Pro-Choice Lobby Day Signature Ad!

How do you get Virginia legislators to understand that women don’t want any more restrictions on their personal choices? You tell them in a big, splashy signature ad in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

To make it succeed, we need hundreds of signatures on the ad. To add your name to the ad, just  click here . We’re asking for a minimum of $35 per person for the ad – but more is welcome (so the ad can be larger and have more impact) and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

If you’d rather contribute by check, send your check to Virginia NOW, PO Box 7621, Arlington, VA 22207.

This is what the ad will say:

Today is Pro-Choice Lobby Day in Richmond. Hundreds of Virginians from every part of the Commonwealth are visiting their legislators to urge them to support reproductive health care services and keep abortion safe and legal. The Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is sponsoring this declaration on behalf of all Virginians who care about women’s health and equality. 

“We, the undersigned, support a woman’s right to safe, legal and accessible birth control and abortion. We oppose any and all attempts to weaken further the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Most Virginians do not want any more government interference in these private matters than we already have. We trust women to make personal decisions about their family and their health, based on their own beliefs, conscience, and circumstances,  and we urge our elected officials to respect these decisions.”

On lobby day, February 11, we’ll visit legislators to be sure they know that pro-choice Virginians are a strong constituency and will not allow further restrictions on women’s right to choose. If you’ve never lobbied before, don’t worry – training will be provided and you can team up with another person. (Note – you don’t have to register to attend. You can just show up!)

Getting there is half the fun! NOW members will be carpooling and riding chartered buses. For carpooling, contact vanowpresident@hotmail.com. Planned Parenthood is organizing buses from Blacksburg, Charlottesville, DC, Fredericksburg, Roanoke and Vienna. Cost is $15. For info on buses: http://www.ppav.org/lobbydaybusinformation.html

Your Responses to Our Survey

Many thanks to the 100+ NOW members and supporters who responded to our December survey. We asked what feminist issues you cared most about at the state level.

These were your top issues:  safeguarding reproductive rights, improving women’s health care, supporting programs to reduce violence against women, and ending human trafficking.

There was also strong support for working for LGBT equality and the Equal Rights Amendment, adequately funding human needs services, supporting pre-K and kindergarten programs, and enforcing child support payments.

These are among the issues we’ll pursue when the General Assembly convenes. Stay tuned for more about the upcoming legislative session and our new governor, Bob McDonnell.

Virginia NOW Demands That “Moderate” McDonnell Live Up to Campaign Promises

November 4, 2009

Republican Bob McDonnell’s attempt to hijack the women’s vote fell short yesterday, with almost half of women voting for Democrat Creigh Deeds for governor, according to an analysis by the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). By contrast, 38% of men voted for Deeds.

Yesterday’s results show that women’s values and issues have broad appeal, and that a large number of women rejected McDonnell’s masquerade as a moderate on issues including workplace fairness and pay equity, health care, and child care.

The barrage of TV ads with McDonnell’s daughter and female members of his attorney general staff did not persuade women who knew that McDonnell had voted against equal pay for women, opposed legal abortion for women who were victims of rape and incest, and voted against ensuring women could buy contraception at their local pharmacy.

Bob McDonnell has already publicly promised to de-fund Planned Parenthood, thereby depriving tens of thousands of women of affordable, high quality preventive health care and birth control. With Ken Cucinnelli as attorney general, there is virtually no limit to the damage that can be done to push back women’s reproductive health and rights.

In light of the results of this election, Virginia NOW will launch a campaign to inform all women, regardless of political partisanship, of how much will be at stake for the lives of women and families in the McDonnell administration. Women cast more than half the ballots in yesterday’s election, are more than half the workforce, and are more likely to be poor than men. We are counting on McDonnell to be the moderate he promised to be and to work on solving the problems of women struggling in this economy as well as all Virginians – jobs, transportation, education, and economic prosperity.

JMU Students Fight Back!

Elizabeth Hogan, who heads up the NOW chapter at James Madison University/Harrisonburg, was fed up with the sexist garbage the school newspaper was printing. This is the response she and Meredith Burns wrote, which was published today. Elizabeth is a senior history major;  Meredith is a senior anthropology major.

