Em-URGE-ing Voices
Your urgent thoughts, urging action.
Two weeks ago, I visited Planned Parenthood as a patient for the first time. I decided this year that it was time for me to explore the idea of getting on birth control. I figured it wouldn’t be too complicated, since I have spent a considerable amount of time talking, lobbying, organizing, and overall just …
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This past Sunday there was a tremendous shooting in Sutherland Springs Texas. An armed man drove to a church, and killed 26 people inside. The ages of worshipers wounded and killed spanned from 5 to 77 according to CNN. According to USA today, 2017 is the deadliest year for mass shootings. The First Baptist Church …
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This past week on How To Get Away with Murder (04×06), Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) delivered another jaw-dropping monologue (2:30-3:06), debunking the “strong, independent, black woman” trope commonly seen in many books and movies–the very same trope that is often used and co-opted by non-black people as a joke. I have never seen another television …
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I was going to write a scathing piece on the importance of keeping second-trimester abortions accessible. In thinking about my plan of attack for the article, I felt like news and think pieces attacking the current administration are plentiful, but praise is not. As we come up on a year since the election, I thought …
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If I ask you to name which states have the worst anti-abortion laws in the country, which ones would you name? Texas? Alabama? Oklahoma? You wouldn’t be wrong, but you’d be forgetting one of the biggest offenders: Ohio. Since taking office in 2011, Governor John Kasich has signed nearly every anti-abortion measure to come across …
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When I first became sexually active, I never bought my own condoms. I had this preconceived notion that the male partner in a relationship was the one responsible for buying condoms. It also did not help that I lived in a very rural town in northwest Kansas where the local grocery store did not sell …
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In wake of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein (and more importantly, the real consequences being taken against him), many survivors of sexual assault are finding the courage to speak up. The #MeToo campaign and subsequent #IWillSpeakUp campaign directed toward men are prominent on social media all throughout the world. The reality of the statistic that …
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Crisis Pregnancy Centers are essentially fake clinics. These non-medical facilities exist solely to push anti-abortion propaganda onto people seeking abortions. In the United States, there are over 4,000 Crisis Pregnancy Centers. In Texas, CPCs receive millions of dollars in funding. Through state programs like Alternatives to Abortion and the Texas Pregnancy Care Network, Texas is …
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We already know that immigration is a reproductive justice issue. We know that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program was created to protect undocumented children brought to the us by their parents. We know the Trump Administration is ending DACA. And we know that the DREAM Act is the best way to give …
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We already know that immigration is a reproductive justice issue. We know that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program was created to protect undocumented children brought to the us by their parents. We know the Trump Administration is ending DACA. And we know that the DREAM Act is the best way to give these over 800,000 DACAmented folks a path to permanent citizenship in the US.
But here’s the question – how exactly will this DREAM Act get passed? The short answer: the Congressional Budget for fiscal year 2018, which must be passed in December. And guess what? YOU have a say in whether Congress passes a clean Dream Act. Read on to find out how you can help.
December: The Month All of The Things Are Happening
Ah, December. The snow is falling. Holiday magic is in the air. Warmth and goodwill fills us all – oh yeah and also CONGRESS HAS TO PASS A BUDGET OR ELSE THE GOVERNMENT WILL SHUT DOWN…not to be dramatic or anything.
Ok let’s back up a minute. Remember in September when there was a deal that created a temporary three month budget until December? Well, now Congress has to pass a budget in December, and that creates a window for Congress to pass the DREAM Act too. The general idea is that some bills, like the DREAM Act, might not be able to get the votes to pass by themselves (standalone bills, in policy jargon.) Instead, it’s easier to attach the DREAM Act to the budget because Congress absolutely must pass the Budget to avoid a government shutdown.
Ok – so what can I do to help pass the DREAM Act?
So glad you asked! Here’s what you can do:
- Ask your representatives to support a clean DREAM Act in December.
- “Clean” means that we don’t want to pass the DREAM Act if that means adding more enforcement mechanisms (like, more funding for the border wall).
- “December” signals to members of Congress that you’re asking for it to be part of the budget negotiations.
- Email your Congress people now!
