TEA Fund Weekly Round Up–October 10th
Posted on 10. Oct, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
TEA Fund supports equal access to abortion for women in and around our area of Texas. The goal of this blog is to keep you engaged in TEA Fund and what affects our mission. We post on relevant legislation, news, and events, so please keep reading!
Honor Native Americans Today
It may be Columbus Day, but let’s choose to recognize the Native Americans who were here before Columbus. Native American women have far less access to abortion services than the law entitles them to. Support organizations like Sister Song in honor of this day and all women of color.
October 9th was Pro-Life Cupcake Day?
Yes. Yesterday marked the celebration of using cupcakes to talk to children about other children who never had a birthday. Read this interesting article that touches on the “anti-abortion propaganda being forced on children through the Trojan horse of a cupcake.”
H.R. 358- The Protect Life Act
In three days the House considers a bill that will make it harder or nearly impossible for women to obtain an abortion through their health insurance. It also gives hospitals permission to deny safe, legal abortion to any woman at any time, even if remaining pregnant will threaten her life.
Sonogram Law Goes went into Effect Oct. 1st
Although Judge Sam Sparks struck down some provisions of the law, “doctors in the state are still required to perform the ultrasound, and the woman still must wait 24 hours before she can have an abortion. The same doctor must perform both procedures.”
Help TEA Fund Raise Money!
Go to http://albertsonscpchallenge.com and login, by entering your e-mail address. If this is your first time to the site, you will be taken to the e-mail verification page. Once your e-mail is verified you can login and vote using just your e-mail. To find the TEA Fund, just enter Charity Code #0769 in the upper left hand corner, and click go. For more information, look to our past blog post.
FREE & EASY way to help the TEA Fund win a $25,0000 grant!
Posted on 09. Oct, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
Do you want to help the TEA Fund help women, but you don’t have much $$$? Do you have internet access and a valid email? Then you can help us get a $25,000 grant!
The TEA Fund (Texas Equal Access Fund) is an abortion fund working to make reproductive “rights” a reality by reducing financial barriers to abortion in North Texas. Because we support Albertsons through their Community Partners program (if you don’t a card with them, check out the info at http://teafund.org/getinvolved/community-partners), we have an exclusive chance to earn a $25,000 grant for a project to enhance our local community.
All you have to do is vote for us (you can vote up to 5 times per day, every day!).
It’s super-easy. Just…
Go to http://albertsonscpchallenge.com and login, by entering your e-mail address. If this is your first time to the site, you will be taken to the e-mail verification page. Once your e-mail is verified you can login and vote using just your e-mail.
To find the TEA Fund, just enter Charity Code #0769 in the upper left hand corner, and click go.
When you see our entry, click on vote. You can vote up to five times per day (they can all go to the same charity – like us – if you want) from October 1st through October 15th! Note: You may need to close and re-open your browser and then login to the site again to reset your vote count at the start of a new day.
Please spread the word to your family, friends (online & IRL), co-workers…everybody!
Thank you for your support!
TEA Fund Weekly Round Up–September 25
Posted on 25. Sep, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
TEA Fund supports equal access to abortion for women in and around our area of Texas. The goal of this blog is to keep you engaged in TEA Fund and what affects our mission. We post on relevant legislation, news, and events, so please keep reading!
Visualize Abortion Restrictions
Texas made it towards the top of the list in abortion restrictions, as you can see in this graph. It goes hand in hand with the realization that Texas’ abstinence-only education simply isn’t working. Texas has the fifth highest teen pregnancy rate. When will legislators and social conservatives realize that abortion restrictions, poor sex education, and rising teen pregnancy are all related and not good for our future?
Perry and HPV
In one of the recent Republican debates, Perry was confronted regarding his past stance on making the HPV vaccine a requirement for all high school girls. Rick Perry withdrew from his initial support of the requirement, saying he was wrong for mandating the vaccine, there were also accusations that his concern for the health of young girls was only a mask for his loyalties to campaign contributors and former staffers. Perry’s record tells us that he has zero interest in the reproductive health and choices of girls and women, and instead wants public money to go to humiliating and manipulating women at crisis pregnancy centers.
What the Affordable Care Act Covers
Curious as to what “Obama-care” actually does? Read this article to find out.
Bachmann’s Radical Stances
Michelle Bachmann, as of late, has flaunted her radical pro-life stance by stating she would override supreme court rulings on abortion rights. Also, while attacking Perry and his past choice to require the HPV vaccine in Texas, Bachmann falsely stated that the vaccine causes mental retardation. Medical ethics experts are saying that her statements have already invoked an unfounded fear in the population, which has sadly led to a decrease in the use of this life saving vaccine.
