Florida NOW

Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt, NOW Board Member Arizona Senator Victoria Steele, Seneca/Mingo/German ancestry, and Cheryl Wapes’a-Mayes Assiniboine/Sioux/Métis:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NOW is proud to continue to support the growing national movement to observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 14 rather than Columbus Day.  It is wrong to honor a figure who colonized, enslaved and massacred thousands of Indigenous People in the Americas.  Instead, we must lift up the experiences of Native American women in the United States, who are still being mistreated, abused and ignored by the patriarchy and the power structure.

According to government statistics, Native American and Alaskan Native women are more than 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the U.S.  The Amnesty International report Maze of Injustice includes statements from Indigenous women who say they didn’t know anyone in their community who has not experienced sexual violence. And survivors in at least 86 per cent of reported cases identified the perpetrators as non-Native men.

These devastating statistics have historical precedent. The colonization and Westernization of the Americas took a devastating toll on Indigenous peoples, who were raped by settlers and soldiers, including during the Long Walk and the Trail of Tears. These attacks were not random acts of individual violence—they were weapons of conquest and oppression that were planned to serve a terrible purpose.  That history is no basis for a holiday.

Today, we observe Indigenous People’s Day to remember the dark side of America’s origin story and to rededicate ourselves to addressing our ongoing obligation to heal these wounds and to work with tribal nations to promote the health and safety of Indigenous People.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

Media Statement the National Organization for Women:

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA –  Gathering near the Otay Mesa Detention Center, where a 37-year-old detainee died suspiciously just last week and sexual assault complaints have increased by 158 percent in the past year, hundreds of activists are rallying today with the National Organization for Women and our Unlock the Future partners for the humane treatment of immigrant women and girls.  

“Brave women make the difficult, wrenching choice to uproot their families, abandon their homes and risk a dangerous journey north seeking a life free from violence and assault,” said NOW President Toni Van Pelt. “Yet when they get here they find themselves in places such as Otay Mesa, where they may face sexual assault and harassment, lack of proper reproductive health care, nutrition and feminine hygiene resources, are cruelly separated from their children and suffer an increased risk of miscarriage.”  

In response to these horrid conditions, the Unlock the Future campaign issued a Bill of Rights for immigrant women and girls, which is supported by hundreds of partners and calls for basic human needs and dignities for detained people. Additionally, NOW is submitting a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security against the astonishingly poor health care services being provided to lesbian, gay and transgender migrants and those living with HIV in detention prisons.  

The campaign is also partnering with organizations like the Dolores Huerta Foundation to amplify the grassroots voice to Congress and the administration and Huerta is a featured spe

aker at the rally.  

“Today we rally for all of the women and girls locked away unjustly as they sought freedom from violence and oppression,” said Dolores Huerta. “We must continue to raise their voices and stories until these detention prisons are nothing but a painful memory.” 

NOW and our Unlock the Future partners will next hold rallies in Houston on Nov 17, and Phoenix on Dec. 8 and will be taking the Bill of Rights to Capitol Hill and top administration officials.  

“The women and children whose rights we are here to defend have been stripped of their dignity, safety, their visibility as human beings.  Their voices aren’t being heard.  Their stories aren’t being told,” said NOW Vice President Christian F. Nunes. “But we are here for them and standing for them, and we are taking their cause to the highest levels of government. “  

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Unlock the Future Co-Sponsors: 

National Partners 

Dolores Huerta Foundation 

Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) 

Feminist Majority Political Action Committee 

UltraViolet 

MANA 

Catholics for Choice 

Immigrant Families Together 

Border Angels 

Legal Momentum  

Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice  

Sister Song  

African Communities Public Health Coalition  

CASA  

Black Women’s Blueprint  

UNITE HERE! 

The Global Women’s Institute 

PERIOD. The Menstrual Movement 

Local and State Partners 

California NOW 

Hollywood NOW 

San Diego Area NOW  

Senator Pro Temp Toni Atkins  

Heart of LA Democratic Club 

Field Team 6 

Stonewall Democratic Club 

Women’s March California 

Women’s March San Diego 

The Strategic Insights Group 

The Outrage 

AFDW 

Go With The Flow 

S K Burt Law 

Direct Support for Immigrants

And additional sponsors to be announced 

For a full list of Unlock the Future Partners, please see our Bill of Rights.  

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt and Virginia NOW President Connie Cordovilla:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a split decision that continues to limit women’s reproductive health and rights in Virginia, a federal district court ruled this week on four Virginia laws that have impeded abortion access for years. The laws are a result of Republican leadership in Virginia and their determination to deny women full health care. 

“In just a few weeks Virginia voters have the opportunity to elect a new General Assembly that will advance, and not roll back, women’s access to full health care,” states Connie Cordovilla, president, Virginia NOW. “As this decision makes clear, we need lawmakers and courts that support women and their constitutional rights without the barriers invented by Republican zealots.”  

Toni Van Pelt, president, national NOW, adds “This court ruling has nothing to do with health care and everything to do with politics.  Responsible government and unbiased judicial institutions have been hijacked by political agendas and in Virginia, women’s lives are at stake.”  

The decision comes after a two-week trial in Richmond. The case was filed on behalf of Virginia abortion providers including Falls Church Healthcare Center, Whole Woman’s Health Alliance, the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, and Dr. Jane Doe. The Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and O’Melveny and Myers LLP represent the providers along with local counsel, the ACLU of Virginia. 

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Additional Information 

In a win for abortion rights groups, the court struck down:
 

• The Second Trimester Hospital Requirement: A law that required all second trimester abortions to be performed at a licensed outpatient hospital, despite clear medical consensus that these procedures are just as safe when performed at a clinic or physician’s office. The court recognized that non-surgical second trimester abortions can safely be performed in a clinic setting. All second trimester abortions are non-surgical, as they do not involve incisions.  
• Facilities Requirements: Regulations that would have required clinics that provide first trimester abortions to meet the same facility requirements as general and surgical hospitals. For example, clinics would have had to redesign hallway widths and adhere to minimum square footage of procedure rooms, among other requirements unnecessary to the provision of care. If enforced, this law would have forced most clinics in the state to immediately close.
   

As part of the same decision, the court upheld the following laws that hinder abortion access and cause an undue burden for women: 

• The Two-Trip Mandatory Delay Law: A law that forces women to undergo an unnecessary ultrasound and listen to state-mandated information designed to shame the patient at least 24 hours before their procedure. This means patients must unnecessarily make at least two trips to a medical facility and delay their procedure by at least 24 hours. 
   
• The Physician-Only Law: The court acknowledged the “persuasive evidence” that Advanced Practice Clinicians can safely provide abortion care, yet this law was upheld, and will continue to restrict abortion access. It bars highly skilled and qualified medical professionals such as nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants from providing safe, early abortion care, despite evidence, medical consensus, and even the judge’s findings that they can do so just as safely as physicians. The impact is especially severe in under served parts of the Commonwealth.
   
• The Licensing Scheme*: Abortion providers must meet onerous licensing requirements that have no legitimate medical basis and do not apply to any other health care providers. The licensing scheme singles out any medical facility where five or more first trimester abortions are performed per month and subjects them to regulations that affect virtually every aspect of care. 

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745