February 2011 Meeting Minutes

Hey Voxers, new and old! I'm going to be posting our meeting minutes for the Spring semester, so here's a run-down of what we've accomplished so far.

Also, our meetings for this year will be in Cabell 234 at 7 pm every week. Except for tomorrow (March 1), when we'll be joining FIFE for their weekly meeting at 7:30 in Newcomb 389 to discuss the recent legislation in Congress related to funding Planned Parenthood.

And now for the minutes!

February 22

We have a date/time/location for Sexual Arts and Crafts! Yay! April 12, 6:30 - 8:30 pm in the Green Room at Runk!

In less pleasant news, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Pence Amendment on February 18th, 240-185, which wants to deny all federal funding for Planned Parenthood -- not just for abortions, but also for HIV testing, birth control, cancer screenings, STI treatment, and many more preventative services. The House voted overwhelmingly along party lines, which allowed it to be passed.... if the Senate votes the same way, it should NOT pass, but we shall see ...

If passed, the Pence amendment would cut finding for family planning and preventative services, which are the vast majority of the services that Planned Parenthood provides. These services are mostly utilized by uninsured and lower socioeconomic bracket individuals, so cutting funding would really hurt them. Three million people would be at risk of losing out on these preventative services if this bill passes the Senate. Again, abortions comprise only 3% of Planned Parenthood's services!!

Vox members -- we will try to flyer in the next couple weeks -- if you're computer graphically gifted, consider making a flyer to put up around Grounds to alert students about what's happening!

For more information, click!

Sign Planned Parenthood's open letter to the U.S. Congress, encouraging the Senate to vote down the Pence Amendment!

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February 15

Sexual Arts and Crafts!

• We would like a number of other CIOs represented, including the Peer Health Educators, a queer organization such as QSU or Sigma Omicron Rho, a domestic violence awareness groups such as SARA or SAFE, and more!
• Tables about birth control, breast self exams
• A table on CPC (Crisis Pregnancy Centers), educating people about other options, information from the NARAL study
• Political advocacy -- writing letters to U.S. representatives
• Possibly an Easter Egg hunt?
• Condom station (condom races, OPRAH method)
• Food -- chocolate lollipops, cookie decorating
• Trivia -- for goodie bag prizes
• Event theme -- carnival? Circus ring? Other ideas

Vox members -- think about what you'd like to be in charge of for Sexual Arts and Crafts, and bring friends to help out! :)

Also, get ready for a possible movie night after Spring Break!

And congrats to Anna, who is taking over presidential duties! :)

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That's all, folks! Stay tuned for more Vox news! :)

-Margaret

Health Care Reform Passes!

Two posts in one night... this is something new!

Four months after it passed in the Senate, the House of Representatives voted 219-212 to pass a landmark health care reform bill that will extend coverage to 30 million Americans! It includes provisions for affordable family planning and preventative care under Medicaid, greater access to reproductive care, cancer screenings, ending gender discrimination by private insurers and stopping insurers from dropping coverage due to pre-existing conditions. It's definitely something to celebrate!

It is also important to note that the Stupak abortion ban, which would have denied women coverage for abortion, even under private health insurance, was not included in the health reform bill. However, in order to secure votes from conservative Democrats like Rep. Bart Stupak, President Obama has promised to write an executive order that will reaffirm the Hyde Amendment and stop federal funding for elective abortion procedures.

Still, this is a undoubtedly a historic day for America that will hopefully bring visible change to our nation's health!

Also, check out the statement on the health care reform bill from Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

~Margaret

Awesome Newcomb Display Case/TBTN Blog

Hey guys! If you're in Newcomb over the next week, check out our amazing Vox display case! It's on the 2nd floor, next to the far entrance to the dining hall (you know, the one that's closer to the salad bar). It's bright pink so you can't miss it! Picture coming tomorrow!

Also, check out the blog for Take Back the Night, which is coming next month!

Happy Spring!

~Margaret

Spring Updates -- Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Hey Voxers! Here's what's been going on so far this semester!

-We've been discussing NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia's year-long, state-wide investigation of 52 crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) that has uncovered a number of troubling findings about the medically inaccurate information that the staff of these centers have been providing to women.

Amber Banks, a UVA alum and former president of Vox, talked to the group about the dangers posed by these centers, the vast majority (38 of 52) of which do not have medically trained staff and are not properly licensed. The centers are not regulated to ensure that patients receive correct information about reproductive-health options nor for the confidentiality of their personal information.

