House Hearing on Women's Health Protection Act Held February 12
"Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, testified on February 12 at a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives in support of the Women's Health Protection Act. The landmark federal legislation would safeguard the right to access abortion care across the United States.
In her testimony, Northup stated, "Recently, people across the nation have been calling on Congress to stand up for women and codify Roe. The Women's Health Protection Act is the answer to that call. The moment is now to draw the line on the decades of assaults on women's rights."
Northup described the current state of abortion access in the United States-including the "avalanche of restrictive state laws designed to make the right to abortion unavailable." Northup added, "Never have I been as concerned as I am today about the promise of Roe being hollowed out for too many women."
The Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA) would establish a statutory right for health care providers to provide, and their patients to receive, abortion care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions, limitations, and bans that delay, and at times, completely obstruct access to abortion."
Finish reading
CRR's announcement and/or watch a video of Ms. Northrup's testimony that's included.
Visit ActForWomen.org for more details. If you haven't already done so,
Add your organization as an official member of the Act for Women campaign. NSRH and scores of other organizations are campaign members. Join us in supporting this vitally essential act.
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ing Valentines week, we were thrilled to share the love with students and professionals across healthcare including clinical nurses and nursing staff, APRNs, midwives, and nursing students! People came from all over the Bay Area including San Jose, Palo Alto, and even as far south as Los Angeles!
Celestina Pearl, LVN, from St. James Infirmary provided important information about sex worker history, policies and conditions that affect healthcare, as well as tips for clinical practice when working with sex workers. UCSF midwifery students Karen Lopez-Acero, RN, Meagan Morse, RN, and Caranina Palomino, RN, gave insights about the impact of ICE in clinics, the real facts about public charge, and ways to advocate for undocumented patients.
We were also honored to include content from Innovating Education's Structures & Self: Advancing Equity and Justice in SRH curriculum. The discussions that followed with all of you left us feeling engaged, inspired and committed to the fight for equity for undocumented people, sex workers, and all people we serve in healthcare!
We want to thank our sponsor ANSIRHwho provided a delicious lunch and resources to make this event possible! We are also grateful for our partnership with the national reproductive rights and justice organization, All* Above All.
This was the first event of the NSRH Rotations series, regional events across the country designed to engage and activate local providers, students and advocates ready to advance sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice in their communities. If you are interested in partnering, co-sponsoring, or learning about
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The strike was a last resort. "This strike was not something that any of us wanted," Prescott said. But they decided to do it because "we've done every action possible, we've done everything that we can, and we're still not getting any real agreement from management."
Going on strike was "bittersweet," Wood said. "We want to be here at the hospital caring for our patients, that's what we signed up to do." But it became clear that even after management made some concessions on pay, they weren't moving on staffing levels. "That is the biggest thing," Wood continued. "If money was all we were fighting for, that might be something we could have settled for. But we need safer conditions for our patients and ourselves."
Now they're back to work, but the fight isn't over. Things are still tense between employees and management. "If anything, they doubled down since we've been back," Wood said. "Now we're seeing retaliation." She said that her manager is trying to "exert more control" and is no longer letting others approve overtime without sign off.
Some workers are prepared to strike again if management still won't budge. "We don't know what the future is going to hold," Wood said. "I know we're going to hold their feet to the fire and continue with our actions ... We want to make the hospital better and they're just refusing to put the money into where it needs to go," she added. "Our community is suffering.""
That was the closing of Bryce Covert's piece, posted last week on The American Prospect. Near the beginning, he reports 'at least some' of the strikebreakers
"Nurses across the country have called for legislation that would limit the number of patients assigned to each nurse. They say high nurse-to-patient ratios lead to unsafe situations for patients.
But as
Liz Tung (
@lizxtung) of WHYY's The Pulse reports, hospitals have pushed back, saying they don't have the resources to accommodate mandated ratios.
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This segment aired on February 17, 2020.
Listen to Ms. Tung's report on the debate over nurse-to-patient ratios.
Doulas Are Key to Curbing Maternal Mortality - But They're Drastically Underpaid
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Because of doulas' scientifically proven benefits, federally funded pilot programs have started to emerge across the U.S., with more than 10 states proposing bills for allocating resources to increase doula access for populations whose rates of maternal mortality are disproportionately high. Some states, like Indiana, Minnesota, and in this case New York, are granting some form of Medicaid coverage for doula services.
