Pittsburgh Pro Choice March in Protest of Republican Taliban Anti Choice Measures

It's today downtown at 4:30 pm. I can't attend but I will certainly sign their petition.

Here's what I got over the emails:

Dear Friends,
Please join Raising Women's Voices for a rally today Feb. 17 stand up against the attack on women and health care.
Today, Thursday February 17
4:30 pm
The Old Allegheneny County Morgue
542 4th Avenue
Corner of 4th Avenue and Ross Street
And whether you can join us today or not, please sign our petition against the attack on Womens' Health Care at http://paforwomenshealth.org,
Newly elected lawmakers were sent to Washington and Harrisburg to create jobs. But since taking office, they have instead been appeasing right wing extremists who want to roll back the advances women made in the last forty years.
The attack began, in both Washington and Harrisburg, with legislation that would make it harder for women to use their own money to purchase health insurance that covers abortion. These new attempts to limit abortion rights are, however, just the beginning of the attack on health care for women.
In Harrisburg, with no leadership from the Governor, hopes are dimming that AdultBasic can be saved. AdultBasic provides affordable health insurance for those who earn too much to qualify for medical assistance. A majority of the 42,000 beneficiaries of AdultBasic are women.
And, not to be out done, Congressional leadership in Washington will propose a budget for this fiscal year that would:

• Entirely eliminate all federal funding for family planning and reproductive health. In other words, Republicans who oppose abortion are doing everything they can to encourage more unwanted pregnancies while attacking Planned Parenthood, the most respected provider of women’s health care in the country.
• Chop $1.1 billion cut from Head Start.
• Cut $758 million from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a program created by the Nixon administration that provides supplemental food to infants as well as health care referrals and nutrition education for low-income pregnant and postpartum women.
• Reduce the Maternal and Child Health Block Grants by $210 million. This program, a descendant of one created during the Harding Administration, supports children with special needs, provides newborn screening and genetic services, and funds lead poisoning and injury prevention.
• Slash $1.3 billion from Community Health Centers that provide affordable health care to low income women, men and their children. Last year, Republicans claimed we didn’t need health care reform because Community Health Centers provide care to people with low incomes. This year, they are ready to slash funding for them.

Lawmakers in both Washington and Harrisburg have also been busy trying to block implementation of the health care legislation passed last year even though support for it is rising as citizens come to understand how the law protects them from insurance company abuses.
Please join us Feb. 17 at 4:30 PM at the Old County Morgue.
And please remember to sign the petition at http://paforwomenshealth.org .  We'll be delivering signatures to lawmakers next week.
Marc
Marc Stier
Executive Director
Penn ACTION
PA State Director
Health Care For America NOW

Planned Parenthood will be holding a downtown event today at Mellon Square at 2 PM.

Planned Parenthood is holding a downtown event at Mellon Square this afternoon at 2 pm today. Their leadership is worried that abortion and contraception rights will be stripped out of health care reform. I think they're legitimately worried.

Here's the press release that I received:

Dear PHILIP,

It's easy to think of health care reform as something that's happening far away, as lawmakers in Washington hold hearings, schedule votes, and negotiate behind closed doors. But the fact is, the decisions being made now will have a profound impact on women, men and fam

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ilies here in western Pennsylvania — every person, every day, for a generation or more.

That means we can't afford to sit back and let the process unfold without us — we need to take action here to make sure that health care legislation protects and expands access to health care. If we don't, there's a very real chance that the women of western Pennsylvania will be worse off after health care reform than they are now.

Will you join us for a day of action on Tuesday, October 20 at Mellon Square (6th avenue and William Penn Place)? We'll be showing our support and mobile phone banking from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. — and we need all the help we can get. Email Volunteer@PPWP.org to let us know you're coming, or just come on out when you can.

We're not going to have another chance to get this right. As I write this, anti-choice groups are increasing their efforts to hijack reform to undermine women's health. They're going to keep trying to pressure and persuade lawmakers from now until the last vote in Congress is cast — and that means we need to keep pushing for health care reform that protects all women.

Join fellow supporters of Planned Parenthood this Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Mellon Square. The negotiations may be happening on Capitol Hill, but this is our chance to make a difference here.

Thank you for everything you do for Planned Parenthood and the women, men, and families we serve.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Cavanaugh, JD
Vice President for Public Affairs
Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania

Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania plans vigil tonight for murdered Dr. George Tiller.

I just received this from Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania.

Dear PHILIP,

All of us at Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania are outraged and deeply saddened at the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an abortion protester on Sunday morning. Our most sincere sympathies go out to Dr. Tiller's family, to his dedicated and brave staff, and to the thousands of women who have benefited from Dr. Tiller's courage, compassion, and unwavering dedication to women's health care.

Please join the pro-choice community this evening, June 1st, from 7:30 to 8:30 for a candlelight vigil to honor Dr. Tiller. The vigil will be held at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church on the corner of Highland Avenue and Penn Avenue. We urge you to show your support and join us in mourning and solidarity.

***

"Make no mistake, this battle is about self-determination by women of the direction and course of their lives and their family's lives. Abortion is about women's hopes and dreams. Abortion is a matter of survival for women." - Dr. George Tiller, physician and advocate