The National Organization for Women's Political Action Committee is proud to announce the endorsement of Betsy Dennigan (D-RI, 2nd Congressional District), Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI, 1st Congressional District) and Natalie Mosher (D-MI, 11th Congressional District). Profiles of these candidates can be found on the NOW/PAC website.

The National Organization for Women is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Susan Hill, president of the National Women's Health Foundation and a 2009 recipient of NOW's Woman of Courage award.

The National Organization for Women commends the jury in the Scott Roeder trial for its swift guilty verdict and for not being fooled by the outrageous defense claim of justifiable terrorism. Roeder sat on the stand this week and described the horrific ways he had planned to maim or kill Dr. George Tiller, and he admitted outright to murdering the doctor at his church last May.

Statement of NOW President Terry O'Neill

President Obama's State of the Union speech was never expected to be a policy address about women's rights, but women were keenly listening to every line -- and paying close attention to the messages between the lines, or left unsaid altogether.

The president acknowledged the alarming state of the economy, and the fierce challenges facing workers, homeowners, retirees and young people. But he did not explicitly remind Congress that women are suffering disproportionately in the current recession -- seeing more foreclosures, less health care coverage, worse predatory loan practices and struggling to support their families on incomes depressed by a persistent wage gap.

Media Outlet: CBS

The Offense: During the Feb. 7 telecast of the Super Bowl, CBS will air an anti-abortion commercial produced and paid for by the ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family.

NOW's Analysis: Focus on the Family has an aggressively anti-abortion, anti-LGBT, anti-woman agenda. This ad reportedly promotes the decision of one woman to go against her doctor's advice to terminate an at-risk pregnancy. While NOW would never disparage any woman's reproductive choice, we believe that all women should be free to make the decision that is right for them. We also believe that this ad could potentially put women's health and lives at risk by promoting ideology over medicine.

NOW President Terry O'Neil told the Associated Press that the planned ad is "extraordinarily offensive and demeaning."

"That's not being respectful of other people's lives," O'Neill said. "It is offensive to hold one way out as being a superior way over everybody else's."

It's important to note that the Super Bowl is the most watched television event each year, with a broad audience spanning all demographics. In the past, CBS has turned down other advocacy ads it deemed controversial, including ads from MoveOn.org and the progressive United Church of Christ.

Women are vastly under-represented in high-level decision making roles at the television networks (and pretty much all media outlets). Despite this disadvantage, NBC managed to make the right decision last year, refusing to run an anti-choice ad during the Super Bowl. Anti-abortion forces are on the offensive. They don't want to help women make informed decisions -- they want to, in the words of Focus on the Family, make abortion "both illegal and unthinkable." We must stand up to their campaign to deny women their fundamental rights.

Thanks to our friends at the Women's Media Center for alerting us to this outrageous move by CBS.

Take Action: Write to CBS and tell them what you think about their decision to air the Focus on the Family ad.

NOW President Terry O'Neill stated, "Today we celebrate the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which recognized a woman's constitutional right to legal abortion. However, we recognize that in 2010 women's ability to exercise this basic right is under attack as never before, not only by domestic terrorism but also in the halls of Congress. Just last summer, Wichita physician Dr. George Tiller was murdered as he attended church services, and today his admitted killer is being allowed to make the novel argument that his heinous act was not murder because he was driven by religious zeal. In Washington, after months of debate over health care reform, we find ourselves wondering whether the leadership in Congress and the president we worked so hard to elect in 2008 will ultimately stand up to the Catholic Bishops and other extremists bent on dismantling Roe and reject their demands for sweeping anti-abortion provisions in the reform bill. More than ever, we must fight for women's fundamental human right to have access to safe and legal abortion."

On Friday, Jan. 22, the National Organization for Women (NOW) will hold its annual rally and vigil at the U.S. Supreme Court, commemorating and celebrating the 37th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision affirming women's constitutional right to abortion.

"One year ago today we were celebrating a new president who said he was pro-choice, a Congress promising to defend reproductive rights, and hopes for stronger policy to protect women's fundamental right to abortion care," says NOW President Terry O'Neill. "Since then, our reproductive rights have come under severe attack, with unprecedented restrictions threatening abortion care coverage in the name of 'health care reform.' In May, our dear friend Dr. George Tiller -- a man who for 33 years defended women's constitutional right to access safe abortion care -- was murdered in his own church," said O'Neill.

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Tell members of your congressional delegation that throwing women under the bus in health care reform legislation is not acceptable. Contrary to what women's advocates have repeatedly been told, it now appears health care legislation allows gender rating after all. This, coupled with the anti-abortion rights language and other problems, renders the bill not worth passing unless these harmful provisions are removed.

