Minnesota NOW has lost a sister

It is with a heavy heart that I write to tell you of the death of long time member Cindy Mark.  Cindy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this fall and she died from complications of the disease on Sunday, December 13, 2009.  Cindy has been a feminist activist with the Minnesota Valley chapter of NOW for years and has contributed to our chapter in so many ways.  I would like to share with you just a few of her accomplishments and contributions.

In March 2001, Cindy coordinated a Women’s History Month program with a local Girl Scout troop.  The troop and chapter together presented a drama entitled: American Women Making History, to an audience of family members and the community.  This production proved so popular that in 2002, the chapter and Girl Scout Troop collaborated again on another dramatic interpretation.

Cindy was also a talented artist.  She was president of the Prior Lake Arts Society for many years.  Cindy brought her artistic talent to the aid of Minnesota NOW in June of 2002, when she organized an art show that was part of the National NOW conference held in St. Paul that year.  This was the first time an adjudicated art show was displayed during a National NOW Conference.  It was a great success; both the artists and the conference goers enjoyed this opportunity to bring activism and art together.

Cindy lived in rural Prior Lake.  She raised chickens and sold organic eggs.  Cindy was eco-friendly in her lifestyle and shared her knowledge of home remedies with any who were interested.   Over the years, Cindy opened her home to our members for annual gatherings such as holiday parties, pool parties, and retreats.  In 2004 she hosted a January retreat featuring Ruth Nested speaking on staying healthy and centered in a diverse world.  In 2005 we had a second January retreat at her home that featured belly-dancing lessons for all participants.

Cindy attended many of our informational pickets and marches.  She was part of the Minnesota Valley NOW contingent that went to Washington D.C. in April 2004 to March for Choice.  She often staffed our table at the International Women’s Day event at the University of Minnesota and she was a frequent speaker at the Women and Spirituality Conference in Mankato.

In 2007, Cindy graduated from the University of Minnesota – Mankato with a master’s degree in Women’s Studies.  While attending school she used her education and experiences to the benefit of our membership.  In October 2006, Cindy presented a program entitled: Disposable Women. This program discussed her research on the Maquiladoras in the Mexico borderlands and the Juarez Murders.

In March 2007, Cindy led a Feminist Forum produced by our members.  The Forum consisted of members presenting topics of personal feminist interest to the rest of the chapter.  Topics ranged from health freedom, to women’s suffrage, to reproductive choice.  Cindy explored the topic of feminist pornography that she had been researching for one of her classes.  During her time studying at Mankato she brought many new feminist books to our Minnesota Valley NOW book club – with lively discussions that followed!

In 2008, Cindy performed in a production of The Vagina Monologues that was put on by Minnesota Valley NOW and The Chameleon Theatre Circle.  Her delivery of My Angry Vagina was heartfelt and powerful.  That production raised over $4,000.00 for the Southern Valley Alliance for Battered Women.

After graduating from college, Cindy used her education to teach Women’s Studies classes at Rasmussen College and at the Minnesota Women’s Correctional Facility in Shakopee.  She found her work with the women prisoners very rewarding.  She often said that she enjoyed bringing feminist ideas and teachings into places where you weren’t “preaching to the choir.”  She cherished her opportunity to foster change in individual lives   The women prisoners received college credit for their course work through Augsburg College.  Cindy taught the class as a volunteer due to funding cuts for the program.

At the time of her death, Cindy was studying with the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.  She was pursuing a Ph.D. in Women’s Studies with an emphasis on spirituality.   In 2009, Cindy hosted a Full Moon Ritual group that met monthly at her home and was made up of mostly Minnesota Valley NOW members.  Cindy was generous with her time and resources.  She served as an inspiration to many of us in the Minnesota Valley Chapter and I personally will miss her greatly.

Cindy is survived by her husband Stephen Mark and her daughter Katie Mark.  Cards can be sent to them at 3191 220^th Street East, Prior Lake, MN 55372.

