NYC Passes Bill to Regulate Crisis Pregnancy Centers!

As part of a new national trend, states are attempting to expose the deception of Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) and New York has taken the lead and passed a historic city ordinance (Bill 371) that will regulate fake clinics in being truthful on what types of services they do and do not provide. This news is a bright spot during these current chaotic times where women's access to comprehensive reproductive health services are being put on the chopping block.

It is shocking that CPCs overwhelm and outnumber comprehensive women's health clinics with a 3,500 CPCs listed nationwide. The New York City council stated that, "The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges that comprehensive prenatal care begin as soon as a woman decides to become pregnant. Similar to prenatal care, delayed access to abortion and emergency contraception poses a threat to public health. Delay in accessing abortion or emergency contraception creates increased health risks and financial burdens, and may eliminate a womens ability to obtain these services altogether, severely limiting her reproductive health options". The bill regulates CPCs by requiring them to:

• Disclose to a client that the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene encourages women to consult with a licensed medical provider.
• Disclose if there is no licensed medical provider on staff.
• Disclose if it does or does not provide referrals for abortion, emergency contraception, or prenatal care.
• Post disclosures at the entrance and waiting room (in both English and Spanish).
• Disclosures are required to be given over the phone.

New York is not the first state to pressure CPCs to provide honest and comprehensive health care, Maryland and Texas have passed similar bills to regulate CPCs. The state of Washington has also tried to pass a similar bill, the "Limited Service Pregnancy Center Accountability Act".

As people all over the country fight for reproductive rights and access to comprehensive women's health clinics, there is a presence of deceptive "clinics" that offer limited resources to those in need. Access to family planning and basic medical care has become a dire task with the presence of fake clinics. Crisis Pregnancy Center's (CPCs) are clinics that pose to be clinics under names like "Pregnancy Aid", "Open Door", and "Pregnancy Counseling Center". CPCs target young, poor, and minority women who have limited resources to family planning and contraceptives. These clinics use misleading advertisements to delay, persuade, and intimidate women from receiving the health care they need. Many of these clinics are affiliated with anti-choice organizations and do not perform abortions or give referrals to clinics that do. What's even more ridiculous is the fact that many of these "clinics" do not have staff that are medically trained-lacking licensed doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners.

The Feminist Majority Foundation has been a part of a large movement to stop CPCs from providing false and misleading information. Our Choices Campus Leadership Program has organized and mobilized with students all over the country to expose fake clinics and promote truth in advertising. This is a victory and stride towards reproductive rights.

If you want to expose fake clinics and give people access to comprehensive health care, please join the Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics and get involved in FMF's National "Don't Be Fooled by Fake Clinics" Week of Action happening the week leading up to April Fool's Day from March 28th- April 1st!

Some other ideas to take action on exposing CPCs:

• Make CPC exposure a priority in your campus feminist club.
• Talk to student government about promoting truth in advertising on campus.
• Go to the health center at your school to see what kinds of clinics they refer and find out if CPCs are on that list.
• Check out our action kit to find videos, petitions, flyers, and other great resources!
• Sign the petition to Stop funding for Fake Clinics and Abstinence-Only Education! Stop Deceptive Advertising Practices!

Most importantly, educate yourself on the issue and make sure that those around you know that the presence of these fake clinics pose serious risks and should not be relied on as primary healthcare. The best thing you can do as an activist is to be VOCAL on the issue and don't be afraid to get LOUD about it!

photo credit to: www.flickr.com/mysticchildz

Ms. Magazine: Reclaim the Name

This last week, Natalie Hart wrote a post about Reclaim The Name, a project she undertook in school to replace “I’m not a feminist but…” with “I am a feminist because…” Natalie notes that her idea behind the campaign was to:

"remove any damning myths associated with the feminist movement by coming out, loud and proud, about the reality of what being a feminist really means."

Natalie, we couldn’t agree more with you.

Here at Ms., we want people to feel comfortable identifying as a feminist. Our strength is in numbers and in sisterhood–and our silence about feminism will only strengthen those who oppose our feminist ideals.

We wanted you to know why we are feminists. So we will be posting a few videos of the Ms. and Feminist Majority staff telling you some of the many reasons why we are feminists.

And we want your story too!

Send your videos to msreclaimthename@gmail.com telling us why you are a feminist. We will post some of the submissions here on the blog, and the others will go up on our YouTube page. If you’re an individual, your video should be no more than two minutes long; if you have done a group video, keep it to no more than 4 minutes.

We’ll start with some of our stories, then we look forward to yours!



Cross posted with permission from Ms. Magazine blog.

