Wendy Davis, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Nancy Keenan, and Articles I'm Reading

Wendy Davis' Office Gets Fire Bombed

On Tuesday, six Molotov cocktails were thrown at Texas State Senator Wendy Davis' office. Thankfully, no one was hurt. While no motive has yet been established, Senator Davis has been in the public eye supporting Planned Parenthood and the Women's Health Program.

Rachel Maddow Interviews Wendy Davis

CW33: Ft. Worth Police Arrest Suspect in the Firebombing Attack of Senator Wendy Davis' Office

Brief history on anti-choice violence.

Check out Keep Your Boehner Out of My Uterus Tumblr for more info. (This is just a great blog in general for reproductive health issues throughout our nation.)

Senator Hutchison Supports the Medicaid Women's Health Program


I often get automated response e-mail from Senator Hutchison's office in response to petitions that say something along the lines of... "I do everything I can to support life and this doesn't do that," etc. So, hearing Senator Hutchison support Planned Parenthood as a provider for the Medicaid Women's Health Program was exhilarating. Someone with political will in Texas understands that the WHP in no way funds abortions! (Everyone is aware that to qualify for WHP you have to be between the ages of 18-44 and NOT PREGNANT, right?) See below!

CALL TO ACTION
PLEASE take 2 minutes out of your life to call Rick Perry's Opinion Hotline at 1-800-252-9600. Don't know what to say? I made a little script for my call that I'm happy to share.

Governor Perry,

My name is ___________ and I'm from ___________, Texas. I am calling in regards to the defunding of the Medicaid Women's Health Program. Texas is about to reject 35 million dollars in federal funds for preventative care because YOU don't want Planned Parenthood to receive any money. Medicaid law requires that patients have the right to choose their provider. We both know that Texas does not have the 35 million to cover the lost federal funds like you have promised. It is also evident that Medicaid providers can not handle the influx of 44% of the program's patients that will lose access when Planned Parenthood is excluded. Please reconsider your decision to defund the Women's Health Program.



Nancy Keenan (President of NARAL) Talks With Jennifer Granholm on "The War Room"

Lilith Fund Bowl-a-Thon

Like what I'm doing and want to support? Please consider making a donation to my Lilith Fund Bowl-a-Thon Fundraiser. By raising money, I am filling a vital health care gap by helping women pay for abortion care, emergency contraception, options counseling, child care during abortion procedures, and transportation costs to clinics. I'm supporting our community members when they need me the most.

Here's a little more about Lilith - the fund has been around for 10 years.  Its first challenge was to raise $10,000 to begin assisting low-income folks with abortion funding.  Last year, Lilith gave away $80,000 to over 1,000 patients - so the average grant is around $75.  Once clients have an appointment with a clinic and know how much money they need, they call the hotline.  A volunteer responds to their call, provides financial counseling, and ultimately determines the amount of money they can grant to the client.  They work with clinics across Texas from El Paso to Beaumont, as far north as Killeen and south into the RGV.  The TEA Fund is Lilith's "sister" fund for North Texas.  

My goal as of now is $100, but I'd love to blow that out of the water. PLEASE MAKE A DONATION! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Other Links

Tell HHS: Support Birth Control With No Co-Pays For Every Woman. Sign the petition!

Tell Governor Perry: Don't Mess with Texas Women. Sign the petition!

RSVP to the War on Women Rally April 28th at the Capitol.

Check out the We Are Women March website.

Apply for the White House Young America Series hosted by UT on April 10th. Submissions are due March 30th.

Blacksnob: No Apologies: On the Killing of Trayvon Martin and Being "Good"

NPR: What Your Gyno Doesn't Know About Your Sex Life, But Should

Amy Johnson: My Problem with Purity Balls

Please "Like" the Voices for Reproductive Justice Facebook page!

Follow me on Twitter!