Beth Anderson, Minnesota Valley NOW President

 

Powerful words from MN NOW’s Vice President

By popular demand, we’re reprinting the remarks made by Minnesota NOW’s Vice President at the Rally Stop the Abortion Ban at the Minnesota State Capitol on December 2, 2009.  That’s Barbra in the back row, holding the “OMG DEMS WTF?” sign!

My name is Barbra Peterson, Vice-President of MN NOW, a Mother, Aunt, GrandMother, proud Clinic Escort, and a Pro-Choice activist for 33 years. This button I wear today, “NO WOMB FOR COMPROMISE”, is from 1979, my 1st lobbying visit to DC as a NOW member. So I guess that makes me what’s called “The Menopausal Militia”!

I stand with you all today, to protest the Stupak is the Pitts Amendment, an act that will send thousands of Women back–back to wire hangers and knitting needles, back to back-alley abortions. Yes my friends, we’re moving backwards, and we’re here to say NO MORE!

They’re calling this a Health Care Reform Bill, but the very fact that it excludes Women’s reproductive health, that it discriminates against 52% of the population, well, I call it Health Care Deform, and we’re here to say  NO!

We’re being fed the main talking points, that in opposing the Stupak is the Pitts amendment, that it can’t be a line in the sand, and guess what? I agree. Taking a stand for Women’s lives should never be a line in the sand, it should be a line in CONCRETE, unmoving, unwavering, unequivocally, a NO WOMB FOR COMPROMISE line in concrete.

To those elected officials who give us this “line in the sand” jargon, I ask you these 3 questions:

Are you implying that Women’s health isn’t a good enough reason to take a strong stand?

Are you suggesting that Women’s rights aren’t important enough to take a strong stand?

Then am I to assume, by your unwillingness to draw that line, that Women’s lives aren’t important enough to take that strong stand?

Make no mistake, Stupak and his anti-Choice cohorts know that for now, they can’t make abortion illegal, so they’ve set their sights on making it inaccessible with their draconian, insulting restrictions. And now with this amendment, they’ll be making it unaffordable as well. We’re here to say NO!

So, I ask all of you here today, Raise your Voice for Choice, say NO to the Stupak is the Pitts amendment, say NO to any language in the bill that would discriminate against Women, say NO more wire hangers. Then, and only then, will we say yes to the Health Care Bill.

 

Schedule for Minnesota’s STOP STUPAK Rally Day!

The rally starts at NOON, TODAY, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2, in the toasty warm rotunda of the State Capitol in St. Paul.  Look for your MN NOW friends with our round blue signs!

Welcome (5 min)
Linnea House, Executive Director, NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota Foundation

Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (5 min)
Rev. T. Michael Scott

Pro-Choice Resources (5 min)
Karen Law/Melissa Winship

Minnesota NOW (5 min)
Shannon Drury/Barb Peterson

Betty Folliard of Rep. Keith Ellison’s office (5 min)

Wrap Up (2 min)

 

Stupak won’t hurt women? DON’T BELIEVE IT.

The Big Lie — Abortion Rights Opponents Mislead on Stupak-Pitts

We know our opponents lie and mislead the public. They are doing a lot of that right now in trying to counter factual information coming from NOW and our allies about abortion restrictions in House health care reform legislation (H.R. 3692). Their tactic is to assure the public that the Stupak-Pitts Amendment will not have much of an effect on anyone’s insurance coverage for abortion care. This, of course, is far from the truth and activists need to make sure that women know that Stupak-Pitts is a serious threat to abortion access.

A form letter sent by MINNESOTA’S VERY OWN Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) to a constituent implies that the Stupak-Pitts Amendment will not affect coverage that women pay for with private funds. The letter reads: “The Stupak-Pitts Amendment states that individuals buying insurance on the exchange may still purchase coverage that includes abortions as long as no federal money is used. It also says that insurers may still offer abortion coverage as long as such coverage, and the administrative structure behind it, is not supported by federal money….”

In fact, any and all health insurance plans offered through the newly created regional health exchanges will not be permitted to offer abortion coverage if there are any individuals in those plans who receive government “affordability credits.”

