Starting in late March, Michigan women really  started feeling the affects of the “War on Women.” The state’s new law known as “rape insurance”—an additional insurance policy if she wants reimbursement for an abortion—went into effect.

This new law drops coverage of most abortions from existing policies. Women who do not buy insurance through an employer-based insurance plan will not be able to purchase the additional coverage, called an abortion rider, from Michigan insurers.

The medical journal Women’s Health Issues found that 36% of Michigan women lack health insurance, but 69% were paying out of pocket for abortion care. Not only are travel costs an issue, but so is the question of what is more important: is food and rent more important than my abortion? 14% of women who underwent abortions put off paying rent, 16% buying food, and 30% to pay utilities and other bills.

The “War on Women” is real and alive, especially in states like Michigan where women may have to pay out of pocket for a legal, medical procedure. Contact your state legislators and check their stances on abortion. More states cannot afford to have legislation like this.

The post Rape insurance abortion rider goes into effect in Michigan appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Sarah Hunt is a 15 year old sophomore from North Carolina who is participating in Progress Women’s “Legis-Ladies” project, which is aimed at getting more young women involved in politics. Below is her first article on how a new North Carolina gun law hurts women and teenagers.

Americans have been demanding gun reform from legislators for years. While many local and state governments have been passing laws that restrict the use of guns in certain places or making it harder to obtain a gun, North Carolina did the exact opposite. Last July, H.B. 937 or “The Act to Amend State Firearm Laws” was passed by North Carolina’s General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory; the law went into effect last October. The law has been given praise from pro-gun activists and organizations—such as Grassroots NC—but for progressives across the state and the country, it has been a defeat in the battle to create a safer America. The law is controversial for the fact that it allows concealed weapons in more public places, and allows gun owners to have more concealed weapons. While many Americans believe that guns can be used to safely protect themselves, it simply hurting Americans, especially women and teenagers.

The act allows for concealed weapon holders to keep their weapons in their cars on school and college campuses, even though school shootings are happening more often. Concealed weapon holders can now have their weapons at funerals, parks, parades, and other public places, even restaurants that serve alcohol. The act states that gun owners cannot consume alcohol if they have a concealed weapon. Restaurants can ban concealed weapons in their restaurants, but many are being boycotted by pro-gun groups.The act also made public records of handgun purchases and permits illegal, and sheriffs cannot limit the amount of permits a person can have. However, the act does improve the reporting of individuals who cannot buy a weapon, to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NCIS) and increased punishments for violators. This act is controversial and makes everyone wonder, “Do more guns create a safer society?”

NRA Executive vice President Wayne LaPierre seems to believe so, as he was quoted saying, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Would you rather have your 911 call bring a good guy with a gun from a mile away … or a minute away?”

Millions of Americans believe that more guns is the answer to stopping bad guys everywhere, but it is not factual. More guns rarely stop crime, with only 261 justifiable homicides committed in 2011.  When believing that more guns is the answer, it is the like using the argument that “more cars on the road would prevent car accidents” .

Despite recent violence at schools and public places, women have been at the forefront for pro-gun rights.The NRA claims that if women had guns it would protect them against predators. In fact, more guns do not help women, they hurt us. 94% of roughly 17,000 women are murdered by a man they knew. The most common weapon is a gun. When guns are involved in domestic violence situations, women are 5 times more likely to be shot and killed.  But, when states enforce stricter background checks, 38% of fewer women are killed. Ladies, we need to stand up for stricter gun laws.

Not only should women be standing up against gun violence, so should fellow teenagers. Teen violence is happening at an alarming rate. With guns being easily available, teenagers are able to commit more violent crimes. 86% of teen homicides include a firearm. Firearm death is also the second leading cause of death from people aged 1-19.The minimum age in most states to purchase a gun is 18, yet young teenagers still have access to guns. Teenagers may find guns in their homes, or get them from friends, or other sources. Most teenagers have grown up in a gun crazed society, and nearly one in four teenagers have witnessed a shooting. To many teenagers guns can be seen as almost as toys and not taken in a serious manner. To prevent this, we need to have open discussions in our schools and our homes about gun violence, and proper gun safety.

While many gun supporters have noted that guns are needed to defend ourselves in case of a domestic attack, women and teenagers are often the most vulnerable to gun violence. We need to speak up about the dangers of gun violence, and how it impacts our society. Contact your legislators and tell them we need gun safety laws. We cannot stay quiet about gun violence, and we cannot have the mentality that gun violence will never happen to us, because it can. It happens to thousands of Americans every year. One American lost to gun violence is one too many

The post How a new North Carolina gun law hurts women and teens appeared first on Occasional Planet.

