Lobbyist for a Day: Advocating for my Right to Uncensored, Medically Accurate Health Information

When you hear the word lobbyist, what comes to mind? Special interests, back-door wheelings and dealings, and other generally shady shenanigans, right? Not always, as it turns out.

Last Tuesday, I had the opportunity to lobby my representatives in Congress as part of Intern Advocacy Day, a joint endeavor between Advocates for Youth, SIECUS, CHANGE, and Choice USA. Over forty interns from various health advocacy organizations around DC gathered near the Capitol to advocate on behalf of two very important pieces of legislation, the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act and the Global Democracy Promotion Act.

As an NWLC intern and as a person who cares about the rights of women more generally, I was eager to urge my congressional delegation to champion these bills. Although they differ wildly in scope, both pieces of legislation are premised on the idea that the best way to promote healthy, empowered decision-making is through the provision of uncensored, scientifically accurate information that is free of ideological biases and paternalistic assumptions.

The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act, for instance, sets forth a policy vision for federally funded comprehensive sex education programs. It outlines standards that sex education curricula must adhere to in order to receive federal funding, directs grant money to comprehensive sex education programs that prioritize information over ideology, and allows for education that is inclusive of lesbian, gay, and bisexual students. The legislation also requires that sex education programs discuss healthy relationships, self-esteem, decision-making, sexual assault, bullying and harassment, and other important issues in addition to abstinence and contraception.

Similarly, the Global Democracy Promotion Act preserves women’s access to information about reproductive health care abroad by permanently repealing the Global Gag Rule. Although it is not currently in effect, the Global Gag Rule has historically undermined reproductive health care worldwide by denying foreign NGOs receiving U.S. family planning assistance the right to use their own, non-US funds to provide legal abortion services, advocate for abortion law reform in their countries, or provide accurate medical counseling or referrals for abortion. In addition to eroding access to contraception and hampering HIV prevention efforts, the Global Gag Rule interferes with the doctor/patient relationship and fundamentally undermines freedom of speech by forcing health care providers to withhold information.

Though it is unlikely that either of these bills will see any action before the end of this legislative session, it is still critically important to drum up support in Congress by reaching out to legislators. During my day on the Hill, I visited with legislative aides in the offices of Wisconsin Representative Tammy Baldwin and Wisconsin . (I ran into Senator Kohl in the waiting room and he was kind enough to pose for this gem of a photograph). I also dropped off informational packets for Wisconsin legislators who are less amendable to these bills in order to help them understand why they are so important to Wisconsin constituents.

I’m a strong believer in that old School House Rock adage “Knowledge is Power!” Whether it’s at home or abroad, women and youth need unfettered access to unbiased, accurate information in order to make empowered decisions about their health and well-being.