PRENDA

Here’s to a new year.

Arriving at the National Women’s Law Center three months ago, I never anticipated just how sustained and systemic the efforts to dismantle women’s health and reproductive rights had become.  Sure, I had paid attention to the Planned Parenthood defunding fight (which included the “trade” for a ban on DC funding of abortion services and the “this is not meant to be a factual statement” debacle) and had heard about HR 3 and the disgusting “forcible rape” debate. Indeed, it was those events that informed my decision to work on reproductive rights issues full time. But even though I was aware of what was going on, it was only when I became involved with the issues on a daily basis where I gained a whole new perspective on just how far those who oppose reproductive rights are going in order to completely unravel women’s rights. And it got me thinking, if so many bad things can happen in just my three months here, what will 2012 look like?

So in order to be prepared for this year, I decided to give a quick review of my first three months – a recap of the numerous anti-choice measures that cropped up in just the final months of 2011. Because when you lay it all out, you can’t ignore how serious these efforts really are.

In my very first week, the House of Representatives voted on HR 358, which literally would allow women to die at hospitals instead of getting the emergency care they need if it included abortion care. Seriously? Read more »

Anti-abortion advocates were in rare form during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution hearing on H.R. 3541, the Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011 ("PRENDA"). The bill would criminalize race and sex selective abortions. Throughout the hearing pro-PRENDA committee members shamelessly misappropriated and exploited civil rights and women's rights history in their crusade to rebrand their "anti-choice" agenda as a "civil rights" agenda. But this proved to be no easy task for pro-PRENDA committee members who unfortunately lacked knowledge of and respect for civil rights and women's rights. This led to several major offenses that outraged the civil rights community. And it revealed these committee members' true colors, exposing PRENDA for what it really is — just another attempt to turn back the clock on women's access to safe, legal abortion care.  

Offense #1: Misappropriating the Names of Susan B. Anthony and Fredrick Douglass

It is not uncommon for legislators to name bills after people who, either through influence or personal advocacy, have a special connection to the legislation. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which extends the federal hate crimes law to cover crimes based on perceived sexual orientation and disability, was named after two men who were victims of hate crimes. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, an act that combats pay discrimination against women, was named after the woman who had the courage and stamina to challenge the pay discrimination she had faced for almost two decades. Read more »

On December 6, 2011, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing on H.R. 3541, the Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011 (“PRENDA”).  The bill would criminalize race and sex selective abortions. According to the sponsors of the bill, it addresses the disproportionality high rate of abortions among black women and combats abortions performed in the name of son preference in some Asian communities.

Now, it is no surprise that the attacks on women’s reproductive rights continue unabated. But what’s unique (and absurd) about this particular attack is the way those opposed to women’s reproductive rights are shamelessly misappropriating civil right language and history in an attempt to bolster the legitimacy of their assault on women and to distract us from their true intentions. This absurdity was in full display in last week’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on PRENDA.

Throughout the hearing, women’s rights advocates, including many women of color, watched in amazement and disbelief as many committee members who have historically ignored their needs tried to convince the public (and possibly themselves) that they were the true champions of civil rights and women’s rights. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Arizona), the chairman of the committee and sponsor of the bill, led this charge, opening the hearing with a distorted version of our country’s civil rights history and deceptively invoking civil rights icons and civil rights activism for his own misguided purposes. (For more on this brazen misappropriation of civil rights history, stay tuned for part 2 of this blog.) Read more »

Recently, Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), and Karen Bass (D-CA) organized a briefing to highlight the state of reproductive justice for African American women. During this briefing, reproductive justice leaders came together to discuss recent legislative attacks on women’s reproductive rights generally, and challenges to African American women’s reproductive health specifically. Participants urged policy makers to provide full Medicaid coverage of abortion and support comprehensive sex education programs. Speakers also emphasized the importance of implementing policies that deal with the whole notion of “choice” as it relates to needs of black women. Such commitment, speakers highlighted, would entail working to remedy the compensation inequality, economic insecurity, barriers to housing and health care access, and barriers to education that severely impact black women’s choices and health outcomes. Ultimately, their message was clear—African American women need a stronger push for reproductive justice now more than ever.

It is no secret that reproductive rights took some major blows this year. From bans on private insurance for abortion to attempts to defund reproductive health services, our rights to live healthy reproductive lives have consistently been under assault. This has been especially true for African American women who have historically experienced disparities in access to health care, contraception, health education, and abortion care. In 2011 alone, African American women faced a number of reproductive rights challenges, including misleading and offensive billboard campaigns that targeted women in black communities with the apparent goal of “protecting” black women from themselves. Read more »