Virginia CPC's told undercover NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia volunteers and staff inaccuracies such as.... "All condoms have flaws of holes...", "the risk of breast cancer almost doubles after one abortion and rises even further with two or more abortions," and "Women will commit suicide post-abortions."

Furthermore, by purposely disseminating inaccurate information, many CPCs are in violation of the 'Commitment of Care' standards they agreed to in order to receive funding from the sale of Virginia's 'Choose Life' license plates. NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia is attempting to pass a bill in the General Assembly that would force the CPCs to only share information deemed medically accurate by the Department of Health, and to clearly post signs stating that they do not refer for abortions and birth control and do not always enforce HIPAA confidentiality.

For much more information, to sign the petition, and to read the complete report, visit NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia Foundation's website.

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If you'd like your work to be included in FIFE's (Feminism if For Everyone) zine 'That's What S|he Said,' you can submit writing and artwork until February 19th at midnight. The focus this semester is 'Sex, Sexuality and Gender.' Send them to femmag@gmail.com. And take this survey.... the results will be included in the zine!

Mark your calendars for these exciting upcoming events!

--Emergency Contraception Scavenger Hunt with FIFE -- Tuesday, 7:30 pm in Minor 130. We'll be calling local pharmacies to learn about their policies towards carrying and dispensing EC!

-Sexual Arts and Crafts is planned for mid-March

-Take Back the Night will be the week of April 8th

-Margaret

Happy November, Voxers!

Hey guys!   Thanks to everyone who came out to Sexual Arts and Crafts, it was a great event with an awesome turnout!  And Halloween was made safer by our very own Safer Sex Fairies!

Here's an article about Sexual Arts and Crafts from last week's Cavalier Daily:

http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2009/10/23/safe-sex/

But there's still lots to do this semester!  Check back here (and our e-mail list) for updates about future meetings.

At our next meeting, this Thursday, November 5th at 7:15 pm in Cabell 222, Stephanie Shaw from Planned Parenthood's public policy department will speak about the role of women's health in the health care debate, covering topics such as the Hyde amendment, the Mikulski amendment, abortion coverage, the issue of pregnancy and domestic violence being considered pre-existing conditions by insurance companies, and what women and all reproductive health advocates can do to participate in the debate about health care reform. 

Plus.... free pizza!! :)

And...don't forget to vote this Tuesday!

-Margaret

P.S. Sorry for utterly failing as Secretary in recent weeks... I'm going to attempt to be way more consistent with updates! :)

SEXUAL ARTS AND CRAFTS

SEXUAL ARTS AND CRAFTS is TOMORROWWWWW!!!!!

I'm super excited and super stressed but I know that it's going to be amazing. SO come one, come all and learn the things you never did in high school, ask the questions you never felt comfortable asking, play some fun games and win some sweet prizes while you're at it!!

xo Tati

Articles!

Hi out there, everybody! I volunteered to be Media Watchdog at the beginning of the year, but I haven't gotten much (or, um, anything) done in that role since then...until now! Here are a few items of note.

First, you may have seen this on the front page of today's New York Times, but in case you didn't, here's a look at how abortion factors into the health care debate:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/health/policy/29abortion.html

Texans finding a better use for government money:

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/28/texas-contraception/

I also wanted to share a couple links about mandatory waiting period laws. I feel like it's an issue that sort of slips through the cracks in a lot of discussions about reproductive rights. You don't hear a whole lot about it, but it's actually very important. Think about a woman in a rural location, having to travel hours to get to an abortion clinic- and then having to either make ANOTHER trip 24-48 hours later, or else get a hotel and incur those expenses. And of course, she might be missing work, or she might need to find someone to watch her kids, or she may not have reliable transportation...these laws create so many needless obstacles. Here's a wikipedia map showing which states have these laws (Virginia is one of them):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_US_mandatory_waiting_period_laws.svg

A report from the Guttmacher Institute about this issue (as well as the related issue of mandatory counseling):

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/MandatoryCounseling.pdf

And a nice piece about one of these laws in South Carolina:

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20090503/NEWS/905019935?Title=Abortion-waiting-period-Bill-hits-women-below-the-belt

That's all for now! Hope your week's going well!

-Matthew