California NOW

Urgent: Call NOW to Save AB 2578!

Last night, AB 2578 (Jones) failed passage on the Senate floor by only four votes! Today is the final day of the Legislative session for the year and we expect it to be taken up for another vote this afternoon. AB 2578 requires approval from the Department of Insurance or the Department of Managed Health Care before health insurance rates may be raised. We need it to prevent the excessive premium increases like those announced by Blue Cross and Blue Shield last week.

These Democratic Senators failed to vote for the bill last night. call and insist that they do the right thing by supporting the bill today!

Sen. Ron Calderon (Los Angeles) 916-651-4030 – voted no
Sen. Lou Correa (Santa Ana) 916-651-4034 – voted no
Sen. Gloria Negrete-McLeod (LA/San Bernadino) 916-651-4032 - abstained
Sen. Alex Padilla (Los Angeles) 916-651-4020 - abstained
Sen. Lois Wolk (Davis) 916-651-4005 - abstained
Sen. Rod Wright (Los Angeles) 916-651-4025 – voted no

It's for Your HEALTH...

 I've been working on this post for a couple weeks now, and again, it's a hard post to write.  Then again, aren't they all?  Ok, not all, but a fair number are.

Someone I love and care about told me the other day that she was starting to not see the point of all the effort she made to exercise and eat right (she's practically a vegetarian) since it wasn't resulting in her losing weight and/or getting "smaller."  I told her she was healthier, right?  I mean, she walks a minimum of four miles a day, and then usually hops on her stationary bike or treadmill for about half an hour or so.  

She said, that didn't matter because no one could see her health, and it was discouraging to work and work and work with no visible "progress," in large part because of how other people treat her.  

I've posted before here, and a lot in Polimicks, about how "We're concerned about your health!" is concern trolling pure and simple.  With a heaping helping of 'splaining going on.  Because the person who is living their life, and eating their food and exercising their exercise obviously needs someone else who has never seen, met or lived with them telling them all the things they're "doin' rong."  

This is one of the other sides of Kate Harding's "Fantasy of Being Thin."  I would call this "The Fantasy that anyone CAN be thin."  It's a fantasy nurtured and cossetted by an industry devoted to preying on the insecurities women have been conditioned to have about their looks.  It tells women that if they try hard enough, have enough willpower, are strong enough, they can be thin and "desirable", too.  And, conversely, that if they aren't thin, it's because they aren't strong enough, don't have enough willpower, just aren't trying, and aren't desirable.  

I Don't Know What I Look Like

I really don't.  I don't think I ever have. 

What brought this on?  Recently my family reconnected with friends we hadn't seen in over 20 years.  We moved to Boise, ID in 1981, as did these family friends.  My dad and Mr. H worked together, and as we were all sort of bereft of extended family, we became each others' extended families.  We spent a lot of time together, lots of weekend barbecues and holidays spent together, like Thanksgiving.  So, both sides have a lot of pictures of each other.  Mom went over to see them last weekend (they live about four hours from us), and Mrs. H gave her copies of pictures of my sister and I eating watermelon with their kids on the patio, probably on a 4th of July.  My mom brought the pictures to the baseball game we attended last night, and showed them to me.

I stared at these pictures of me, sitting cross-legged and hunched over  at eleven years old, and all I could think was, "Holy crap, look at how skinny I was!" 

I'm sure it will come as a suprise to no one that at the time those pictures were taken, I already thought I was hugely fat, which explains wearing jeans on what must have been a 100 degree day.  I started thinking of myself as fat in fourth grade when a schoolmate announced that if you weighed over 100 pounds, you were fat and no one would ever want to marry you. 

In fourth grade, I weighed about 120.  I remember this, because I would stare at the scale and cry, locked in the bathroom.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

This is World Breastfeeding Week!

From the diverse health benefits, to the increased bonding experience or even the potential for weight loss, there are many reasons why women decide to breastfeed. Despite support for breastfeeding from every reputable medical organization, mothers still face discrimination and obstacles to breastfeeding.

Employers often create barriers for women who wish to continue breast feeding after returning to the workplace. Denial of breaks for pumping, lack of clean facilities, and supervisor disapproval can all make breastfeeding more difficult to continue. California NOW is supporting AB 2468 (De Leon) which would allow businesses to indicate that they are breastfeeding-friendly if they provide suitable accomodations for breastfeeding mothers. This bill has now passed the Senate Appropriations Committee, and has returned to the Senate for a third reading.

Women are also often harassed for breastfeeding in public, even though laws exist to protect the rights of women and children to nurse in public spaces. The online comic Mama Is... addresses those incidents with humor, but the fact is that breastfeeding women are being penalized for our society's sexualization of women's bodies, and specifically of our breasts. Make no mistake, as lactating mammals, women's breasts exist for the purpose of breastfeeding infants. It is ridiculous that the same society which uses pictures of breasts to sell everything from clothing, to beer, to cars, to computers, can't handle seeing them put to their original purpose. Luckily, the "lactivism" movement is growing! If you're a breastfeeding mom, you can get support for your struggles in plenty of online forums and local mothers' support groups.