TEA Fund Executive Director Wins $25,000 Rona Jaffe Award
Merritt Tierce, the TEA Fund’s Executive Director, was one of a group of six women writers selected to receive $25,000 each from the Rona Jaffe Foundation. The awards are intended to help women writers in the early stages of their careers. Read our earlier post for more details.
Sonogram Bill Will Most Likely Increase Cost of Abortions in Texas
While we reported in our last weekly update that Sam Sparks struck down part of the sonogram legislation pending a trial, the entire bill was not enjoined and Texas women will see a significant change in how abortions are provided when the bill goes into effect October 1. Read our earlier post to find out how the barriers and cost for women have increased.
Sonogram Bill Will Most Likely Increase Cost of Abortions in Texas
Posted on 25. Sep, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
While we reported in our last weekly update that Sam Sparks struck down part of the sonogram legislation pending a trial, the entire bill was not enjoined and Texas women will see a significant change in how abortions are provided when the bill goes into effect October 1. Members of the TEA Fund Board attended the Trust Texas Women event in Dallas last week to receive an update on the legislation from Nancy Northup, President of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the organization that filed the class action suit contesting the sonogram bill. Based on what we learned at that meeting, and through one of our board members who is a clinic manager, we expect the cost of abortion to increase as a direct result of this bill. The same doctor who provides a woman’s abortion will have to administer her sonogram, meaning that providers will have to be in the clinic twice as much as they are under current practices. Abortion is already unaffordable for our clients, and this bill will make it even more inaccessible. Combined with Rick Perry’s disastrous family planning cuts, these new restrictions will mean that poor women in Texas are even more likely to experience unintended pregnancies and give birth to children they cannot care for.
TEA Fund Executive Director Wins $25,000 Rona Jaffe Award
Posted on 25. Sep, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
Merritt Tierce, the TEA Fund’s Executive Director, was one of a group of six women writers selected to receive $25,000 each from the Rona Jaffe Foundation. The awards are intended to help women writers in the early stages of their careers. Merritt is a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and her fiction has been published in various journals and magazines, as well as the anthology New Stories from the South. She will accept the award on September 22 and read from her work at NYU on September 23. Read an interview with Merritt at the Dallas Observer.
TEA Fund Weekly Round Up — September 4
Posted on 04. Sep, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
TEA Fund supports equal access to abortion for women in and around our area of Texas. The goal of this blog is to keep you engaged in TEA Fund and what affects our mission. We post on relevant legislation, news, and events, so please keep reading!
So Long Sonogram!
In some of the biggest news for Texans this week, federal judge Sam Sparks struck down the Sonogram legislation, which would have subjected women to humiliating terms before being able to receive an abortion. I’ll be wearing my ‘I heart Sam Sparks’ t-shirt this month. Who’s with me?
Obama Administration Starts Protecting Women Again from Aggressive Abortion Protesters
The Justice Department has started re-utilizing a law that enables the government to file civil lawsuits to create buffer zones against aggressive abortion protesters who attempt to block or stop women from entering an abortion clinic. The FACE Act went into effect in the 80’s, but in the Bush era only 1 case was ever filed. The current administration has already filed 8 cases.
Shaming Perry
Between defunding women’s health programs and using his own personal religious beliefs in enacting legislation, there are definitely a couple of shameful updates on our very own Ricky Perry in this week’s Weekly Round Up.
TEA Fund Weekly Round Up — August 28
Posted on 28. Aug, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
TEA Fund supports equal access to abortion for women in and around our area of Texas. The goal of this blog is to keep you engaged in TEA Fund and what affects our mission. We post on relevant legislation, news, and events, so please keep reading!
Our “Shadowy” Work as Abortion Funds
In this Right to Life article, abortion funds are actually helping women who can’t afford abortions, get abortions! Thank you for confirming our work, even if you do make it sound illegal. In case you want real facts on limits of private insurance funding abortions, look here or look here for the alarming stats on lack of OBGYN’s actually performing abortions. Then, after that, creatively vent about the Right to Life article, and think up a caption to these cartoons!
Perry, et al. Sign the SBA Pledge
Now officially the GOP front-runner, Perry pledges to produce anti-choice policies during his reign by signing the Susan B. Anthony pledge. Just in time for the latest study on the rise of unwanted pregnancies in women who are poor.
Latest on Ultrasound Court Standoff
District Judge Sam Sparks has some fightin’ words for the the anti-abortion lawyer on the case. Does this mean good things for the side of choice? We will have to wait until final judgment to see.
Austin Cuts Start September
It’s official. Crucial state funding to Travis County abortion clinics ends September 1st. Now, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has all abortion-affiliated clinics in Texas in its sights .
Women’s Equality Day Came and Past
August 26th marked this day in honor of the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. How far have we come since then? What may seem like improvements may not be much for many women, especially women of color. New backward policies, like those against abortion, may lead to retroactive times.
Where Does Kenneth Cole Stand?
