Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump hates free speech – particularly when it comes to women’s health – and his administration has issued its long-awaited rule that bars groups that provide abortion care or abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning funds. Defunding providers and denying girls and women access to information about legal medical options has been a top priority of opponents of women’s reproductive health care.  

This “gag rule” prevents medical professionals from talking to their patients about health care options, including safe, legal abortions – forcing health care providers to choose medical malpractice or lose funding.  It is designed to prop up faith-based, science-denying “family planning centers” otherwise known as crisis pregnancy centers, that lie to women about abortion.

The “gag rule” is a first step towards the religious right’s goal of repealing Roe v. Wade. Safe and accessible health care – including access to abortion – is a human right. This is a sneak attack on the Constitution, which the Supreme Court has ruled protects abortion rights—and a direct attack on women’s health care providers, especially Planned Parenthood.  They are at risk of losing the critical funding they need to provide services to more than a million people who are the most vulnerable since they are part of our nation’s uninsured and low-income communities.

NOW supports the court challenges that will be filed to block this rule, and we stand in solidarity with Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide front-line reproductive care to women.  

Donald Trump can’t stop the truth from being told, and he can’t silence us from speaking out.  The “gag rule” must be overturned.

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NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-628-8669

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON – Today, Virginia Republicans are on the wrong side of history, demonstrating a refusal to stand up for equality for women. The Virginia House of Delegates refused to allow a vote by the full House which killed the decades’ long effort in Virginia to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Votes to fast-track a floor vote on ratification were blocked by a Republican procedural maneuver designed to thwart the will of the people, with recent polls showing an overwhelming 81% who support ratification of the ERA.

One GOP delegate said supporting a rule to bring about a vote would “let the chaos of Washington into our state government.”  But nothing could be farther from the truth.

For too long, generations of women have endured a system that pays them less, values them less, respects them less and treats them as second-class citizens. With their actions, Virginia Republicans have shown they are against equality, against women’s rights, and in favor of enshrining sex discrimination into our laws.

This November, they will face the consequences for standing in the way of progress for women not only in Virginia but across the country, as women push to ratify the correction to a flaw in our Constitution that should have been remedied long ago.  

This has to stop – and it will.

We are disappointed in the failure of the Republican leadership in the House of Delegates, but proud beyond measure of the activists and supportive legislators who made ratifying the ERA a priority.  Their energy, enthusiasm, and dedication will only be renewed by this experience, and when voters head to the ballot boxes this November, they will remember who was on the right side of history, and who voted to hold women back.

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NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-628-8669

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt

WASHINGTON – The truth is finally catching up to R. Kelly, whose music career has become a criminal enterprise centered around the exploitation and abuse of young black girls. He must be brought to justice, now.

After the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly detailed the singer’s decades-long pattern of sexual abuse, sexual assault and sexual exploitation of underage black girls, R. Kelly finally lost his record deal, had concerts canceled and saw his music removed from radio station playlists.

But economic consequences aren’t enough for years of amoral, illegal and thoroughly evil behavior – R. Kelly must pay for his crimes.

It’s been reported that a grand jury has been convened in Cook County, Illinois following new allegations, including a 42-minute tape submitted by attorney Michael Avenatti that he says shows Kelly engaging in sex acts with an underage girl. The grand jury must finish its work.

We’ve already seen more than enough evidence. Indict R. Kelly, now. Bring him to trial.  Hold him accountable. Without delay.

Enough is enough.

Contact

NOW Press, press@now.org 202-628-8669