Breast-pump maker Ameda has started an “I Breastfeed Because…” campaign for women to share why they made the decision to breastfeed. Mothers who are currently breastfeeding, or have in the past, can log onto www.ibreastfeedbecause.com to upload a brief video on the reasons why they chose to breastfeed and be entered in a contest. For each video, tweet or comment, Ameda will make a charitable donation to the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, a non-profit association of donor human milk banks established in 1985 to set standards for and to facilitate establishment and operation of milk banks in America.

Having known some women who experienced a lack of milk for their infants, and another couple who wanted to be able to give a adopted child breastmilk, these milk banks are important.  They are even lifesavers for some children with medical conditions that make breast milk the only safe option.  If you can't upload your own video, at least make a comment to support the cause.

Safe Cosmetics, for California and the Country!

If you've been following our work on safe cosmetics, you'll already know that we're supporting the federal Safe Cosmetics Act and working for enforcement of California's 2005 Safe Cosmetics Act.  This video shows just why this work is so important.



You can take action to help pass the Safe Cosmetics Act on the national level.

We are also working in California to pass SB 929 (Pavley), which would remove toxic chemicals from children's jewelry. Contact your Assemblymember and urge them to support this bill!

Pregnancy and Massage

Guest post by Anne Lukes

I think most people would agree that taking good care of yourself while pregnant is of the utmost importance. Many women change their diet or exercise habits hoping to have a smooth, uneventful pregnancy. What most women don't count on is how quickly their body will change. Aches and pains are common throughout pregnancy. You have an ever changing center of gravity compounded with relaxin softening up your joints. Relaxin is the hormone responsible for softening the pelvic joints so the baby can pass through easily at birth. Unfortunately for the rest of the body, relaxin softens every joint making it difficult to maintain correct posture while making it easier to sprain ankles, knees, and shoulders, just to name a few. One of the best ways to help your body adjust and keep up with pregnancy is by getting regular massages.

Massage helps lengthen tight, shortened muscles to help put you in better alignment and better comfort. I was fortunate enough to have just started some additional massage training when i got pregnant with my son. I spent the next 4 months getting massaged 3 or more times a week since we had to practice our new techniques on each other. Consequently, I felt really good most of the time.

5 Reasons the FDA Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood is Stupid

The Department of Health and Human Services has decided to keep the current ban on donations of blood by gay and bisexual men. 

As one could predict, there was a frenzy of hand-wringing by conservatives about how ending the ban would result in diseased blood, despite the conclusions of both the American Red Cross and the American Association of Blood Banks that the current ban is medically and scientifically unwarranted. Fear of "gay blood" has even been used as a reason to continue the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (as if there are not gay and lesbian soldiers already serving).

As a regular blood donor myself, I think it's instructive to break down exactly how the current ban works, and why it's ridiculous.

When I go in to donate blood, I am asked a series of questions. They are the same questions every time, regardless of how many times I've donated or how well they know me. One of these questions is whether I have, within the past year, had sex with a man who has ever had sex with another man. If the answer to that question is yes, I cannot donate blood. Male donors are asked if they have ever, since 1977, had sex with another man. If the answer is yes, they cannot donate.

I am also, at that time, informed that all donated blood is screened for various diseases, including HIV, Hepatitis, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis, and that they will inform me if my blood tests positive, and if so I will not be allowed to donate again.

So now, having given you that background, Dear Reader, let me break down for you why the current ban is ridiculous.

Reason one: Donated blood is already tested for disease
Being straight or female does not confer some sort of immunity to STIs, so blood is already thoroughly tested before it gets to those who need it. Were gay men able to donate, their blood would be tested too. Any blood testing positive for disease does not make it to patients.

Reason two: The ban relies on accurate self-reporting
The idea that, if the ban were lifted, HIV+ gay men would crowd the blood banks in a deliberate attempt to infect someone else is ludicrous. Frankly, anyone with that kind of motivation could do it now, simply by lying. And their blood would fail the screening test (see reason one). Moreover, closeted gay or bisexual men might not inform their female partners about their same-sex activities, meaning that these women can donate blood under current circumstance, while a woman who knows that her male partner has had same-sex experiences cannot.

Reason three: The one-year ban on heterosexual women with MSM partners
As it is now, if a woman has sex with a man who has had sex with another man (MSM) she cannot donate blood until a year after that relationship ends. At that point, she is once again able to donate. This artificial time constraint points out the logical gap in the current ban. A woman who has stopped having sex with her MSM partner for a year is no less a potential risk than a woman whose current MSM partner has not had a same-sex partner in over a year. Yet under the ban one can donate and one cannot.