Some 36 million low- and moderate-income persons who currently are uninsured or underinsured will be seeking insurance through these exchanges — with many relying on government subsidies to help pay the premiums. Their huge presence will likely mean that nearly all insurance plans will serve people who receive government subsidies, meaning that they cannot offer abortion care coverage to any policyholders, even those who pay 100 percent of the premium with their own money.

Stupak-Pitts’ apologists say that each exchange will have at least one plan offering coverage. But the goal and the effect of this dangerous amendment is to dramatically restrict women’s access to abortion care. Abortion is one of the most common medical procedures and will be sought by a substantial number of women of child-bearing age. The Oberstar letter claims that those women who can’t obtain insurance coverage for abortion can buy a separate abortion rider. Please. How likely is that to happen? An independent check on the current availability of abortion riders in insurance found none.

The most likely scenario, should Stupak-Pitts become law, is that insurance companies would avoid the hassle of having audits of their plans and meeting other restrictive criteria by simply not offering coverage for abortion services altogether. A recently released study by the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University concludes that insurance companies would have to re-design offerings in order to avoid violating abortion restrictions, and that would ultimately have a broad chilling effect, even for private, employer-based insurance.

Help spread the truth about the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, and call your senators right away to ensure that similar restrictions are not included in the Senate version of the health care reform bill. Senate contact information can be found online.

More information:

GW University Report (PDF)

The Real Victims of Stupak-Pitts

 

MINNESOTA NOW NEEDS YOU…….NOW

You’re following the drama surrounding federal health care reform, so you know about the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, what Rachel Maddow called the “biggest restriction on abortion access in this country in a generation.”  Our National NOW President Terry O’Neill told ABC News that “it’s not acceptable” to achieve health care reform “by pushing women back into the back alleys to die.”

Minnesota NOW, with leadership provided by our former chapter President and current National NOW Action Vice President Erin Matson, wants to coordinate Minnesota’s response.

BUT WE CAN’T.

Since 1971, Minnesota NOW members have been able to count on us to bring feminist issues to the legislature and the general public.  In the last two years alone we have:

• Founded the MN CAFE (Minnesota Constitutional Amendment for Equality) Coalition to add and Equal Rights Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution
• In 2009, hosted “Feminist Stimulus NOW,” examining how the Great Recession disproportionately affects women and a workshop on finance for women
• Produced “V-Day Prior Lake 2008,” raising funds for the Southern Valley Alliance for Battered Women
• Hosted our 2008 State Conference, “Women Immigrants: Then and NOW,” in Fergus Falls to discuss anti-immigrant bias in rural Minnesota communities

 

We want to do more….BUT WE CAN’T.

Without your immediate support Minnesota NOW will be forced to close its St. Paul office and lay off its sole employee, our Office Coordinator, who has run every aspect of MN NOW for the last 12 years (I may be President, but I’m definitely not the brains around here—Mary Ann is).

If Minnesota NOW disappears, who will speak the truth that reproductive freedom is a civil right?  Who will lobby the Legislature for constitutional gender equality?  Who will offer support to a diverse group of allies like the Minnesota Choice Coalition, Marry Me Minnesota (suing to win marriage equality for same-sex couples), the Women Candidate Development Coalition, and many others?

Or will people like Bart Stupak feel increasingly empowered to restrict women’s right to self-determination?  Will we lose the rights that generations upon generations of women fought like hell for?

WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION TODAY.

You can contribute securely online when you go to www.mnnow.org and click on GIVE NOW.

THANK YOU.

 

Senators Franken & Klobuchar need to hear from you, NOW

Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Washington, DC Office: 1-888-224-9043

Minneapolis Office: 612-727-5220

Sen. Al Franken

Washington, DC Office: (202) 224-5641

St. Paul Office: (651) 221-1016

 

Here’s what you can say:

I’m a member of the Minnesota chapter of the National Organization for Women, and I’m calling on behalf of millions of women to let you know just how disgusted we by the health reform bill that passed the House.

