Florida NOW

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON – On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, recognizing the Constitutional protection of a woman’s right to abortion care. Forty-six years later, Roe is still the law of the land—but just barely.

Since Roe, state and federal lawmakers have attempted to pass hundreds of restrictions on women. The Trump Administration has tried to block young immigrant women from getting abortions because the agency responsible for unaccompanied immigrant minors has adopted a no-abortion policy. Over the last eight years, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 424 abortion restrictions have been passed in the states.  And in 2018 alone, 15 states adopted 27 new restrictions on abortion and family planning.

Donald Trump has now succeeded in placing two justices on the Supreme Court he picked from a list of jurists compiled by anti-abortion extremists.  If the Court overturns Roe, 24 states would likely move to ban or severely limit abortion. Four states—Mississippi, Louisiana, North Dakota, and South Dakota—have already passed “trigger laws” that would automatically ban abortion if Roe is reversed.  

Roe v. Wade ended a terrifying era of back-alley abortions. Countless women lost their lives seeking basic reproductive healthcare. But Donald Trump and Mike Pence are determined to deny women control of their own bodies and deprive them of their reproductive health care rights. Pence has even said he looks forward to “Roe v. Wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs.”

This year, as we look back over 46 years of safe and legal abortion, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that women keep their constitutional right to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion care.  

This isn’t about politics. It’s about women’s lives.

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

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt

WASHINGTON – January 21 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national observance to honor the memory of the civil rights advocate.  But we should also remember that Martin Luther King Jr. was an early and dedicated supporter of women’s rights.

As a preacher at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama during the 1950s, Dr. King took a bold and forthright position in favor of contraception, a stance that was far from common among Southern preachers of the day.  He supported the work of Planned Parenthood and agreed to serve on the sponsoring committee of a Planned Parenthood study on contraception. He wrote of his hopes that “the federal and state governments will begin to appropriate large sums to educate people to the need for such (contraceptive) devices.”

It was The Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor, a black women’s organization formed to stop white men from raping black women, that trained Rosa Parks and others as activists.  Dr. King acknowledged the education he got from women, including black welfare mothers who opposed the Vietnam War and influenced his historic Poor People’s Campaign.

Martin Luther King Jr. marched with women who were underpaid and overworked.  He spoke out for women who were denied equality. He organized for women who were victims of oppression. He knew that women’s rights are civil rights, and helped shape many of the movements in which we participate today. NOW honors the memory and the legacy of Dr. King on this holiday.

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

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt, NOW Combatting Racism Chair Christian Nunes and New York State-NOW President Sonia Osorio:

WASHINGTON – For decades, R. Kelly has abused, exploited and endangered young Black girls.  The Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly has provided chilling and appalling detail, and brought into focus a key question—why does the music industry enable a man who does monstrous things to women?  Executives should ask themselves how they’d feel if the young girls R. Kelly has abused were their own daughters. Would they continue to protect him at the expense of his victims?

Through our, Enough Is Enough campaign, NOW is working to change the culture of sexual harassment and sexual assault.  There is no room in our society for artists like R. Kelly who use their success and celebrity to exploit and abuse women and young girls of color.  And our society must no longer allow this culture of abuse to continue happening in plain sight, with men like R. Kelly allowed to provide “entertainment” despite their own vile and even criminal personal conduct. We cannot make excuses and we cannot look the other way.

Artists have a powerful platform they can use to promote justice, equality, fairness, and human decency.  When they abuse that platform, society should reject, condemn and prosecute them.

NOW demands that RCA Records and their parent company, Sony, drop R. Kelly immediately.  By keeping R. Kelly on their label, RCA is telling the public that the safety and protection of young Black girls is secondary to financial gain.  We must ensure that Black girls and women are empowered and protected from the abuse of celebrity and power. This is why we are calling on RCA Records to act now.

Contact

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