Call AND send an email message as soon as possible!

NOW President Terry O'Neill calls the ruling a dangerous and potentially deadly precedent. "Judge Wilbert's ruling allows Roeder, in effect, to make out a claim of justifiable terrorism -- that is, that Roeder was justified because of his religious ideology," said O'Neill. "Murder driven by ideological zealotry is a form of terrorism. What's really disturbing about Judge Wilbert's irresponsible ruling is that it could easily encourage other religious extremists to attack health care providers as a justifiable means of stopping women from obtaining abortions."

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The National Organization for Women congratulates former NOW president Kim Gandy on her new position as vice president and general counsel at the Feminist Majority and the Feminist Majority Foundation. Gandy served in national NOW office for 22 years, including two terms as the organization's president, ending in July 2009. She recently completed a resident fellowship at the Harvard Institute of Politics, where she taught a series of seminars on "Winning Across Progressive Movements."

"The Feminist Majority would be hard-pressed to find a more experienced and committed feminist leader than Kim Gandy," said NOW President Terry O'Neill. "Her passion for social justice, combined with her political insight and legal background, make her a perfect choice for this post."

Please send a message to your senators and House member asking them to assure that restrictive abortion language in health care reform legislation be withdrawn, that a strong public plan is included, that age discrimination is removed, that better cost control measures are included and insurance is made truly more affordable for everyone.

Statement of Terry O'Neill, NOW President, "The U.S. Senate sent a last-minute holiday "gift" which half the country will find difficult to accept. In a disappointing move that sets women's reproductive rights back, the U.S. Senate voted on final passage of its version of health care reform. Last weekend Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sealed the 60th vote by caving into Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-Neb.) demands with a "compromise" that would eventually do away with private as well as public insurance coverage for abortion care. This dangerous provision not only further stigmatizes abortion care but it makes it nearly impossible for any health plans to offer comprehensive coverage."

NOW/PAC is proud to endorse Ann McLane Kuster for the U.S. House of Representatives. Kuster is campaigning for the open seat in New Hampshire's 2nd district. "Ann McLane Kuster has been a longtime activist working to improve women's lives, and we are excited to give her our group's support. We need more people like her in Congress, who are dedicated to achieving full equality for women and girls," said NOW/PAC President Terry O'Neill.

Take Action NOW: Please call your senators immediately and urge them to oppose the Manager's Amendment in the Senate health care reform bill, which will effectively make abortion coverage unavailable in health insurance exchanges and, ultimately, in private insurance policies as well. If the Manager's Amendment passes, urge your senators to oppose the entire health reform bill.

The so-called health care reform bill now before the Senate, with the addition of Majority Leader Harry Reid's Manager's Amendment, amounts to a health insurance bill for half the population and a sweeping anti-abortion law for the rest of us. And by the way, it's the rest of us who voted the current leadership into both houses of Congress.

The National Organization for Women is outraged that Senate leadership would cave in to Sen. Ben Nelson, offering a compromise that amounts to a Stupak-like ban on insurance coverage for abortion care. Right-wing ideologues like Nelson and the Catholic Bishops may not understand this, but abortion is health care. And health care reform is not true reform if it denies women coverage for the full range of reproductive health services.

We call on all senators who consider themselves friends of women's rights to reject the Manager's Amendment, and if it remains, to defeat this cruelly over-compromised legislation.

NOW President Terry O'Neill calls on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to refuse to make any deals to appease Ben Nelson or the Catholic Bishops or anyone else seeking to turn the health care bill into an anti-abortion vehicle.

Media Outlet: On the Internet

The Offense: Burger King has posted a website called "Singing in the Shower" -- which bills itself as "The World's First Guilt Free Showercam"

NOW's Analysis: OK, burger joints, we get the idea. You're desperate to round up young male customers, and you're not above using the most unoriginal and exploitative tricks in the book. Now Burger King's UK website lets you: "Watch our shower babe shake her bits to the hits at 9.30am every morning."

This involves a woman in a bikini -- with burgers strategically placed on the top half and bottoms that say "check out my buns" -- who gets in the shower and starts soaping up, singing and posing. The video is clearly shot to imply that this woman has no idea she is being watched. If that's not creepy enough, the song she's singing is "I Think We're Alone Now."

With this voyeuristic promotion, Burger King is coming dangerously close to endorsing criminal activity. Haven't they heard about what happened to ESPN reporter Erin Andrews? Or do the fellas down at Burger King think stalking is cool?

