Tillis’ Lady Problem

In a move surprising no one, Speaker Thom Tillis took to the airwaves to accuse Senator Kay Hagan, his opponent in the US Senate race, of being bad at math.  Let that sink in for a minute…

This isn’t the first time Tillis has used thinly-veiled sexism as a political tactic. Just a few months ago, he accused Rep. Susi Hamilton of being “emotional” in response to her strong advocacy for a bill that would protect jobs in her district. Keep it up Tillis! Women remember and women will vote in November!

Engaging Young Voters

by Evey Wilson with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice about their experience at the 2014 NC Reproductive Justice Youth Summit, hosted by NARAL Pro-Choice NC Foundation. Reposted with Permission.  Original posting available here. 

Young people can be a difficult audience to reach. NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina Foundation tackled this challenge by partnering with other nonprofits to sponsor a day-long Reproductive Justice Summit targeting youth ages 16-24 for a series of advocacy skill sessions. SCSJ voting rights organizing intern Xan McKnight let a session entitled “Navigating North Carolina Voting Laws,” where she spoke to young voters at a session co-taught by Trenten McNeill and Alyssa Davis of Democracy North Carolina.

Xan’s presentation focused on ways that North Carolina’s draconian new voting laws suppress the vote of youth, the elderly, women, communities of color, and other vulnerable populations. Through audience participation, a list of voter impediments was created, followed by a list of existing and proposed solutions. Trenten and Alyssa focused on the nuts and bolts of the new voter suppression law. The final segment was a collaborative discussion of best practices in nonpartisan community organizing to help young people become engaged in elections, help coordinate voter awareness on college campuses, and assist people without photo ID in obtaining free state-issued identification before the new voter ID law goes into effect in 2016.

Speakers from SisterSong, Advocates for Youth, Youth Empowered Solutions (YES!), NARAL Pro-Choice NC Foundation, Equality NC, and Third Space Studio facilitated the summit and over 100 young leaders ages 16-24 came together to participate. They discusses how to create social change in their communities, especially pertaining to issues of Reproductive Justice, which is the intersection of reproductive rights and social justice. Sessions included discussions about identity, youth activism, the impact of personal stories, health care, how to actively listen and open a dialogue with more difficult/resistant audiences, and how to create a plan for the future of reproductive justice in North Carolina. SCSJ supports Reproductive Justice issues and recognizes the important intersectionality between reproductive justice issues and other social justice issues.

 

New NC Voting Restrictions Heavily Burden Women

“Voter suppression is a critical reproductive justice issue. Because of the new voter suppression laws, hundreds of thousands of women in North Carolina could be denied the right to express themselves on issues that directly impact their lives and their futures; these issues include the right to decide whether, when and with whom to have children,” said Suzanne Buckley, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina Foundation.

To learn more about how North Carolina’s new voting restrictions impact women, visit http://www.southerncoalition.org/nc-women-voters-heavily-burdened-by-new-voting-restrictions/

Elections Matter: Vote.

Over the past two years we have witnessed more than 1,500 legislative attacks on women and health care, in all 50 states and at every level of government.

In North Carolina, we have seen attempts to deny women access to cervical cancer screening and birth control by voting to defund Planned Parenthood.  We have witnessed our elected officials imposing regulations on doctors and medical providers that have absolutely nothing to do with protecting women’s health and everything to do with shutting abortion providers down.  We have even seen the enactment of mandatory ultrasounds, which force a woman to succumb to a government-mandated procedure.  We have seen the enactment of laws that use the state to funnel money to “crisis pregnancy centers,” facilities that prioritize ideology above women’s well-being and post-pone their access to legitimate health-care providers with potentially harmful results. Laws like these threaten women’s health as well as their liberty.

But there is something you can do: Vote.

Without health centers like Planned Parenthood, thousands of women in North Carolina will lose access to the low-cost health services they rely on for a wide-range of services from cancer screenings to prenatal care. This will lead to higher rates of unintended pregnancies, increased rates of sexually transmitted diseases, and — without adequate preventive care — increased emergency room visits and higher health care premiums. Mandatory ultrasounds and waiting periods not only undermine a woman’s individual liberty but they also have economic effects: A woman forced to drive two or three times longer to a health clinic will spend more money on gas (if she even has transportation), pay more in child care, take more time off from work, and have less to contribute to her local economy.

Elections matter. Those we elect on November 6 will have an unprecedented amount of control over women’s economic future, our access to health care and freedom to make personal, private decisions.  Make your voice heard.

Vote Against: The Importance of Your Vote Against Amendment One

May 8^th marks a tremendously significant day in North Carolina’s history and in its future; this Tuesday, our state will cast its final vote on the notorious Amendment One, “a constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized by this State.”[1] If passed, this amendment would negate the possibility of any form of same-sex union in our state, and it permanently categorizes LGBTQ individuals as people undeserving of equal rights.

As a member of the Coalition to Protect NC Families and an ardent advocate for the equal rights of people of every gender, race, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina is strongly against Amendment One. This amendment not only threatens the families, the health, and the livelihood of the individual group of people it targets; it represents an egregious violation of the civil rights of all North Carolinians.

You may be thinking: why does NARAL—an organization focused on women’s reproductive rights—take such a firm stance on this seemingly unrelated issue? Why is our organization such a loyal and unhesitating member of the Coalition to Protect NC Families?

NARAL is so strongly committed to standing up against Amendment One for reasons directly and indirectly related to women’s health. On the direct level, the amendment veritably endangers single women from their protections against domestic violence and threatens the ability of unmarried women to receive healthcare benefits.  And on the indirect level, we are sure that a state of true women’s equality and women’s freedom cannot be achieved until all individuals are freed from social, legal, and institutional discrimination. The forces of oppression and injustice imposed by Amendment One jeopardize the possibility of a discrimination-free future for not just the LGTBQ community, but also for every community and individual in our state that experiences any form of inequality.

We hope our readers and supporters will stand by us in voting against Amendment One and by confirming that we, the people of North Carolina, are better than that.

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[1] http://www.protectallncfamilies.org/the-truth