This is What a Feminist Looks Like
October 26, 2009 - By Meredith Burns and Elizabeth Hogan,

Bra Burners Stereotype No Longer Applicable
Do you believe in equality? Do you believe that people should be able to make decisions about their own bodies? Do you believe that men and women should be paid the same? If you answered yes, you just might be a feminist.

VA NOW PAC Backs The Best Candidate for Women – Creigh Deeds

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds has won the endorsement of the Virginia NOW PAC – the political arm of the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women – because his experience and views are superior to those of his opponent on key issues of concern to mainstream, socially aware women.

Love Your Body Day!

Today is Love Your Body Day! 

Marie Bushbaum, 2009 LYBD Poster Design Grand Prize Winner

 

Do you love what you see when you look in the mirror?

Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement. Print ads and television commercials reduce us to body parts — lips, legs, breasts — airbrushed and touched up to meet impossible standards. TV shows tell women and teenage girls that cosmetic surgery is good for self-esteem. Is it any wonder that 80% of U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance?

Women and girls spend billions of dollars every year on cosmetics, fashion, magazines and diet aids. These industries can’t use negative images to sell their products without our assistance.

Together, we can fight back!

It’s Official- Women Hold Up Half the Sky

For the first time in U.S. history, women are half of all workers and mothers are the primary breadwinners or co-breadwinners in nearly two-thirds of American families. NOW is at the forefront of this change – and that’s just one reason to be a NOW member. 

A new report by journalist Maria Shriver, “A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything,” analyzes this new reality …and reports how much hasn’t changed. Good child care, family-friendly policies, realistic school hours, all those certainly haven’t changed much. That’s why NOW is fighting harder than ever for pay equity, family leave, health care, and all the other changes that women and men need.

 This report is full of fascinating information, and definitely worth checking out: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/womans_nation.html/#executive_summary

What do you think? Comment below…and read on.

Bob McDonnell’s Hypocrisy on Women’s Issues

Throughout Bob McDonnell’s career, it is clear that he has failed to take a stand with women on the family, health, work, and privacy issues we care about most. But the latest revelation about his record is deeply concerning  because  it reveals the disconnect between Bob’s ideology and his practical life as recently as 2005.   

Bob McDonnell sat on the board of Regent University for 7 years (1998 – 2005) under an employment policy that condoned sex discrimination.

It’s the latest example of a record that is littered with questionable actions on women’s issues.  When we asked McDonnell about his views on women’s rights, he cited the women in his family and the women he’s hired as examples of his support for women.

But what about the rest of us?

There is a serious disconnect between how Bob feels about the women in his personal life and every other woman in the world and it reeks of hypocrisy.

It’s clear he’s been a benevolent patriarch to his wife, daughters and staffers– but for the millions of women in Virginia he has lacked the courage to stand up and fight for policies that would advance women’s rights as a whole. 

McDonnell voted no on a resolution in support of equal pay day, he’s voted to limit a woman’s access to contraception, he opposed improving the quality of childcare and now we learn he sat silent for nearly a decade on the board of trustees at his alma mater as they operated under a discriminatory hiring policy.

If he stands with women, he should stand for all of us, not just the ones he holds dear.

 VA NOW PAC statement, 10-14-09

Our PAC Says: Vote for Jody!!

The Virginia NOW PAC has endorsed Jody Wagner for lieutenant governor. Jody has the experience and knowledge for the job -and she’ll be the first woman elected to statewide office in 20 years (since Mary Sue Terry). 

Jody has achieved a tremendous amount as finance secretary and treasurer under Govs. Warner and Kaine. As lt. gov., she will be (and is right now) a role model for girls and young women.

Sign up for Women for Jody

The Republican attack ads against Jody are – in a word – sickening.   If you can contribute to Jody’s campaign so she can not only defend herself and her record but WIN, please do so.

Contribute to Jody’s campaign

Our Picks for Delegate

Updated October 14, 2009

The Virginia NOW PAC – Political Action Committee –  has endorsed candidates for delegate who will work for significant improvements on issues of concern to women, including health care, pay equity, and reducing violence. The election is November 3.