NCJW Weekly Advocacy Wrap-Up: June 18
NCJW Opposes UC Health Contracts that Prohibit Reproductive and LGBTQ-Inclusive Healthcare
Are you an alumna of the University of California? Or a student? Do you have children or grandchildren who are? Please take the time to send a letter to the UC Regents regarding their affiliation with religious hospitals and thereby the restrictions on the provision of LGBTQ+ and reproductive healthcare. Below are the email and snail mail addresses and a template for your use. Please customize the template. The hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday, June 23rd so time is of the essence.
June 18, 2021

University of California Board of Regents
Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff to the Regents
1111 Franklin St. 12th floor
Oakland, CA 94607

Michael V. Drake
President, University of California
University of California Office of the President
1111 Franklin St. 12th floor
Oakland CA 94607

RE: UC policy relating to policy-based restrictions on health care

To the Regents and President of the University of California:

As a member of National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Long Beach & West Orange County, a faith-based organization that works to ensure equal treatment for LGBTQ+ people and access to comprehensive reproductive health care throughout the nation and California, and as [an alumna/parent/grandparent of a student] of the University of California, I am writing to express my deep concern that UC Health continues to defend, and seeks to perpetuate and expand, contracts that tie the hands of UC clinicians and students, preventing them from providing fundamental health care to their patients. The contracts place these providers in facilities where they are subject to policy-based restrictions like the Ethical and Religious Directives for Health Care Services, which prohibit basic reproductive health care-characterizing as "intrinsically evil"- and directly exclude LGBTQ+ patients. 

This health care is essential healthcare and UC's attempt to characterize the denied care as "elective" uses the same dangerous framing being weaponized across the country by those seeking to erect access barriers and outright bans on this care. 

The UC has long positioned itself as a strong defender of evidence based, inclusive, and bias-free health care. Now more than ever, UC needs to hew to these values. This year unprecedented numbers of bills are sweeping state legislatures that would curtail the rights of LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans and non-binary youth, and severe limits to abortion access.

In this context, the UC decision as to whether it will continue to participate in denials of care will have strong reverberations both inside California and nationally. As a public institution without religious doctrine restrictions, UC must draw a firm line. As a member of a Jewish organization which upholds the dignity of every human being, I urge you to adopt a policy that would empower UC Health providers and immediately prohibit any expansion of policy based restrictions on UC clinicians and students. I further urge that within three years you close out or modify existing contracts which restrict UC provided care.  

Sincerely,

Name
position
Section
The movie on June 24 is A Better Life, a 2011 American drama. It follows an undocumented immigrant gardener and his son.  It brings to life politically loaded issues without being suffused with cliches and rhetoric. Demián Bichir was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. It can be viewed on Netflix and Prime.
Pride is about celebrating the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community — part of that is fighting for a world where no one experiences discrimination or violence because of who they are. Given the state-level attacks this year, NCJW and its ally Planned Parenthood continues to fight extra hard.

Over the last few months, we've seen relentless assaults in state legislatures against LGBTQ+ people — especially trans youth. In Arkansas and Tennessee and Louisiana and Iowa, politicians are enacting or trying to pass bills specifically targeting transgender and nonbinary youth, or criminalizing gender-affirming care.

But it's not all bad news. In February, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act — landmark legislation that would amend the Civil Rights Act to explicitly protect LGBTQ+ people and strengthen civil rights across the country.

Supreme Court 2021 Wrap Up
The US Supreme Court makes monumental decisions on the issues we care about. As we are in the final weeks of this term, the justices are poised to issue decisions in blockbuster cases on religious freedom, voting rights, and health care. 

For the People Act
The For the People Act (S1), which passed the House of Representatives in March, is heading for a vote in the Senate the last week of June. 
  • Take Action! Click here to find how you can plug in (this resource will be updated with new opportunities on an ongoing basis!). 
  • Want to do more? Call your senators!
 
Judicial Nominations 
The US Senate will be voting on the confirmations of two outstanding judicial nominees this week, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Courts of Appeals for the DC Circuit (today at 5:30pmET) and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to the US Courts of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. NCJW supports Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, who have demonstrated deep commitments to protecting civil rights and ensuring equal access to justice throughout their careers. 

Upcoming Events NCJW is Cosponsoring or Speaking at:
“In the Midst Revisited” hosted by the Workers Circle will explore the phenomenon of systemic racism in the US as viewed through the lens of Yiddish culture
  • Wednesday, June 24th from 7-8:30 pm ET/ 4-5:30pm PT
  • Register here.
WomenShelter of Long Beach is offering our 40-Hour Domestic Violence Advocate Training in Summer 2021!

This upcoming training will be facilitated through an online format via Zoom. The training topics remain the same as those covered during our in-person training, including domestic violence 101, trauma-informed care, and resources/support for victims and survivors. Presenters will discuss topics related to Restraining Orders, Misdemeanor Prosecution of DV Cases, DV and Human Trafficking, Teenage Dating Violence, Cultural Responsiveness, and more!

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for this training!!

Spots are first come, first served, so be sure to register as soon as possible! Register Here
Today, the Supreme Court ruled in California v. Texas, upholding the Affordable Care Act and ensuring continued health care coverage for millions of Americans.
 
“Today’s ruling...is a huge victory for all Americans, especially the 31 million people, including women, children, and other marginalized people, who were in immediate danger of losing their health care in the midst of an ongoing deadly pandemic. We applaud the Supreme Court for once again affirming the legality of the Affordable Care Act by throwing out this lawsuit and ensuring this crucial lifeline continues."
Today, the Supreme Court ruled in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia that discrimination against same-sex couples hoping to foster children was legal in the narrow circumstances of this case. 

“Every child deserves...not to be kept in foster care or a group home while welcoming parents are disqualified by an arbitrary religious test because of who they love. This Supreme Court decision is a devastating loss for Philadelphia children in foster care, who are harmed when the religious beliefs of government-funded agencies override the best interests of the children.”
Yesterday 30 Black women’s organizations and activists launched the Black Reproductive Justice Policy Agenda. 
 
“The fundamental right to make decisions about one’s own body, life and future is essential to the pursuit of racial and reproductive justice. The new policy agenda provides pathways to do just that. Black women are disproportionately harmed by restrictions on access to reproductive healthcare. The policy agenda presents proactive solutions that address the lived experiences of Black women, femmes, girls and gender-expansive individuals in the United States – the first time a document of this kind has ever been produced.”