No to the NDAA, yes to the WHPA
Indivisible SF Newsletter
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** SCOTUS hears arguments directly challenging Roe v. Wade today. Here’s what you can do.
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This week, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is hearing Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the state of Mississippi is arguing not just to ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, but to overturn Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion in 1973. Right-wing organizations like the Heritage Foundation have been campaigning relentlessly ever since to restrict that right, to the point that a person’s ability to make decisions about their own body already increasingly depends on what state they live in.
A landmark 10-year study by researchers at our own University of California - San Francisco shows that denying someone an abortion inflicts measurable and lasting hardship on them: more financial struggle, increased risk of domestic violence, and worse health outcomes for the individual, as well as greater poverty and developmental issues for the children they already have. If SCOTUS overturns Roe entirely, at least 12 states will ban abortion immediately. That will disproportionately impact people of color and people who are young, poor, rural, and/or disabled. It will also have implications far beyond reproductive rights, because a court that is willing to ignore precedent to revoke a constitutional right that has been established for almost 50 years is a threat to us all.
On Wednesday, December 1, join people across the country in taking action to insist that abortion is essential. Resources for December 1st are provided by the Center for Reproductive Rights ([link removed]) . Get informed, and tune into their livestream on Facebook ([link removed]) .
Then call our Senators, who are co-sponsors of the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), and tell them that you expect them to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote. The WHPA prohibits states from passing medically unnecessary restrictions that single out and impede access to abortion, thus ensuring that healthcare providers across the country can deliver abortion care, and that their patients can receive it, no matter where they live.
Contact your Senators and tell them: ([link removed]) bring reproductive justice to a vote!
** Give us a defense bill that actually protects us
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This week the Senate should be focused on preserving democracy by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, protecting us from climate catastrophe, and preserving and expanding jobs, housing, healthcare, childcare, and education for millions of Americans through passing the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) -- but they aren’t. Instead, this week the Senate is devoting itself to rewarding their corporate donors by passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Commonly referred to as the “Defense Bill,” the NDAA is a deal-laden grab bag of Xmas goodies for the military-industrial complex.
This year, however, though there is no doubt that the bill will eventually pass, Republican leader McConnell is deliberately slowing down its passage to delay and obstruct Biden’s agenda by running out the time clock on consideration of progressive legislation like voting rights and economic justice.
The NDAA controls 60% of ALL discretionary spending in the national budget. It establishes programs, policies, and appropriation limits for the Department of Defense (DOD/Pentagon), nuclear weapons (DOE), defense intelligence agencies, and other defense activities, including some Homeland Security programs. But nowhere in its $7.5 trillion budget are funds for combating the global warming climate emergency that jeopardizes us daily or defense against global pandemics like Covid which in less than two years has already killed almost twice as many Americans as were killed in four years of World War II and 13 times as many as were killed in the Vietnam War.
As voters, we recognize that in a globalized world, our national security relies on more than guns and soldiers alone. It requires an educated, healthy, and productive workforce; a strong, vibrant economy; and a robust research and science infrastructure that recognizes global warming as a national security threat. As originally proposed, the Build Back Better Act responded to that 21st century understanding of national defense and required those most involved in contributing to global warming to finance solutions through paying a fairer share of taxes. As of now, the NDAA does not.
Tell President Biden and our two senators that you oppose the current NDAA for very different reasons than the Republicans and want to see a Defense Bill that focuses on protecting us from the most immediate dangers that threaten us.
Contact your Senators and President Biden and tell them: ([link removed]) give us a defense bill that actually protects us!
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If you’re interested in participating in activities like drafting letters to our Members of Congress and developing our strategy for influencing them, the Indivisible SF Federal Working Group ([link removed]) is where it happens! Join us at our next meeting on December 9. Details on how to register below!
TODAY: Rally for Our Rights Livestream: Wednesday, December 1, 4:30–10:00 AM. Today, SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in a case directly challenging Roe v. Wade. Join the Center for Reproductive Rights on the livestream of their rally during the oral arguments. Tune in via their Facebook event. ([link removed])
ISF Federal Working Group meeting: Thursday, December 9, 7:30–9 PM. Register here ([link removed]) to join our regular Zoom meeting, where we work cooperatively to develop strategies to influence our Members of Congress and the Biden administration to support a progressive agenda. All are welcome to participate and contribute, even if you’ve never attended an ISF meeting before!
Fight Back Fridays: Friday, December 3, 5–6 PM, at 1 Post Street. Join a coalition of local Indivisibles every Friday for FIGHT BACK FRIDAYS. We gather at 1 Post in SF (in front of Senator Feinstein’s office building, at one of the Montgomery Street BART exits) every Friday until the Freedom to Vote Act is passed! Learn more and register here. ([link removed])
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on Twitter and Facebook, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue. Today’s image is a graphic provided by the Center for Reproductive Rights for their December 1st toolkit ([link removed]) for the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which directly challenges Roe v. Wade.
Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team ([link removed])
If you'd like to support our all-volunteer team:
DONATE HERE ([link removed])
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