Worst of all is that this type of juvenile ogling seems to be aimed at young men, even boys. The site does require visitors to confirm that they're 18 before entering, but it's pretty simple to put in any birthdate you want -- who's gonna know the difference? Teaching kids that objectifying women and invading their privacy is fun -- thanks Burger King!

Take Action: Tell Burger King what you think of their sexist website.

When announcing NOW/PAC's endorsement of Julie Hamos for Congress in Illinois' 10th Congressional District, Terry O'Neill, NOW/PAC Chair said, "We support Julie Hamos because she has spent her entire career fighting for fairness and equality. We know she will be a strong voice for women's health, reproductive freedom, workplace equality, and ending violence against women."

Same-sex couples may soon be able to wed in the District of Columbia thanks to today's 11-2 vote by the D.C. Council.

"NOW commends the D.C. Council for acknowledging that the LGBT people of this city have a fundamental right to marry," said NOW President Terry O'Neill. "Same-sex couples should not be denied the protections and benefits that opposite-sex couples have always enjoyed."

There is a stealth move under way in Washington, D.C., to recover the billions spent on bailing out the banks and Wall Street by cutting benefits under the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs. A special commission would address the federal deficit by considering cuts to entitlements programs and would fast track recommendations by an up or down vote in Congress -- with little debate and no opportunity for amendments. This is a reverse Robin Hood -- stealing from the poor and middle-class to give to the rich in a way that will have a disproportionately negative impact on women.

Tell your senators: Do not balance the federal deficit caused by bailing out big banks and Wall Street on the backs of the elderly and poor women who depend on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to survive! Oppose the creation of a debt-reduction, entitlements-cutting commission with fast-tracked recommendations -- make these important decisions in public.

The National Organization for Women congratulates Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley for her overwhelming victory in the Democratic primary in the special election to fill the late Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat. If Coakley prevails as expected in the Jan. 19 general election, she will be the first woman senator from the state of Massachusetts, and she will double to two the number of women in the state's current 12-member congressional delegation. The NOW Political Action Committee proudly endorsed Coakley in her run.

"As the first woman attorney general in Massachusetts, Martha Coakley has demonstrated commitment and leadership on a wide range of feminist issues," said NOW President and NOW/PAC Chair Terry O'Neill. "Most recently, her vocal opposition to the Stupak-Pitts Amendment and its assault on health insurance coverage for abortion care proved that Martha is a force to be reckoned with when women's rights are at stake."

The National Organization for Women applauds the Senate for voting to table and effectively defeat the Nelson-Hatch Amendment to the health care reform bill. This victory is just one small step, however, toward enacting health care reform that recognizes health care as a human right, abortion as health care and women as deserving of coverage that meets all of their medical needs.

The Nelson-Hatch Amendment would have instituted a ban on abortion care coverage in the proposed health insurance exchanges, which are expected to serve tens of millions of people. It would have far extended the Hyde Amendment's already shameful restrictions on abortion funding. It would have betrayed the promise that no one would lose health care coverage they currently have due to reform. And, in all likelihood, this prohibition on abortion coverage would have spread industry-wide in little time.

New guidelines from the U.S. Prevention Services Task Force (USPSTF) regarding mammogram screenings and breast self-exams have stirred up a storm of controversy. After decades of stressing that women should have routine mammograms and conduct frequent breast self-exams to promote early diagnosis, the USPSTF guidelines came as quite a surprise. Some have even speculated that changing the guidelines is just a governmental tactic designed to cut health care costs at the expense of women's well-being.

NOW believes that legitimate, relevant data prompted the revised guidelines, and that women should be better informed about the science behind the USPSTF's new recommendations. At the same time, NOW strongly asserts that health insurance should cover mammograms for women of all ages. We applaud the Senate for passing the Mikulski Amendment this week, guaranteeing women health screenings and preventative care at no cost.

Please call AND email your senators one more time to tell them that they must vote against the latest abortion ban amendment that is likely to be offered (by Sens. Ben Nelson and Orrin Hatch) this weekend in the Senate.

Lobby Day Turnout Great: THANK YOU so much for all your help in our effort to stop a Stupak-like amendment in its tracks. But one could be on the Senate's agenda as early as this Saturday, Dec. 5. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is keeping the Senate at work through the weekend to expedite votes on health care reform legislation.

Pressure from abortion rights opponents is mounting on senators to adopt a Stupak-like abortion ban for insurance coverage in health care reform legislation. We are asking that you call your senators today to urge them in the strongest way possible to take a pledge against any legislation containing abortion amendments that would make access more restrictive than current law. Please call now AND send email messages to your two senators -- this is the most important action that you can take at this time to defend women's rights.