If you are not familiar with Madison Kimrey, you are already behind the times.

She is a young but outspoken activist who took on North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory this past summer/fall over his voter suppression efforts (Huffington Post story HERE).  MSNBC even gave her their “#Disrupter of the Week” award recently.

See her in action as she speaks out at the North Carolina State Capitol.

She can’t vote yet why should that stop her?  We’re thrilled and proud to feature her this week as she tells her own story exclusive for ProgressWomen!

Courtesy of rawstory.com

 by Madison Kimrey of Burlington, North  Carolina, guest editor & 12 year old activist

I never thought when I started out by standing up to the way North Carolina’s Governor reacted to the concerns of ordinary citizens that I would  get  national attention.

I was just a girl at a protest, standing up for women’s rights and voting rights.

It just so happened I was standing on the sidewalk at a protest when the Governor’s staff decided to bring out some cake to joke around with us. That’s when people started paying a little more attention to me and I decided that if people were going to pay attention, I was going to try to do some good for the young people of my state and now, the young people of our nation.

Everything I’m doing keeps me busy, but I’m careful to stay in control of my life. I have school, my friends, and many other interests outside of activism, and all these things have to  be balanced. A lot of people want to talk to me. I’ve gotten many offers to do interviews, speak, write, and help various people and organizations. It’s very hard to say no to people, but sometimes it has to be done.

I think it’s important for young people and adults to remember that in order to change things, you don’t have to do everything; you just have to do something.

Of course, being 12 years old, there are a lot of ignorant comments made about me.

I find it sad that there are adults who think teenagers are not capable of understanding the world around them and can’t have talents to share to make the world a better place. I often wonder if I were a boy if some of these people would be saying the same these things about me.

I don’t take hateful comments personally or let them get me down. I figure if there are people out there who want young people, the future of our country, to be quiet just because they don’t agree with the views of those young people, that’s a good reason to work harder.

I also get a lot of messages of support and a lot of people have said they are impressed because I’m so young. I hope these people know I’m not alone. There are a lot of young people who have abilities far more impressive than my own.

If I can do this, anybody can. Everybody has talents and abilities they can use to be the change they want to see in the world.

I chose to speak out on the issue of pre-registration because it’s an issue that affects my friends and will soon affect me. I’ll be 16 in a little less than four years and I think that’s a pretty reasonable amount of time to have to work to get this opportunity for myself and other young people.

Really, I’m learning as I go here. I have no grand plan for exactly how this is going to go. I have a lot of ideas, but sometimes the best way to get to your destination is to follow the path.

That’s what I’m doing, following the path.

The post What it’s like to be a 12-year-old activist appeared first on Occasional Planet.

By Sarah Casteel, Clayton High School senior, St. Louis MO

While our society still faces sex-based workplace discrimination — clearly most often targeted at women — one would still think that enough progress has been made to accommodate mommies-to-be.

However, recent evaluations reveal that an outbreak of workplace discrimination complaints has occurred among pregnant women.

SEE THIS:  Bobbi Bockoras, Breastfeeding Mom, Allegedly Forced By Employer To Pump On Dirty Floor – via  Huffington Post last week.

Despite our celebration just weeks ago of the 35th Anniversary of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, a law which prevents employers from “treating a woman (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth,” women are still very much at risk of being forced to take unpaid leave, or even of being fired, because their employers will not accommodate for their relatively temporary circumstance.

Under the PDA, an employer who allows temporarily disabled employees to take disability leave or provides them with any other disability benefits must consider pregnancy to fall within these qualifications.  Yet, regardless of what the law says, pregnancy discrimination persists.

Members of Congress were prompted to construct this pregnancy protection Act by two Supreme Court decisions in the 70’s:

Geduldig v. Aiello (1973) Carolyn Aiello, a California resident, was temporarily disabled due to pregnancy — but the state’s Unemployment Insurance Code denied benefits to females in this predicament.  Aiello came together with other women who had been denied the same benefits and challenged this section of the Code as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Ultimately, in a 6-3 decision, the Court upheld the statute, claiming that adding pregnancy to disability insurance would be “extraordinarily expensive.”

