Jewish Alliance for Law
and Social Action - www.jewishalliance.org.
18
Tremont Street, Suite 320, Boston, 02108 - tel: 617-227-3000 fax:
617-227-3453
13 Tammuz 5765 July 19, 2005
Important News and Action Items for Reproductive Rights on the State And Federal Levels
Massachusetts: Emergency Contraception Bill
As many of you may know, the State House and Senate have voted to
pass,
"An Act Providing Timely Access to Emergency
Contraception”. A conference committee is
now ironing out the
differences in the versions. We ask that you please contact members
of the
Conference Committee, the House Speaker and the Senate President
immediately.
With your help, we can ensure passage of this very important
bill.
This bill would require hospital emergency rooms in Massachusetts to make EC
available
to rape survivors and would also allow specially trained
pharmacists to dispense EC without a prescription.
EC, which helps prevent
pregnancy if taken within five days of unprotected sex, is safer than
aspirin,
and is most effective if taken within the first 12-24 hours. EC is
not RU486, the abortion pill,
and it will not affect an existing
pregnancy.
It is important that your letters 1) ask for support of the emergency
contraception (EC bill);
2) Stress that “Women who have been subject to rape
must not be neglected by this community.”
All emergency rooms must provide
this help to rape survivors.
3) The legislation must ensure that all
pharmacies provide someone who can fill these prescriptions. Pharmacies must not
be allowed to refuse to fill such prescriptions.
Action:
Please write immediate to the
legislative leadership and the members of the Conference Committee:
Speaker
Sal DiMasi. Rep.SalvatoreDiMasi@Hou.State.MA.US.
Representative
Peter Koutoujian Rep.PeterKoutoujian@Hou.State.MA.US.
Representative
Lita Harkins Rep.LidaHarkins@Hou.State.MA.US.
Representative
Shirley Gomes Rep.ShirleyGomes@Hou.State.MA.US.
Senate President Robert Travaglini Robert.Travaglini@state.ma.us.
Senator
Pamela Resor Pamela.Resor@state.ma.us.
Senator
Susan Fargo Susan.Fargo@state.ma.us.
Senator
Richard Tisei Richard.Tisei@state.ma.us.
Federal: Sandra Day O'Connor is retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court!
As you know, Justice O’Connor has cast the key swing vote on a variety
of important court cases,
including those that have upheld Roe v. Wade and
other cases affirming civil liberties,
particularly separation of church and
state.
The President is expected to announce his nominee tonight for the US Supreme
Court seat
being vacated by Justice O’Connor. Groups across the country have
spelled out qualifications
for any appointment.
See http://jewishalliance.org/info/0000009e.htm.
for
a statement from Jewish social justice groups across the country.
These
groups have urged the President to make this appointment with
consultation
with the Senate of the United States. These groups have urged
Senators to fully appreciate
the importance of their role in uniting the
country rather than causing further divisions.
These groups urge the Senate
to approve only nominees that understand the importance
of key civil rights
precedents, such as Roe v. Wade.
The following websites will be useful in the days ahead to know more about
potential nominees:
National Council of Jewish Women: www.benchmarkcampaign.org/.
Religious
Action Center of Reform Judaism: http://rac.org/_kd/go.cfm?destination=Page&Pge_ID=2670.
Alliance
for Justice: www.allianceforjustice.org/.
(direct SUPREME COURT PODCAST)
People for the American Way: www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/.
Planned
Parenthood Federation of America www.plannedparenthood.org.
American
Civil Liberties Union www.aclu.org.
NARAL Pro Choice America
www.naral.org/.
Action: JALSA would like to see the
statement of the national social justice groups
displayed prominently in
other New England States. Individuals willing to work to get coverage
of that
statement in Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut may email the office
at
office@jalsa.org or call 617-227-3000.