SAVE THE DATE: National Young Feminist Leadership Conference

Mark your calendars now! The Feminist Majority Foundation is pleased to announce the 7th Annual National Young Feminist Leadership Conference will be held March 12-14, 2011 at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Save the Date!

Who: Young feminists, national leaders, and elected officials from across the country!

What: An opportunity to share in open dialogue and organize around the world's feminist issues, including:

* domestic and global reproductive rights
* civic engagement
* clinic violence
* the environment
* violence against women
* and much more!

When: March 12-14, 2011

Where: The George Washington University, Washington, DC

Following two days of skills building and leadership training attendees will deliver their message to Members of Congress on Capitol Hill for our Congressional Visit Day.

More information will be on the way soon - keep checking online for updates and registration information! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Campus Organizers at 1-866-444-3652 (East Coast) and 1-866-471-3652 (West Coast). We hope to see you there!

Get Out HER Vote: On the Road

FMF National Campus Organizers are currently traveling across the country to discuss the issues at stake in the upcoming election. We've prepared talking points about reproductive rights, marriage equality, the environment and pay equity. What we didn't expect was the biggest issue of all: no one knows when Election Day is! Clearly there is work to be done.

In last month's eZine, I discussed the many ways to Get Out HER Vote on your campus by utilizing the Feminist Majority Foundation's GOHV toolkit. With voter registration deadlines beginning this week in many states, the time to register to vote is now! After that critical paperwork is complete, the real work begins. With just four weeks until election day (which is November 2, 2010 by the way) now is the time to engage your campus around the issues we can impact with our votes this Fall!

Despite being a little uncertain on the exact date (again, that's TUESDAY, November 2) the issues that student activists care about are endless. We've heard from students who are frustrated by the lack of reproductive health care services on campus, pay day lending in their neighborhoods and crisis pregnancy centers that are located across the street from their campus. With your vote this November, ALL of these issues can be addressed.

By utilizing our GOHV toolkit, host a panel discussion to educate your campus on the issues that matter to you. Table in high traffic areas on campus to inform your peers about their rights when they go to the polls. Flyer your campus with posters of the nearest polling location and record public service announcements on your campus radio about the importance of youth participation in civic engagement. At the University of Tennessee there is a polling location on campus and at Millsaps College students can vote directly across the street. Organize a march to the polls on Election Day (that would be November 2, 2010) and let your voice be heard!

Contact your National Campus Organizer for more ideas on how to Get Out HER Vote on your campus today. We can send you brochures, buttons and stickers to help you spread the word that on this Election Day, November 2, 2010, we each must VOTE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. Why? Because it does. Don't trust me? Listen to them and VOTE.

This blog post is part of the October eZine. To receive our monthly eZine, click here.

How to get out HER vote on YOUR campus!

With just a few weeks before voter registration deadlines end in many states and only six weeks before election day on November 2, the time to get out HER vote on campus is now!

The Feminist Majority Foundation's Get Out HER Vote (GOHV) campaign is the nation's only student-led voter education and registration initiative aimed at increasing young women's voter participation. It's not enough to register yourself and go to the polls this year -- we must register and inform every feminist on your campus! Feeling a little overwhelmed? To help you get started, utilize FMF's GOHV step-by-step guide to getting our HER vote on your campus today!


Step One: Prepare
1. Review the GOHV toolkit online and designate GOHV chairs to coordinate the campaign and volunteers on your campus.

2. Know the rules and don’t be intimidated! Do you know your state's deadlines to register to vote? Have you ever heard of a provisional ballot? Like with all of your activism on campus, you must educate yourself first before your can inform your campus community. Don't be fooled by the scare tactics and misinformation of others. Know your rights and cast your vote this year! Check out our GOHV website for information on your state’s rules.

3. Build your GOHV campaign around four political issues that will resonate with your group and campus. What are the issues that are most important to you? Do you have a pay equity bake sale each year to raise awareness about wage discrimination? Does your group focus on global women's rights and seek to ratify CEDAW? All of these issues and more can be influenced with your voice and your vote on November 2. For more ideas use the What’s at Stake in 2010? GOHV handout to develop your GOHV platform.

4. Contact your county registrar to obtain voter registration forms, train to become poll workers, and petition for voting machines on campus. Visit our GOHV website to contact your Secretary of State or County Registrar to find the nearest location to pick up a large supply of voter registration forms. Be sure to become familiar with your state's voter registration form, instructions, guidelines, and voter registration deadline.

