SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED: National Young Feminist Leadership Conference!

Hi everyone,

Quick conference update - your campus team is hard at work putting together what promises to be a fabulous 6th Annual National Young Feminist Leadership Conference! We've got a great lineup of some wonderful speakers announced that we wanted to share with you all:

• Eleanor Smeal, President, Feminist Majority Foundation
  
• Katherine Spillar, Executive Editor, Ms. magazine
• Jehmu Greene, President, Women's Media Center
• Jane Campbell, former Mayor of Cleveland and Chief of Staff, Office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
• Andrea Camp, Executive Director, US Congress Joint Economic Committee
• Latifa Lyles, Deputy Director, US Department of Labor Women's Bureau
• June Zeitlin, Director, CEDAW Education Project
• Heidi Williamson, National Policy Coordinator, SisterSong Women of Color Health Collective
• Shelby Knox, feminist organizer
• And much, much more! Check out our schedule online for more info!
  

Will we see you there? There's still a little over a week left to register - check out our conference website and register today so you don't miss out! Questions? Call 703-522-2214 and ask for a Campus Organizer! See you in a few weeks!

FMF Hails Roeder Jury Verdict, Calls on Justice Department to Act

In reaction to the unanimous jury verdict convicting Scott Roeder on one count of first-degree murder in the death of Dr. George Tiller and two counts of aggravated assault, Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal and Executive Vice President Katherine Spillar released the following statements:

Smeal said, “Defense efforts to establish that Roeder’s actions were justifiable failed miserably. The jury saw Roeder’s actions for what they were: cold-blooded murder.”

Spillar stated, “Roeder’s own words on the stand revealed that his ‘sidewalk counseling’ outside the clinic was a cover for his surveillance of Dr. Tiller’s ‘comings and goings’ and an opportunity to determine Tiller’s and the clinic’s vulnerabilities.” She continued, “Roeder’s testimony, during questioning by District Attorney Nola Foulston, opened the door wide for the Department of Justice to establish that there was a broader conspiracy to murder Dr. Tiller and other abortion providers. Now it is time for the federal Department of Justice to act.”

The Feminist Majority Foundation runs the National Clinic Access Project, which is the oldest and largest national clinic defense project in the nation. Executive Vice President Spillar attended the trial of Scott Roeder in Wichita, Kansas, and leads the project.

FMF helps abortion providers to keep clinics safe and open

Check out what Eleanor Smeal and Kathy Spillar have to say about the protection of Dr. Carhart's clinic in this Feminist Majority Foundation press release.

Feminist Majority Foundation Defends Targeted Nebraska Abortion Provider

The Feminist Majority Foundation joined pro-choice supporters nationwide in announcing their full support of Dr. Leroy Carhart and the Abortion and Contraception Clinic of Nebraska at a press conference in Omaha, Nebraska today. Pro-choice supporters from 16 states are defending the clinic. Dr. Carhart had traveled to Wichita each month to work with Dr. Tiller, who was assassinated in May.

Katherine Spillar, Executive Vice President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, joined Dr. Carhart and national pro-choice leaders including Terry O'Neill, National President of the National Organization for Women, at the Omaha press conference today. NARAL Pro-Choice America, the National Abortion Federation, and Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health also joined in support. "Anti-abortion extremists are trying to win on the streets what they have lost at the ballot box," said Spillar. "The Feminist Majority Foundation and its thousands of supporters nationwide are determined to defend Dr. Carhart and his courageous staff to keep this clinic safe and open."

The pro-choice press conference today in Omaha was in direct response to Operation Rescue of Wichita initiating targeted demonstrations and so-called "street counseling" in Omaha and at Dr. Carhart's Bellevue clinic this weekend. Troy Newman of Operation Rescue has announced a new multi-group campaign called "Keep it Closed," which aims to ensure Dr. Carhart does not open a late abortion clinic in Wichita, any other place in Kansas, or nearby Nebraska. And Newman hoped "through the use of peaceful, legal means" that Dr. Carhart "will soon be out of the abortion business for good."

The Nebraska State Health Department has confirmed that a complaint was filed by several anti-abortion groups, including Operation Rescue, against Dr. Carhart on many of the same allegations previously used to investigate Dr. Tiller. All such complaints filed against Dr. Tiller ultimately failed.

Dr. Carhart stated emphatically at the press conference that all patients will be seen today. Wearing a "Trust Women" button, he asserted he would not be intimidated and knows he provides a vital medical service.

Katherine Spillar continued, "In this country, we must not settle political differences of opinion by what amounts to a campaign of intimidation."

"Since the election of President Barack Obama, and now even more so since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller at his church in Wichita, Kansas, threats are escalating against abortion clinics in some 14 states," said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation. "For example, in Colorado, Donald Hertz has just been indicted for threatening Dr. Hern and his family. The constant vilifying of reproductive health providers as murderers is not only inflammatory, but is also contrary to established medical practices that save women's lives. Worse yet, it emboldens potential assassins."

Crisis of Deception: Fake Clinics Spread Misinformation on the Federal Dime

Katherine Spillar, Executive Vice President of Feminist Majority Foundation and Executive Editor of Ms. Magazine, has published a blog post on RHRealityCheck, a leading reproductive health and rights blog.

The posting, titled, "Crisis of Deception: Fake Clinics Spread Misinformation on the Federal Dime" is accompanied by a hard-hitting video, exposing what really goes on behind fake clinics' doors.

As the blog reads, "The flagrant deceit documented in the video accompanying this article will shock most people – regardless of their political persuasion."



Please read the blog, watch the video, tweet it and post it on your facebook pages! Anything you can do to get the word out!

We are at an absolutely crucial point: next week, the House Appropriations Labor Health and Human Services Committee will be considering whether to keep funding failed abstinence-only education programs and bogus crisis pregnancy centers, or whether to re-direct our tax dollars to scientifically-proven, evidence-based comprehensive sexual health education programs and services, as President Obama's proposed budget calls for.

Take action and make sure your voice is heard now!

Choices Campus Leadership Interns Kick off the Summer in LA!

Hey Feminists!

Summer has begun here in Southern California, where we have just started our exciting new internships at the Feminist Majority Foundation. There are seven of us so far and ten more to come. We’re already busy at work here in our beautiful workspace.

Yesterday, our first day of orientation, we had the opportunity to meet Kathy Spillar, the Executive Vice President of FMF, who sat down with us for over two hours and described the incredible work the Feminist Majority Foundation is doing and the action campaigns we will be working on this summer. Some of the campaigns we’re excited about are the Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics, the Afghan Women’s Health Initiative and the Global Reproductive Rights Campaign.

We also had the opportunity to meet each other and are excited to work together this summer.

Jenna, a student from Scripps College spent the year studying in Mexico, Senegal and France and is majoring in International Relations and French.

Beau is a student at Harvard, majoring in Human and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in film. She just got back from teaching English in Burkina Faso.

Sierra is a senior at Occidental College and an American Women’s History major.

Jessica just received her BA is Sociology and Studies of Women and Gender from the University of Virginia.

Danae is a senior at Hastings College, studying Communications Studies, Music and Women’s Studies.

Julia just graduated from UCR with degrees in English and Women’s Studies and hopes to go to Loyola University in Chicago for the dual masters degree in Social Work and Women’s Studies program.

Anita Lederer is a senior at Boston College, majoring in History and Political Science.

We look forward to many more blog posts!