Federal: Pharmacists Do Not Have the Right to
Determine Women's Health Care
and Childbearing Decisions
Action Needed: Urge your U.S. senators and
representatives to support the
Access to Legal
Pharmaceuticals Act, ALPhA, S. 809 introduced by Senator Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ), and H.R. 1652 introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and
Christopher Shays (R-CT). This important bipartisan legislation will protect an
individual's right to have access to legal contraception. If a pharmacist has a
personal objection to filling a legal prescription for a drug or device, the
pharmacy will be required to ensure that the prescription is filled by another
pharmacist employed by the pharmacy who does not have a personal objection. This
includes all legal prescriptions.
Reports of pharmacists refusing to fill legally-prescribed prescriptions for
birth control, including
emergency contraceptives, have surfaced in states
across the nation, including California, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina,
Ohio, Texas, Washington state and Wisconsin. These refusals to dispense
prescription contraceptives appear to be based on a pharmacist's personal
religious beliefs; the same pharmacists who refuse to dispense contraceptives
because of their personal beliefs often refuse to hand a woman's prescription to
another pharmacist on site or refer her to a different pharmacy. This further
compounds their unprofessional action and seriously impedes the right of women
to seek timely and safe prescriptions, especially when their whole physical,
psychological and family planning future is at stake. It is arbitrary and
discriminatory for pharmacists to refuse to dispense legally-prescribed birth
control, holding the power over customers and delaying or preventing women from
meeting their most basic health needs, including pregnancy prevention and
treatment of various medical conditions. Pharmacist refusals are particularly
burdensome to rural and low-income women, who may be unable to find or travel to
another pharmacy to have their prescriptions filled without considerable
hardship.
Under ALPhA, pharmacists cannot prevent or deter an individual from filling a
legal prescription
for drugs or devices. Refusing to return or transfer a
prescription would be prohibited under the ALPhA as well. The pharmacist cannot
harass, humiliate or intentionally breach the confidentiality of the individual
attempting to fill the prescription. The prescription must be filled without
delay, and in a time frame consistent with the amount of time it would take the
pharmacy to fill a prescription that is not personally objectionable to the
pharmacist. Example: If it takes a pharmacy one hour to fill prescriptions for
diabetes medication, it should take one hour to fill a prescription for birth
control.
Action: To urge your US Senators and
Representative to support ALPhA, please follow the following link:
http://www.now.org/issues/abortion/062305pharmacists.html.
Individuals who would like to work on the Reproductive Rights Working Group
of JALSA
should email the chair Sharon Morgenbesser at the JALSA office: office@jalsa.org. .
Recommended Reading:
Taking Our Values
Public Bernie Horn July 13, 2005
Bernie Horn is
senior director of policy and communications at the Center for Policy
Alternatives.
www.tompaine.com/articles/20050713/taking_our_values_public.php.
The Responsibility Ruse Maya Rockeymoore,
Ph.D. July 12, 2005
Dr. Maya Rockeymoore is the former vice
president of research and programs at the
Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation. She is author of The Political Action Handbook: A How-To Guide for
the Hip Hop Generation and co-editor of Strengthening Communities: Social
Insurance in a Diverse America.
www.tompaine.com/articles/20050712/the_responsibility_ruse.php.
What's At Stake For Women Ellen
Chesler July 11, 2005
Ellen Chesler is a senior
fellow at the Open Society Institute and
author of a 1992 biography of
Margaret Sanger.
This is adapted from the cover story of the summer issue of
Ms. Magazine. Read the full article online: www.msmagazine.com/summer2005/birthcontrol.asp.
shorter
article: www.tompaine.com/articles/20050711/whats_at_stake_for_women.php.
Legal Child Abuse: The Harm of Parental Involvement Laws Diana Philip June
17, 2005
www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.aspx?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=836265.
Other issues at stake with this nomination
The Supreme Boardroom Lee
Drutman July 15, 2005
www.tompaine.com/articles/20050715/the_supreme_boardroom.php.
Lee
Drutman is the co-author of The People’s Business: Controlling Corporations and
Restoring Democracy.
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