Step Two: Register
1. Table in high-traffic areas with GOHV materials. Draw attention to your table with balloons, signs, and banners. Have lots of registration forms, voter pledge sheets, and a list of polling stations on hand. No materials other than the registration form should reference political parties or any candidate. Remember you can not deny anyone the right to register to vote based on party affiliation. Don’t just sit behind the table – engage everyone passing by, and ask them to sign the GOHV voter pledge. Encourage students to register to vote using their local address, and tell them you will call them to remind them to vote before Election Day. If your state offers early voting, encourage students to vote as early as possible!

2. Contact the chairs of Women’s Studies and other departments on campus for permission to pass out voter registration forms at the beginning of class and explain how to fill out the form and the location of the nearest polling place. Be sure to collect completed forms at the end of your presentation and deliver them to the local registrar before the deadline!

3. Talk about the issues without endorsing candidates or political parties, and let students know how to sign up to get paid as a county poll worker. FMF's GOHV campaign is a non-partisan, issue-based campaign that does not oppose, support, or otherwise endorse any candidate for public office.

4. Deliver voter registration forms to the local county registrar before the registration deadline! **This is one of the most important steps!** If you don’t turn in the forms, you could be violating state law. Make several trips – county clerks offices often have small staffs, so it is important not to overwhelm them by delivering large stacks of forms all at once.

5. When you drop off completed registration forms, check the voter rolls for a random sample of names you previously submitted. This is a great way to verify the voters you register are getting onto the rolls.

Step Three: Mobilize
1. The month between your state’s voter registration deadline and November 2nd is the best time to mobilize registered students. Blanket campus with information about where and when students can vote. Leaflet with the GOHV FAQs handout to help students who may have questions. If your state offers early voting, publicize it widely.

2. Educate your campus through PSAs on campus radio, op-eds in your student newspaper and a panel discuss with coalition groups on campus about the issues at stake in this election.

3. On the day before Election Day, volunteers should set up a phone-bank to call students who signed voter pledges, remind them to vote, and let them know poll locations. If the main student polling location is off-campus, find out if the student needs a ride and organize a car pool.

4. Election Day – Organize voting rushes on Election Day to rally and lead hundreds of students to polling locations. Host an election watch party after the polls close to celebrate all your hard work!

Just in case you didn't already know: VOTE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd!

This was post was featured in the September 2010 campus eZine. To join our mailing list, sign up here.

Get out HER vote this fall!

Welcome back to campus feminist activists! This fall, we have so much at stake in the mid-term elections on November 2^nd – abortion rights and birth control access, the environment, immigrants’ rights, student loans and education access, marriage equality, and equal pay, so feminists like you must save the day! Mobilize your college to vote today using our Get Out Her Vote website and step-by-step toolkit, which will help you register and engage feminist voters for the general election.

Registration deadlines are fast approaching – the first round of registration deadlines for the November election starts in just 16 days, on Saturday, October 2. Get specific information for your state about voter drives, registration deadlines, and more at our GOHV website.

It’s going to be a very important election – and they are counting on us to be silent. We must prove them wrong and make sure our voices are heard loud and strong this November! Just a few hundred votes could make the difference so start your GOHV campaign today!

If you have questions or want to link up with GOHV campaigns at nearby campuses, call your FMF national campus organizers at 703-522-2214 or email campusteam@feminist.org. Best of luck this fall, and remember to vote on Tuesday, November 2nd!

Yet another new FMF blogger!

My name is Lily Armstrong, and I'm a new intern at the Los Angeles branch of the FMF. I'm probably the youngest on the blog, as I'm not even in college yet. Actually, I'll only be a 10th grader next year, but that doesn't by any means make me unopinionated!

I must first say that in my fourteen years on this good planet, I cannot remember a time when I wasn't a feminist. I was truly raised in it, due to my wonderful parents' involvement with clinic defense. In fact, it was through clinic defense that they met in 1990.

It is difficult for me to note any certain moment when I became a feminist, as I truly feel I have always been one. I've known about feminist issues for many years now, and have always been very involved and interested in them. I consider myself to be an activist, starting when I took part in the 2004 March for Women's Lives in Washington at eight years old.

My interest became more sophisticated in middle school, when two fantastic classes (taught by one fantastic teacher) in 7th and 8th grade allowed me to argue my opinions more freely than ever before. It was in 7th grade that I first attended the FMF Global Women's Rights Awards, which were very inspiring to me. Last summer, I interned at the FMF for about a month, which further developed and reinforced my beliefs. This summer, I hope to develop them even further.

Wherever I end up for college, which for me is still a ways away, I'll probably major in Women's Studies. Most of my other interests at least tangentially involve music, writing, and 1960s culture.

What would you do with 500 condoms?

Applications are now being accepted for the Great American Condom Campaign!
Apply today as a SafeSite and receive 500 condoms to distribute on your campus to promote sex education at your school.