Voter Registration, Being a Healthy Sexuality Peer Educator, and Speaking at City Hall

Monday:

At our first Social Work Council meeting of the semester, I received a great response when I proposed to do a voter registration at our next meeting (this Monday, January 30). So I had a reason to go down to the County Tax Office to pick up my first batch of voter registration cards!

You can see here that I also picked up some walk away cards, so if you can't attend the meeting you can still register.

At this meeting we talked about the need for more Service Projects. I contacted Inside Books Project, and I am inviting people to volunteer Sunday, February 5th from 8pm-11pm with me. Please think about volunteering 3 measly hours of your time for a great cause!

One last SWC pitch... we will start t-shirt sales Monday-Thursday from 9am-11am. They are $12 each, payable by cash or check. The shirts are burnt orange and say "Texas Social Work" on the front and have a large Longhorn on the back. HELP OUT SWC and buy a shirt!

Wednesday:

I taught my firstMethods of Contraception class. Only two girls came, but it was still an interesting experience. Ladies have to take this class in order to be prescribed birth control at the University Health Clinic (males are still welcome). One of the girls was on her phone the whole time, and did not accept the free condom packs we hand out at the end. It was such a novel experience for me, this whole not being excited about free condoms. After spending a whole semester with peer educators thrilled about sex it was just really interesting. There is a stigma in America that carrying condoms makes you a whore instead of an educated, prepared young adult. (Really, I can't speak for why she wasn't interested. I'm just saying, she was in an MOC; I presume she is sexually active if she wants birth control from our clinic.) Here are some of the posters we use. I hope next time I teach one I can get a picture of all the cool models of vaginas and contraceptives we get to use.

Thursday:

I was the final signature for getting the UT Student Organization "Voices for Reproductive Justice" off the ground. My new friend from voter registration, Liz, who started the VRJ idea, asked me if I was going to Austin City Council to speak out against Crisis Pregnancy Centers.

I had been getting tons of e-mails ALL week from Planned Parenthood and NARAL about coming to City Council to speak out against CPCs. The community outreach coordinator from PP, Dru, sent me a personal e-mail asking. I HATE public speaking as many people do. I sent back an e-mail with something along the lines of, "I've never done this it's scary are they going to talk back to me waaaaahhhhh." She assured me that I would only have to speak for a few minutes and that would be that. I didn't respond.

Instead, I waited until I got home to call my mom. I told her I don't agree with CPCs, but that I was scared to speak! She inquired about what the issue with CPCs is and as I told her I felt more confident. I mean really CPCs are a big waste of public money, funding a fear mongering ideology. After this my mom's response was the best and I will never forget it. She said, "If you believe in what you're saying, you're going to fucking blow them away." THANKS MOM!

But then I didn't want to go again. It's easier to SAY you're going to do something, but actually doing it is quite a bit different. Then Liz asked me on the spot on Thursday... I said I wasn't sure. She called me again and said I should come. So I did!

I wrote out a speech in my car and drove my ass down to Austin City Hall.

When I got there, I saw Dru. The first thing she said was, "We have enough speakers, but still sign in." I said, "Whoa you asked me to speak and now I want to!" (Surprising to me that I felt that way.)

The video isn't on YouTube so I can't upload it here, but here is the link. 

http://austintx.swagit.com/play/01262012-501/#11

I think the whole dialogue is really interesting, but I start speaking at 26:48 if you don't have an hour.

There is a nervous laugh, and maybe not the strongest use of pauses, but it was my first time speaking politically! I did it! Woo! Thanks Dru, Liz, and especially to my beautiful mother. I got a lot of compliments just getting back to my seat. Afterwords, Dru and the rep from Jane's Due Process congratulated me, and that felt awesome.

These are the girls from VRJ, Megan and Liz from left to right. Look at me, smiling like a goofball.

All in all it was a great experience, and I expect myself to do it again. 

Before You Leave: 

I want to direct you to my friend's son's first activism project. Check out the link for more information about how you can help people in Haiti, and encourage this caring young kid's advocacy. 

Sullivan's Adventure Project

Follow me on Twitter!