Registration Open for SisterLove's HLYASS

Got Reproductive Justice?

Join SisterLove, Inc. for our annual youth conference, HLYASS! HLYASS, or Healthy Love Youth Advocacy Summer Summit is August 17-23. Due to effects of Covid-19, the summit this year will be virtual in order to protect attendees and speakers. We ensure that the Summit will still be engaging and informative and hope you will attend!

Registration is now open! Youth ages 16-25 can register for FREE by going here https://www.hlyass.org/register-for-hlyass.

We are still accepting PROPOSALS. Do you have a topic related to Policy and Advocacy? Healthy Relationships? Organizing for Power? Submit here

Questions? Email: [email protected]

Partner Events!

On June 18th from 12-1pm, join the ACLU of Georgia for the release of their new report, How Far Yet to Go? The Status of Women in Georgia 1970 and Today. Hear from local advocates, researchers, and organizers on the opportunities women have in 2020 to advance a pro-woman agenda.

Confirmed speakers include:

Dr. Deirdre Oakley and Ifeanyi Ukpabi, Georgia State University and author of, How Far Yet to Go Now? The Status of Women in Georgia 1970 and Today.
Dr. Subasri Narasimhan and Dr. Dabney Evans, Center for Reproductive Health Research in the Southeast
Amber Mack, Policy Director with Healthy Babies, Healthy Mothers
Randi Gregory, Georgia State Director, Care in Action
Jennifer Owens, Vice President, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute

Event will be on zoom. To read more about the event and to RSVP click here.

Pissed Off Peaches Call to Action

About #PissedOffPeaches

In spring 2019, a groundswell of Georgians for reproductive health, rights, and justice came together under the banner of #PissedOffPeaches to oppose the passage of House Bill 481, a bill to ban almost all abortions in Georgia. Supporters included members of the organizations Access Reproductive Care - Southeast, Feminist Women’s Health Center, ACLU of Georgia, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) Georgia chapter, NARAL Pro-Choice GA, Planned Parenthood of the Southeast (PPSE), SisterLove, Inc., SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, SPARK RJ NOW, URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, and Women Engaged.

The advocates who make up #PissedOffPeaches believe that access to abortion is about being able to thrive in our communities. The current uprisings against white supremacy and racist police violence, the need to be able to care for our communities during a global pandemic, and attempts to control our bodies and reproductive lives are all connected.

Police violence and reproductive control are systemic assaults that criminalize and threaten the lives and freedom of Black and brown bodies. We’re trying to get free and every fight matters.

Read their recent statement and call to action HERE

Register for their community action call on July 2nd from 6-7:30pm to unpact the meaning and future of reproductive freedoms HERE

SisterLove Advocacy Actions!

Tell Your Georgia Senators to Vote YES on HB 426: The Hate Crime Bill

Did you know that Georgia is one of FOUR states to not have hate crime legislation or require data collection on such crimes? This cannot continue. Those who commit violence against citizens due to the color of their skin must be held accountable. We have seen unspeakable acts of racial violence in our own state the past few months and we know that racial violence has occurred in our state for generations.

On June 11th, the Georgia legislative session will be open. HB 426 narrowly passed through the Georgia House last session but failed to pass through the Georgia Senate. The legislation will be brought forward again when session reopens. It must be passed without amendments otherwise it will return back to the house, where it may not pass.

There is strong chance that this legislation will pass and that Governor Kemp will sign it, but we still need your help! Click here to learn more about HB 426 and to contact your Georgia senators.

Tell Your Reps to Protect Title X!

Clinics across the United States that provide family planning rely on Title X grants, which allow them to offer services to patients on a sliding, income-based scale. Title X grants cover a broad array of services that are considered "family planning," including contraceptive services, supplies, and information; breast and cervical cancer screenings; and STI prevention, testing, and treatment.

In mid 2019, the Trump Administration instituted a nationwide gag rule on Title X funding. The new rule prioritizes natural family planning and abstinence, especially for adolescents, and imposes new barriers to abortion access. This rule is incredibly harmful and during a time when many people have lost their jobs and employee sponsored health insurance, affordable family planning is necessary. Many clinics have been forced to take less patients due to cost or shut down completely.

Fill out this form to tell your representatives to reverse these changes and protect Title X

Contact Your Reps to Vote YES on the Global HER Act!

The global gag rule, recently reinstated by the Trump Administration, is an unjust policy that disrupts the provision of reproductive health services abroad by blocking U.S. global health assistance to all foreign nongovernmental organizations that use their own funding to engage in abortion-related services or advocacy. The Global Health, Empowerment and Rights (HER) Act is a necessary bill that that would reverse and prohibit the Global Gag Rule and prevent any future president from reinstating the rule.

The global gag rule is incredibly harmful for hundreds of NGOs and for thousands of people who rely on their services. The global gag rule results in increased unintended and high-risk pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal deaths, and harms efforts to combat HIV and other sexually-transmitted infections (STIs).

During this period where access to adequate health care is paramount, the global gag rule puts more lives at risk. By filling out this form you can ask your representatives to vote for the Global HER Act to stop the global gag rule and prevent any future president from reinstating it.

Census 2020

Every 10 years the U.S. government conducts a nationwide census. The census is incredibly important for you and your community, because the results of the 2020 Census will affect community funding, congressional representation, and more. If the population of our community is undercounted we may lose funding for our schools, roads, and other necessities and we may lose representatives in Congress. The census is completely anonymous and you will not be penalized due to your living situation, immigration status, etc. There is NO immigration status question on the census. Although the official day to complete the census was April 1st, you can continue to fill it out throughout the summer.

You should have received a census form in the mail. You can also fill out the census here.

In The News

Supreme Court Rules to Protect LGBTQIA Employment!

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination, including firing. Title VII prohibited discrimination on the bases of race, religion, national origin and sex. The question brought to the court was whether discrimination "based on sex" applied to the LGBTQIA community. The court combined this case from two separate cases, one where gay men were fired because of their sexual identity, and another where a transgender woman, Aimee Stephens, was fired when she was open about her transition at work.

SisterLove is thrilled with this decision. No one should be fired because of who they are or who they love. If you want to read the decision, click here.

The Trump Administration Eliminates Protection for Transgender Health Care

The Trump Administration last week finalized a rule removing nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people's access to health care and insurance. The Trump Administration has chosen to narrowly define "sex discrimination" as applying to when someone faces discrimination for being male or female, but not when they are discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. This policy would now allow a transgender person to be refused care at a doctors office due to who they are. It also will allow doctors to refuse to perform reassignment surgery. Discriminated people could still sue if denied health care for a civil rights violation but this would be a lengthy and costly process for those who already face severe hardships. It is uncertain if the Supreme Court's decision above will force the Trump administration to change their rule.

We are deeply disturbed and angered by this ruling. In a time of a global pandemic where many people rely on health care, this rule further harms already marginalized groups. We deeply hope Congress and the Supreme Court act to reverse this rule. To read more, click here.

Upcoming SisterLove Events