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Wal-Mart Refuses to Dispense Emergency Contraception

Contraception researchers estimate that Preven, if widely used, could prevent half of all unintended pregnancies. Wal-Mart is thus denying to its women customers -- a majority of the 90 million customers a week -- access to one of the more effective contraception drugs available.

Action Needed:

Abortion Opponent Nominated for District Court Judgeship

Reportedly, Sen. Hatch has threatened to continue holding up a number of judicial nominations unless Stewart is nominated and confirmed soon. The White House, wanting to move some of its own nominees in what is a severely backlogged judicial nominations process, may feel impelled to comply with Sen. Hatch. The backlogging is part of a hardball Republican strategy to prevent any moderate judges from being nominated and to continue their efforts launched under President Ronald Reagan to pack the federal judiciary with right-wingers.

Action Needed:

Bad Bankruptcy Bill Sails Through House

Another amendment (offered by Nadler) which would have assured that clinic violence debts are non-dischargeable in bankruptcy was not allowed a floor vote; it had also been defeated in committee by a vote of 13 to 18.  Several clinic violence defendants, like abortion rights opponent Randall Terry, have declared bankruptcy to avoid paying judgements in clinic violence suits.

This bankruptcy bill is even more onerous that last year’s version which passed the Senate and the House, but failed to reach conference committee consensus. The current legislation is designed to increase the ability of credit card companies to collect payments on credit card debts by limiting a debtor’s ability to meet other financial obligations, including paying past due child support. It also prioritizes government claims for assigned child support over child support payments to be paid directly to the family. NOW pointed out in a letter to women members of the House that “prioritizing what frequently amounts to scarce dollars to go first to the government and second to a needy family is a poor approach that will result in hardship for hundreds of thousands of families.”

In addition, both House and Senate versions allow a broader range of debts to survive bankruptcy and therefore make it less likely that the debtor, after bankruptcy can satisfy more numerous financial obligations -- and more difficult to meet past due child support obligations. Other provisions -- like removal of current protections against eviction of debtors -- seriously weaken the consumer protection elements of bankruptcy law.  The bankruptcy “reform” legislation is seen by critics as payoff to the powerful banking industry for their generous support of both Republican and Democratic incumbents in the last election. 

A Senate floor vote is expected as early as next week and may be a close one. The Senate version (S. 625) version is slightly more moderate than the House bill, but also contains the same problems with respect to the having credit card debts compete with past due child support. President Clinton, critical of many features of the bill, has threatened to a veto.

Action Needed:

Women’s Groups Alarmed at Clinton’s Backtracking on Social Security

This came after Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said that Social Security would not be taken up by the Senate this year and other Republican leaders were trying to distance themselves from any Social Security privatization plan. Polls show that a substantial portion of the public is leery of giving up a guaranteed social insurance program in favor of risky stock market investments. Women, especially, appear to be opposed to such an approach. 

Republican House leaders, Rep. Bill Archer (R-TX), chair of House Ways and Means and Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL), released their plan in late April for ‘reforming’ Social Security. It was touted to provide not only private investment plans for everyone, but a back-up Social Security system -- in case a person’s private investments don’t pan out. The Archer-Shaw plan is a purposefully complicated approach that would give workers tax credits each year amounting to 2 percent of their earnings, which would then be placed into [selected] investment plans. 

The big catch, however, is that these individual accounts, accruing an estimated 5.3% annual earnings to the account holders, would have no protections for spouses, survivors and children (as Social Security currently provides). Also, low wage earners would earn significantly less from private accounts as they have far less to invest, while higher income earners would reap the higher returns  -- thus perpetuating the already wide spread between the rich and the poor.

In addition, the Archer-Shaw plan would not make Social Security solvent for the future, failing to be self-financing in the years after 2025 when the federal budget is projected to run a deficit. It would be necessary then to draw federal funds away from social spending to prop up Social Security. Other assumptions in the Republican proposal are most likely over-optimistic in terms of projected investment returns. The biggest drawback, of course, is that the Archer-Shaw plan would give away hundreds of billions of dollars of workers’ savings to the financial industry, while providing no increase in benefits to the vast majority of retirees. This analysis is drawn from the work of Dean Baker of the Preamble Center who is co-author with Mark Weisbrot of a new book, Social Security: The Phony Crisis (1999, University of Chicago Press).

NOW, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and other women’s organizations are meeting with technical experts to develop a range a proposals on how to increase benefits for older women under Social Security and bring them closer to the benefits received by older men. 

Action Needed:

Hate Crimes Senate Hearing Re-Scheduled

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA, S. 622), sponsored by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Gordon Smith (D-OR) would add three new categories of hate crimes to federal statutes: sex-based hate crimes, sexual-orientation-based hate crimes and hate crimes committed because of a person’s disability. Additionally, it would remove restrictions which gave federal authorities investigation and enforcement authority only if
the hate crime were committed when the victim was attending school, voting or serving on a jury. Thirty-two other Senators are co-sponsors; the Hate Crimes Coalition, which includes NOW, has a goal of obtaining 51 co-sponsors for HCPA.

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has promised hearings, but none has been scheduled to date. There are 166 co-sponsors of the House bill, H.R. 1082, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Action Needed:

We also need more co-sponsors for the House bill; please ask your Representative to sign on. Also, call Rep. Henry Hyde’s office at (202) 225-4561 to urge that he set a date for the House Judiciary Committee hearing on hate crimes legislation.

Senate VAWA Package Rounded Out

Because federal funding for nearly all programs will run out this year unless re-authorized, there is an urgency about moving forward soon. Hearings must be held and specific action taken to assure that VAW programs continue. Reps. Morella and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and 29 original co-sponsors have introduced S. 1248 (known simply as the VAWA Re-Authorization Bill) as a free-standing bill to re-authorize VAWA as a back-up measure in case the expanded bills do not pass.

Action Needed:

Also, advocates are planning various promotional efforts to support VAWA ‘99, including a national Petition Drive. The petitions are available to anyone who wants to circulate these and will be posted online at the NOW website (www.now.org) as well as circulated at this summer’s Lilith Fair concert series. 

CEDAW Call-In Week Slated

A coalition of women’s rights organizations is actively working to promote ratification of CEDAW by the year 2000. Unfortunately, in the U.S., a series of modifications for CEDAW, known as Reservations, Declarations and Understandings (RDUs) have been proposed which undermine the spirit of the convention.

Action Needed: