NOW BLASTS NEW JERSEY CHILD EXCLUSION DECISION; PLANS MOTHER'S DAY ACTION TO REMIND CONGRESS: POOR WOMEN ARE MOTHERS, TOO

NOW BLASTS NEW JERSEY CHILD EXCLUSION DECISION;

PLANS MOTHER'S DAY ACTION TO REMIND CONGRESS:

POOR WOMEN ARE MOTHERS, TOO

CONTACT: MELINDA SHELTON

THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1995

National Organization for Women Executive Vice President Kim Gandy said that today's child exclusion ruling issued by a New Jersey district court judge sends a cruel message to babies born into poverty-stricken families.

District Court Judge Nicholas Politan ruled in C.K. v. Shalala that New Jersey's welfare policies can legally deny assistance to babies born into families already on the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.

NOW New Jersey joined in an amicus brief as part of the class action suit filed by the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represents the plaintiffs. NOW contends that by excluding additional babies from AFDC benefits, innocent children will be punished for something they had no control over -- being born into a poor family.

"The court is saying to these helpless infants: `If your sister or brother is receiving assistance, then you must go wanting,'" Gandy said. "A newborn without siblings would not be excluded at all. Is the existence of a poor sister or brother a valid or rational ground to deprive a needy child of the necessities of life? Surely, this is not the `equal protection' guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. It also means that existing children -- siblings -- will be penalized because their meager benefits will have to be shared with the new baby.

"This decision essentially punishes babies for being born," Gandy said. "And it punishes siblings as well. It seems the war against poor women is being widened to include innocent babies and children - all for the sake of so-called welfare reform sanctioned in the GOP Contract On America."

NOW continues its fight against GOP-led efforts to cut welfare at the expense of poor women and children with a Mother's Day action at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 11, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

As the nation prepares to pay tribute to mothers, NOW activists will present Mother's Day cards on behalf of poor women to members of the Senate Finance Committee, which is working on welfare proposals that will further compromise the fragile safety net of poor women and children. The cards will remind committee members that poor women are mothers, too.

A press briefing will be held at 9:30 a.m. following presentation of the cards to committee members.

Return to NOW Home Page