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment was brought to the floor after a late-night, backroom deal with religious zealots, and as a result, women could be facing the most serious challenge ever to our constitutionally protected reproductive rights.

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment was unnecessary: The Hyde Amendment already ensures that no federal funds will be used to pay for abortion –regardless of whatever health care bill becomes law.

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment would, for the first time, make it difficult or impossible for women spending even 100% of their own money to cover abortion through private insurance plans … if they happen to have purchased insurance through a health insurance exchange.

This is unconscionable and I urge the Senator to take a strong stand against any similar measures. NOW will not support health reform that harms women. I will be watching your actions closely in the coming weeks.

Ask when your Senators will be in town, and request meetings with each of them. If you are unable to meet in person with a Senator, ask to meet with a staff person dealing with health insurance reform. Bring several NOW members with you if you can.

We must hold our elected officials accountable.  TAKE ACTION NOW!

 

Welcome to a new definition of Stupak….

…courtesy of Urban Dictionary.com:

A medical condition (subset of sepsis) resulting from unsafe -unnecessarily so – back alley abortions as a result of the “Stupak Amendment” to the 2009 Health Care Reform Bill.

Doctor: Unfortunately, while this would have been covered under private insurance carriers, public plans were barred from including women’s health measures. I’m sorry, you’ll have to see “Dr. Julio” in the alley behind 7-11.

(Three weeks later.)

Doctor: I believe you’ve developed Stupak, a form of sepsis, a severe illness in which the bloodstream is overwhelmed by bacteria.

Stay tuned for information about how YOU can take action to stop the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the Health Care Reform Act.

 

Happy Love Your Body Day!

In honor of today’s Love Your Body day, NOW has put together a quiz challenging what you may or may not know about body image.

NOW’s Love Your Body Quiz!

I only got a score of 70%….looks like I have some reading to do.

 

Pro-Choice Costume Party & Trivia Event!

…brought to you by the Minnesota Choice Coalition, of which Minnesota NOW is a proud founding member.

From their website:

You’ve heard of wearing your politics on your sleeve, but what about wearing your pro-choice politics on your entire body? Well, get excited because now you can do just that at the Minnesota Choice Coalition’s Pro-Choice Costume Party and Trivia Night at the Kitty Cat Klub on Thursday October 29th!

Now you’re probably thinking, “Whoa, that sounds really fun— but what should I wear?” Get creative! Get 27 of your friends together and come as a pack of birth control pills!Or grab a hula-hoop and a cape and come as everyone’s favorite super-hero, THE RING! Or maybe you’re more interested in sex education—come as something really scary: abstinence-only Annie!

(a brief Google search turned up this pre-made condom costume for those who aren’t crafty.)

Costumes are encouraged, but certainly not required—what’s more important is that you are there!

Here are the details:

Where: Kitty Cat Klub; 315 14th Ave SE, Minneapolis; http://www.kittycatklub.net/index.html

When: Thursday, October 29th; 6-8pm

Who: Any pro-choicers aged 21 and up

Why: Because the idea of losing our right to choose is terrifying!!! And because costumes are fun!

Cost: FREE! Happy hour drink specials from 6-7pm
Prizes will be awarded for best costume and highest trivia score. This is going to be a one-of-a-kind gathering, to be sure—hope to see you there!

 

Listen to Minnesota NOW President Shannon Drury….

…on local radio program Quick on the UpTake!  She spoke on October 9, 2009, about Minnesota NOW’s support for a recently passed amendment to the Defense Apropriations Bill that would bar military contractors from settling sexual assault, sexual harrassment, and other civil rights cases in binding (and secret) arbitration.

To listen, click this link: http://the-uptake.groups.theuptake.org/en/videogalleryView/id/2467/

To learn more about the amendment, why U.S. Sen. Al Franken introduced it, and what other Minnesota groups supported it: Franken Amendment to Support Victims of Sexual Assault Passes (Minnesota Independent)