Good News Friday

April 28, 2023

Apr 28, 2023

Happy Friday Healthcare Advocates

I’m very thankful for your advocacy for healthcare reform and very glad to be back home. If there are subjects you’d like to have researched, please send me a note using the comment box at the end of the newsletter.

RESISTBOT

RESISTBOT is an automated texting tool that you can use from your cell phone to send a prewritten email to YOUR representatives. The good part is that you don’t have to create emails and send them separately. However, you can’t modify the email.

It is pretty simple. Each email has a six letter code like, ABCDEF. You just open your messaging app on your cell phone and text the phrase “SIGN ABCDEF” to 50409. Resistbot will find the correct email, your representatives and ask you if you want to send it. You reply yes, and you’ve made a difference. That’s it.

Here is a link to the Resistbot webpage and here is a link to a nice writeup by Jessica Cravens from Chop Wood, Carry Water on RESISTBOT. These links will be in our daily resources, below.

PS Consider subscribing to Chop Wood, Carry Water as well. The link in the resources too. Saving democracy is a worthy use of our time.

Reproductive Health Care Update

Here are some positive updates of reproductive healthcare this morning.

Conservative dissenters block abortion limits in Nebraska and South Carolina. Here is a link to the news story. In South Carolina 3 Republican and 2 Democratic senators, who are women, were vocal about the ban and their voices were heard.

In Nebraska, a completely different story. There the legislature wanted to impose a 6 week ban on abortion and an 80 year old male Republican, Sen. Merv Riepe, abstained because he knows that 6 weeks is not enough time to know you are pregnant. The ban failed.

The Vermont Legislature passed both reproductive and gender-affirming health care bills yesterday. They have legalized mifepristone, one of the drugs used in medical abortion even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval. These bills also protect providers from discipline for providing legally protected reproductive and gender affirming health care services. Wait there’s more. The legislators also modified the definition of reproductive health care services to include medical abortion. Link to the story.
In Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill that protects reproductive health care data. This is a first in the US. We discussed this one earlier this year. Many apps and websites and the like are not HIPPA compliant and it’s important to know that others may sell or use such data if it isn’t protected. Here is a Link to the story.
In Minnesota, the governor, Tim Walz, signed three bills into law that make Minnesota a refuge for those seeking gender affirming care, banning so-called conversion therapy and protecting abortion rights. Link to story

Ok, you get the picture, even where you least expect it, good things happen when we speak up and make our representatives take notice. Each of us taking little actions is like water wearing away a rock. We keep at it and it works.

Today’s action is one we’ve done before, but remember, our representatives in Washington DC need to enshrine so many of these protections into federal law so we are a nation where our rights are protected nationally, not just in a few states. Remember, you can send them this email over and over and they need to hear it over and over.

Here is the Action

RESISTBOT -

USE RESISTBOT to Text Your Senators and Congressperson and the White House the message below. We can be repetitive in our message - they need to know we mean it.

Text SIGN PGFMIX to 50409 to send the message below

I want you to support, pass and be vocal about the Women’s Healthcare Protection Act. Enough of women being treated as second class citizens. Put the abortion discussion where it belongs, between women and their healthcare providers. You are either a woman or related to one and you owe them that.

I also call upon you to strengthen the FDA rules of operations so we don’t have this Mifepristone debacle with any other medications, like say vaccines or HIV antivirals, or chemotherapy.

Lastly, get that ERA into the constitution, You or your sister, or mom or daughter need you to stand up for them.

Please step up and take care of this. We are counting on you.