law professors.  Diversity among the panelists stemmed mostly from their professional identities, but there was little racial diversity to behold.  Indeed, all but three of the witnesses were white, and none were Latina or Latino.

The purpose of the witnesses’ presence was to emphasize to the Committee and the general public that the confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice has real consequences in the lives of ordinary Americans.  First came Lily Ledbetter and Jack Gross, two famous civil rights plaintiffs whose gender and age discrimination cases, respectively, failed before the Supreme Court and cost them dearly.  Both Ledbetter and Gross supported Kagan’s nomination based on her testimony and what they have learned about her legal expertise and background.

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Supreme Court Justice Nominee Elena Kagan wraps up testimony in confirmation hearings

This is the first in a series of blog posts reporting on the confirmation hearings for Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Check back for posts throughout the hearings!

By Lucy Panza, DC Policy Intern

Solicitor General Elena Kagan completed her testimony in the Supreme Court nomination hearings yesterday.  She answered many questions with entertaining wit and humor, something not commonly seen in these types of proceedings, but without much substance on any issue that could conceivably come before the Court during her future tenure there.  As The New York Times reported:

Elena Kagan deflected questions about her own views on gun rights and abortion during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings on Tuesday, instead describing Supreme Court precedents. She declined to say whether terrorism suspects must be warned of the right to remain silent, saying the issue was “quite likely to get to the courts.”

The main attack narrative leveled at the nominee was that she is a lifelong political lawyer who would be unable to “take off [her] political hat,” as Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) said at one point, to become a Supreme Court Justice.  The attacks came from two angles: most of the Republican Senators reviled Kagan’s past reluctance to allow military recruiters onto the campus of Harvard Law School while she was Dean because of her objection to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy; and expressed a lot of concern about Kagan’s clerkship with former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall because of Marshall’s supposedly “activist agenda.”  Having answered the same question dozens of times, Kagan finally told Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), “I love Justice Marshall.  He did an enormous amount for me, but if you confirm me to this position, you’ll get Justice Kagan, you won’t get Justice Marshall. And that’s an important thing.”

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From NLIRH Exec. Director Silvia Henriquez: Building Latina Leaders, Defying Stereotypes & Transforming the 21st Century

Just recently, as I walked to the podium and accepted the Ms. Foundation’s Women of Vision Award, I was in awe. I stood in front of a roomful of leaders, advocates and supporters of the women’s movement to accept an award from Gloria Steinem — who I have revered since I was a young feminist in high school helping my school mates organize for the 1992 abortion rights march. As a 35- year-old Latina with immigrant parents, I never dreamed that one day I would meet Gloria Steinem, let alone accept a leadership award from her.  But now I realize that this moment represents one of the goals of the women’s movement — finding and supporting new and diverse voices to challenge stereotypes and transform the lives of millions of women and girls.

Silvia Henriquez Accepting the Ms. Foundation's "Woman of Vision" Award, presented to her by feminist icon, Gloria Steinem

The Ms. Foundation’s Women of Vision award is given each year to leaders working to advance an equitable society. For many of us who are in the day-to-day fight for women’s advancement, it’s a moment to reflect and celebrate our achievements. So often, we talk about all the challenges women still face—and believe me, there are many. I also can tell you — that looking around at all those faces, I truly understood — that there is real power in the women’s movement. And, despite mainstream media claims to the contrary, the movement for reproductive justice is strong and there is growing recognition that reproductive health doesn’t happen in isolation, and pregnancy and disease prevention programs built on stigma and shame aren’t making anybody any healthier.

Together, along with the Ms. Foundation, other donors, activists and advocates, we are building a foundation of new grassroots leaders: Latinas who are committed to ending poverty and discrimination and to affirming the right to self-determination for ourselves and our families.  Racism, sexism, poverty, xenophobia, educational disparities – all these issues are inextricably connected for Latinas.  Never before has it been so clear that Latinas have a stake in the intersection of social justice, human rights and reproductive rights.