Reason four: We operate under a critical blood, organ and tissue shortage, which costs people's lives
The Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law says, "Completely lifting the ban would add an estimated 219,000 pints to the blood supply and 903 organ donations each year. A more limited revision of the policy, which would limit blood donation by those men who have not had a male sex partner in the past year, would yield an estimated 90,000 additional pints of blood and nearly 370 organ donations annually. Finally, changing the blood supply policy to restrict donations by men who have had sex with men in the last five years would result in an additional 70,000 pints to the blood supply each year."

Reason five: Go back and read Reason One again

This is why organizations like the American Red Cross and the American Association of Blood Banks, who are hardly liberal bastions, and are directly concerned with ensuring supplies of blood, organs, and tissues, were arguing for a lifting of the ban.

Sadly, it appears that fear has won out over science, and lives will be lost as a result.

5 Minutes to Prevent Osteoporosis: Exercise for Bone Health!

Guest post by Michelle Aultman

Give me a few minutes and I will give you some exercise suggestions to reduce weak bones.

An estimated 10 million Americans have osteoporosis, and another 34 million have low bone mass (osteopenia). A disease with out symptoms, osteoporosis affects about 20 percent of men and 80 percent of women. While the bones gradually become weaker, they will probably break from a minor fall or, if left untreated, even from simple things like a sneeze. The commonest fracture sites can be hip, wrist and spine, although any bone in the body could be affected.

Certain factors increase the probability of developing osteoporosis. While many of these risk factors are controllable, others are not. Risk factors that can be controlled are: Sedentary lifestyle, excess intake of protein, sodium, caffeine and/or alcohol, smoking, calcium and Vitamin D deficiencies and taking certain medicines. Body size (small frame), gender, family history and ethnicity are risk factors that are not to be controlled.

It's never too early to start thinking of bone mineral density. Much of the reserve of healthy bone is built in youth and before age 30. About 85-90 % of adult bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and age 20 in boys. Women might be more subject to an inadequate foundation process at this time than men. Sufficient calcium intake, a comprehensive diet with a good amount of vegetables and fruits and load-bearing exercise will be the keys to solid bone growth when you're young. Then, with continued exercise into old age -- which applies to men as well -- bone density decline may be kept to a minimum. Women can lose as much as 20 percent of their bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause, causing them to be more subject to osteoporosis.

Impacts of the Proposed Budget on California Women and Families

Now that we've given you the background of the economic climate for women and their families, let's take a look at how the proposed budget cuts to health and human services programs in California will impact these families.

The Great Recession has put many California families on edge, with formerly dual-income families now relying on a single earner, often making lower wages and working fewer hours. Job losses, a difficult labor market, and medical coverage loss combine to keep families from economic stability. Because of this confluence of factors, families are relying on social safety net programs more than ever. Programs have seen an increase in demand while budgets have been cut, meaning that there are fewer resources to help those populations who have been rely on these programs for survival. Moreover, proposed budget cuts target numerous programs used by California's neediest citizens, and many families access more than one service, meaning that needy families and individuals will be impacted not merely by cuts to a single program, but will face multiple cuts to every program that helps them. Here are some of the facts, and the ways in which these families will be affected.

Fight the Backlash Against Reproductive Freedom

Have you been seeing what we have?

• Georgia's legislature proposes an anti-choice bill disguised as anti-racist and anti-sexist.
• Nebraska passes a bill requiring abortion providers to screen women for mental health problems for abortions before 20 weeks and another refusing to allow mental health problems to be considered as a reason for an abortion after 20 weeks.
• Oklahoma passes a law allowing a doctor to lie to a pregnant woman about the health of her developing fetus,  and another requiring an ultrasound before an abortion is performed.
• Mississippi's Legislature prohibits insurers from offering health plans that include abortion coverage in the insurance exchanges that will be formed under the new national health reform law, including in cases of severe birth defects.
• Florida's Legislature approves a bill requiring women to have ultrasounds and have the results explained to them prior to an abortion.
• The Kansas legislature approves a bill placing additional requirements on doctors who perform abortions after 21 weeks and allowing patients and their families to file civil lawsuits against physicians if they believe state abortion law was violated. 

Thankfully, some of these bills have failed, but there's no question that a serious restriction on women's reproductive rights is taking place in state legislatures across the country. We may have a President who has stated that, "I am somebody who believes that women should have the ability to make often very difficult decisions about their own bodies and issues of reproduction," but that isn't enough to give women access to full reproductive freedom.

Even in California, organizations that provide abortion services must submit to lengthy and duplicative paperwork in order to provide services in more than one location. SB 442 (Ducheny) Single Consolidated Clinic License, would streamline the licensing process and enable better access to care throughout California.  Contact your state legislators and ask them to support this bill!

You can also support our legislative work with a donation, and by becoming a member of California NOW.