That was an excerpt from Sofia Quaglia's article, posted two days ago on Truthout. It's a very comprehensive examination of the incredible value of doulas and the incredibly low compensation they receive, especially when working for programs that serve low-income mothers.
From Our Allies at the Black Mamas Matter Alliance
Clinic. This midwifery-led collaborative care model brings together Licensed
Midwives, Family Physicians, Doulas and Lactation Specialists to offer high quality continuity of care to the pregnant families in the greater Seattle area who need to be
the most resilient to overcome barriers and social determinants that can negatively impact their health.
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Indigenous women who experience sexual violence are finding little to no support at Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities, despite the fact that Indigenous women are twice as likely to experience sexual assault as other women in the U.S. Some IHS facilities lack rape kits altogether, and until recently, birth control was not widely available. Meanwhile, there are significant barriers to obtaining an abortion.
Advocates argue that IHS is failing to live up to its federal responsibilities, but despite lawsuits, reprimands and regulations, the agency continues to drag its feet in achieving compliance.
"They don't care," said Charon Asetoyer, executive director of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center (NAWHERC). "They don't want to have federal agencies with any kind of abortion services.""
Thus began Allison Herrera's article, posted last week on HighCountryNews. Her piece covers some of the many barriers indigenous women face when needing access to SRH/RR/RJ.
"Abortion - and the people who have them - have been called a lot of things.
But what is abortion actually? An act of love. An act of compassion. An act of healing. An act of selflessness. Abortion actually is something 1 in 4 people will experience in their lifetimes. It's health care. It's freedom. Abortion actually can be emotional - or not. It's a personal decision. A family decision. A you-know-your-body-and-your-life-the-best decision. If you've had an abortion, you're the only one who can speak to what abortion actually felt like to you - and that's how it should be. It's time to reframe the conversation on what abortion actually is about. What is abortion actually to you?"
Find out more about the campaign and how you can support it --
click here.
The Keith Haring Nurse Practitioner Postgraduate Fellowship in LGBTQ+ Health - Callen-Lorde
"Welcome to the Keith Haring Nurse Practitioner Postgraduate Fellowship in LGBTQ+ Health! Callen-Lorde is so proud to offer the first LGBTQ+ health fellowship available to nurse practitioners. The inaugural class of Haring Fellows will start in September, 2020. Applications will be available on January 15, 2020.
Through this fellowship, we strive to create a premier LGBTQ+ healthcare training program that enhances knowledge, increases compassion, and brings awareness to the healthcare barriers that LGBTQ+ communities face. With this training and experience, our fellows will bring the skills they learn with them to help close the gap in health disparities for LGBTQ+ people.
This full-time, 12 month program consists of precepted and independent sessions as well as specialty rotations and didactic portions. Haring Fellows will have benefits and earn a modified salary. The fellowship is designed to give the academically prepared practitioner an opportunity to spend more time under the guidance of a preceptor.
The Keith Haring Nurse Practitioner Postgraduate Fellowship in LGBTQ+ Health is funded, in part, through the The Keith Haring LGBTQ+ Health Equity Endowment, which was established at Callen-Lorde by the Keith Haring Foundation in 2019.
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Next Week! Women's Health Update 2020 --
February 25 + 26
From Our Allies at Essential Access...
Find a Workshop That's Right for You at Women's Health Update 2020
Join Us February 25 + 26
at The California Endowment in Los Angeles
Register today to attend
Women's Health Update 2020, a national conference designed for busy health care professionals seeking to enhance their capacity to provide quality sexual and reproductive health services in diverse settings. Conference participants can
earn up to 13.5 Continuing Education Credits!
Women's Health Update 2020 Workshop Topics Include:
Connecting the Dots: Gender-Based Violence in Health Care
Susie Baldwin, MD, MPH, FACPM
Genevieve Pomes, RN, BSN, PHN
Contraceptive Counseling + Pregnancy Prevention for Transgender and Gender Diverse Patients Hannah Forsberg, MPH
Rian Johnson, FNP-C
Incorporating the Reproductive Justice Framework in Clinical Settings Nicole Clark, LMSW
Providing Care + Support for Immigrant Patients in Today's Environment Priscilla Huang, JD
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