Every Latina activist has a story-some of us claim reproductive rights as our motivation others devote their lives to immigration or environmental justice. Regardless- the women’s movement is diverse and in many communities being led by women of color. But more of us have to tell our story so that we can begin changing the perception of our women and girls and demonstrate our collective strength. These moments of recognition are especially important as many of our communities are suffering in the wake of the egregious Arizona anti-immigrant law, or as some women fight to make ends meet and are struggling to afford the health care they need.

There are 15 million Latinas nationwide.  Whether you choose to volunteer in your neighborhood, you work for a social justice organization or you simply share your unique story, each of us has an opportunity to use that collective power to ensure that our children, partners, and families will enjoy a healthier, more just world. Our time is now.

To tell your story or why you care about these issues, click here.

To learn more about ways you can get involved, click here.

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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 census that doesn’t represent many of us

By Sheila Reynoso, Research Intern

Filling out the Census that arrived in my mailbox this month brought up a recurring problem for me and others in the Latino community.

Once you reach question 8, it is a relief that you can finally check out a box that you could identify with. I am 100% Dominican, so I will confidently check the box that says, “Yes, other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino.” But once I get to question 9, what is my race? The Census does not consider Hispanic or Latino a race, because it encompasses many other races.

While I might understand this reasoning, isn’t it about time that we receive a box in the race category? I cannot identity with any of the races offered in question 9: I am not White, Black, African American, or Negro, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Other Asian, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro, Samoan, Other Pacific Islander or some other race. The only other choice that I have is to check off, “Some Other Race,” in which the wording of it makes it sound as if I do not even belong here.

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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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Happy International Women’s Day!

Every year on March 8th, we celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women – past, present and future. While every day should be International Women’s Day, today marks the day that we celebrate ordinary women as makers of herstory — a “day rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men,” the United Nations says.

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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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Why YOU Need to Speak Up About Health Reform

Throughout this health care reform fight, women of color have been organizing and telling Congress what we need for health care reform. Our voices have never been more crucial.

On October 27, 2009, the Women of Color United for Health Reform, a coalition led by the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH), hosted a call-in to encourage Latin@s, and their family members, to let their Congressmen know that we demand a national health care system that works for us. A day later, Choice USA hosted a different call-in, encouraging individuals to contact their Congressmen and demand the Hatch Amendment be removed from the Senate Finance Committee’s version of healthcare reform. The amendment allots $50 million to fund abstinence-only programs in public schools.

On October 20, 2009, Women of Color United for Health Reform also hosted a conference call with senior White House officials about the needs of women of color in health reform. With over 400 participants, and various media hits, the conference call was successful in letting the current administration know that as women of color, we are tired of being ignored when it comes to our health care needs.

Civic participation is one thing Latin@s NEED to work on. Our voting records prove it; we are not as involved in the American political process as we should be. The Latino population is estimated to include 30,000,000 individuals. Out of these, approximately 19,500,000 are Latino citizens of voting age.  Yet, only 11, 608,000 are registered to vote. Of these, only 9,745,000 voted in the 2008 Presidential elections. This amounts to less than 50% of the qualified Latino population voting. Amongst Latin@s, the percentage is even less – with only 5,000,000 registered Latinas who voted last year.

Needless to say, this makes it easier for the largely white and male Congress to ignore us when making important decisions that affect US directly – such as health reform and our right to safe and legal abortions. This was demonstrated in this weekend’s vote on health care reform legislation in the House of Representatives and the anti-choice amendment that was included.

It is citizen-led actions like these that force Congress to listen to our needs, which will ensure Latin@s get the health care we deserve. So go out and make sure you speak up; if not for yourself, for the 14,985,000 Latin@ daughters, mothers, and sisters that are being neglected at this very moment.

By Veronica Bernance, Communications and Development Intern

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