General Electric Co. v. Gilbert (1976) Similar to the previous case, this case was about whether or not employers could legally exclude conditions related to pregnancy from employee disability, sickness and accident benefits.  Disregarding the several lower court decisions holding that excluding pregnancy from a health plan violated the gender discrimination section the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Court ruled in favor of General Electric.  Justice Rehnquist pointed out that — get this — pregnancy differs from other conditions because it is often “voluntarily undertaken and desired.”

Of course, this makes sense, because we know that nearly every pregnant woman consciously chose to become pregnant and desires to have a child at that point in her life.  Just kidding.  According to the Guttmacher Institute, between 37-70% of pregnancies in the United States are unintended.

Women complaining of this sex-based discrimination should have just gotten cosmetic surgery — at least that would have been covered by the plan.  Yeah, right.

The question now is, what can we do to stop this ridiculous, antiquated discrimination from continuing?

Well, we could always move to Germany — their maternity leave plan guarantees mommy AND daddy (or, you know, mommy and mommy) a 3 year job-protected leave following the birth of their child.

Unfortunately, such a policy will most likely never be taken up in good ol’ America.  However, Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has got our backs, ladies.  He introduced (and re-introduced after it died last year) the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would “… eliminate discrimination and promote women’s health and economic security by ensuring reasonable workplace accommodations for workers whose ability to perform the functions of a job are limited by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.”  Essentially, the law would close any loophole, induced by court decisions, allowing employers to discriminate against pregnant women.  The goal is not only to ensure the woman’s job safety, but to ensure reasonable accommodations while working and while on maternity leave.

So, while some of you ladies may jump at the sight of pink, our goal right now is to make sure the pink slip disappears from our country forever.

 As the This Is Personal campaign claims, “No woman should have to choose between endangering her pregnancy and keeping her job.”  

Click here to tell your members of Congress to support the PWF now. 

Republished, by permission, from Progress Women.

The post What to expect when you’re expecting appeared first on Occasional Planet.

by Emily Spangler, Progress Women

Mary Burke, Wisconsin

Mary Burke caught Progress Women’s eye right away: Burke has served as the popular bicycle company Trek’s vice president until 2004, has worked with the homeless, and has helped the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County. According to EMILY’s List, as Wisconsin’s commerce secretary, Mary helped create thousands of new jobs, promoted minority and women entrepreneurs, and has kept Wisconsinites safe by giving safety and building inspectors authority to shut down dangerous facilities across the state. Why should Wisconsin elect Mary Burke? Here’s a few reasons as to why:  Walker signed some of the country’s most radical anti-choice bills, including mandatory ultrasounds, a statewide, 19-week ban on abortions, and new restrictions that reduce the number of Wisconsin clinics providing any abortions to two. Wisconsin is ready for a major change, so let’s make history and elect Mary Burke as the Badger State’s first woman governor.

Eloise Gomez Reyes, California

Eloise Gomez Reyes is an attorney, community activist, and put herself through the University of Southern California and Loyola Law School, she has no problem with working hard. She also became the first Latina to open her own office in the Inland Empire – helping clients with everything from pensions and insurance to disability and Social Security and she helped found the Inland Empire Community Health Center and served as a Legal Aid volunteer for more than 25 years. Gomez Reyes is passionate about helping underserved families and fighting for the voiceless in her community. Her opponent is Congressman Gary Miller, a Congressman who touts his title of being California’s “most conservative member”. Gomez Reyes is the type of person we need in Congress. She will fight for those who need their voices to be heard, and will work hard to do so. Check out her website here!

Amanda Renteria, California

As a mom, a former high school teacher, and small business owner, Amanda Renteria wants to bring a unique voice to Washington to represent California’s 21st Congressional District. Renteria was the first-ever latina Senate chief of staff (Debbie Stabenow) and graduated with honors from Stanford University – the first Mexican-American from her small hometown to ever have been accepted. Running against Tea Party Congressman David Valadao will be quite the task, but with our support and help, we can help her win a top take-back district in 2014! Donate to Amanda Renteria here!

Martha Robertson, New York

Martha Robertson is a former teacher who became the first woman and the first Democrat from her district to be elected to the Tompkins County Legislature, where she forged a reputation for consensus-building and compromise in the interest of the county’s neighborhoods, small businesses and green spaces. Robertson has put an emphasis on education and the economy in her race. She is committed to giving back and serving her community. Let’s help her get elected.  Check out her website here.

This article is crossposted with permission of Progress Women, a Missouri-based site promoting progressive politics, feminism and empowering women to get involved.

Featured image credit: Womeninpoliticsmedia.com

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