Tag Archives: WomensHealth

Membership News

Membership News By  Donna Holmes & Marty McKnew

Ever wonder about the women supported by AAUW National?  Here is a great way to see our history and brighten your day:

Since 1881, AAUW members, fellows and awardees have made pioneering advances in virtually every field. Check out our “Faces of AAUW” online gallery of trailblazing women, which includes Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903; Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1969; current Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; and so many more. It’s the perfect way to reflect and remember AAUW’s world-changing impact this Women’s History Month!

Annual Renewal

Renewal season is in full swing!

Things to note:  National dues increased by $5 to $72 per year, no change for State ($20) or our Branch ($20), new total is $112 of which $89 is tax deductible.

You may pay online with a credit card by clicking on this link: <Renew> and enter your email and password.

If you paid by check last year, you should have received, by the end of April, a renewal form, return envelope and green sheet showing what is tax deductible.  Please respond quickly and take this opportunity to provide needed updates your directory information.

If you want to print your own here it is: <click here>.

Celebrating May Birthdays! By Donna Holmes

Happy Birthday to All!

  • Ellen Nathan                                    5/1
  • Patricia Stillwell                               5/1
  • Patricia Morehead                          5/5
  • Stephenie Moczydkowski              5/7
  • Janis Appel                                       5/13
  • Margaret McCarthy                        5/16
  • Elizabeth Mark                                5/17
  • Rosemary Howard                         5/18
  • Pat McCarty                                     5/19
  • Deborah Dunn                                5/22
  • Maria Teresa Hoecker                   5/23
  • Cheryl Fuller                                    5/24
  • Merrie McLaughlin                         5/26
  • Tamara Olson                                 5/28
  • Patty Taylor                                     5/29
  • Margot Leidig                                  5/31

Focus on Women’s Health

Focus on Women’s Health By Lisa Howard

With the Dobbs decision from the Supreme Court in May 2022, access to women’s health care was put at risk across the country.  Many of us have granddaughters, daughters and friends of child-bearing age that live in states where pregnancy now holds greater risk than it has for previous generations. The choice of pushing the decision back to the states has left many women who live in jurisdictions with government leadership supportive of women’s health wringing our hands about how to help as the horror unfolds in other states.  For the Sacramento AAUW women that gathered to discuss the threat to women’s health (the Reproductive Choice Committee), our first task was to gather resources.

While we haven’t yet figured out how to take action on this knowledge, we recognize that a first step we can each take is to share information with others so that more people understand what and where restrictions are being built into the law. Perhaps a small step each of us can take is to share the legal actions being taken and the resulting stories of impact on women’s individual lives with friends and families who are constituents of the leaders seeking to remove their rights.

Resources for you:

AAUW National Position on Women’s Health Protection
The Rally for Abortion Justice — and Beyond

Pass the Women’s Health Protection Act!

  • Contact your elected officials.
  • Write a Letter to your Editor
  • Build Community

AAUW members have been participating in Planned Parenthood events – https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/rightfully-ours/bans-off-our-bodies#events

Kaiser Family Foundation maintains a dashboard of state actions against women’s health – https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/dashboard/abortion-in-the-u-s-dashboard/

There are at least two women who have dedicated themselves to investigating and surfacing human stories that really provide personal context to the issues – https://substack.com/profile/535611-jessica-valenti
https://andreagrimes.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Reproductive Choice Update

Reproductive Choice Committee By Liz Jordan

Note: The Reproductive Choice Committee meets on the second Monday of each month from 1 to 2 p.m.

At our last meeting, we heard reports on the current political situation on reproductive choice in the states of Arizona, Nevada and Idaho.  Both Arizona and Idaho have become states that are banning, or attempting to ban, a woman’s choice.  Nevada appears to be maintaining a position of support for the right to choose.  We did learn that 60 or more clinics in 15 states are closed, and 14 states have no clinics offering reproductive health care.

The committee has created a Resources List on Google Docs to which we are continuing to add, with annotations, sources both purely factual as well as those using facts to support opinion and argument.  It is available to any branch member and can be made available to others asking to take a look at what we have found thus far.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 14, 2022 from 1 to 2 p.m. The agenda will focus on those questions we have not yet researched.  All members are welcome to join us.  Please contact Liz Jordan for the Zoom invitation.