Have you read this ad? Upon further investigation, Kenneth Cole has started a new advertising campaign, which brings to question issues such as abortion, war, and sexuality. Is KC taking a stand with choice or using controversial issues to help sales and his image? Where do you stand with that?
TEA Fund Weekly Round Up — August 21
Posted on 22. Aug, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
TEA Fund supports equal access to abortion for women in and around our area of Texas. The goal of this blog is to keep you engaged in TEA Fund and what affects our mission. We post on relevant legislation, news, and events, so please keep reading!
TEA Fund Annual Retreat
The weekend before last marked TEA Fund’s annual board retreat. It was a good, relaxing, and productive event. We feel so lucky to have such an amazing team. Goooo TEA!
Women’s Art Exhibit
Femme Fest has come under some reorganizing recently and will be transformed into a women’s art exhibit on December 3, 2011. Be excited, be very excited! More details to come in the future weeks.
Legislators Force Defunding of Abortion for MAP in Austin
The Medical Assistance Program (MAP) helped fund abortions for low-income women in Travis County, but because of pressure from Texas legislators, the funding has come to an end . Our sister fund, Lilith Fund, needs help more than ever, so please help in supporting them in this time of need. Read this article for more information on Texas’ anti-choice report card and this video for Texas Tribune’s take on the overall decrease in funding for Planned Parenthood.
Two Minus One
Recently there has been much ado about fetus abortion of one twin. The questions seem to be, is it okay? And is it a pro-choice hypocrisy to even ask that question?
Scary Perry Facts
We’ve had discussions before on Perry and his anti-choice policies. There is more to add to that list and, not to mention, his recent chairing of an anti-choice event. His flip-flopping on HPV vaccines and a stern video on his stance on abortion are also both awkward and disturbing.
TEA Fund Weekly Round Up – August 14
Posted on 14. Aug, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
TEA Fund supports equal access to abortion for women in and around our area of Texas. The goal of this blog is to keep you engaged in TEA Fund and what affects our mission. We post on relevant legislation, news, and events, so please keep reading!
Perry Does Not Support Abortion, and in Case you Hadn’t Heard, He’s a Front-Runner for President.
It’s the talk of the week; Perry finally made his bid known for presidency while his opponents were conveniently picking each other apart. He has the good ‘ole boy image that many a Tea partier would die for, and with over 20 years in politics, the guy has never lost an election. He’s chipping away at Texas abortion rights and America may be next. Check out his record, and see for yourself.
Pro-Choice Funding Slashed While Anti-Funding Expanded in Texas
As if the sonogram bill wasn’t enough, Texas continues to cut access to abortion. Travis County in Austin lost state funding for first trimester abortions, and we may be next in North Texas. Please help us in supporting our neighbors and Lilith Fund fight against this piece of legislation.
Free BC Gets Approved!
A triumph for those with insurance for sure, but the battle isn’t over because those who are uninsured and arguably the most in need are still left hanging. However, there is still a certain senator to thank,and certain political comedy to recognize that raises awareness while making you laugh.
From TX to World, the Non-Supporters of Abortion
From the United States being at the top of the pregnancy rate of developed countries, to the UN’s lackluster support of abortion, we need to seriously examine the world’s view of women’s health reproductive rights. Not to mention Texas is seriously lacking in this area.
Debt Ceiling Talks Affect Women
Sick and tired of being undervalued if you aren’t in the business of defense? You and every other woman should be because the social programs that the debt ceiling negotiations aim to cut affect you most.
Pro-Abortion and Pro-Religion
You can be both! At least according to this article.
TEA Fund Weekly Round Up – July 31
Posted on 31. Jul, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
TEA Fund supports equal access to abortion for women in and around our area of Texas. The goal of this blog is to keep you engaged in TEA Fund and what affects our mission. We post on relevant legislation, news, and events, so please keep reading!
Femme Fest 2011
Don’t miss out! A reminder about the 2nd Annual TEA Fund auction, benefit, and festival aimed at celebrating and empowering women in the DFW communities is on its way. Right now there is a call for volunteers, performers, and artists for the event. We’re having an informal meeting at Smoke & Mirrors, August 2nd at 7:00 PM. Please be there!
An Act of Domestic Terrorism at PP in McKinney, TX
I might have missed the 5-second blurb on the local news channel the day it happened if I hadn’t been caught by the name “Planned Parenthood”, but despite the negligible media coverage, it definitely did happen. Someone chucked a Molotov bomb into a Planned Parenthood in McKinney. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the act is still terrifying, and the location did not perform abortion procedures.
Free BC Gets Legislation
More than 50 million people have signed petitions to make free birth control a reality. The Access to Birth Control Act (The ABC Act) may be an answer to all of our petitioning.
Summer of Choice
Speaking of answers, in response to the anti-choice event, Summer of Mercy, pro-choicers answer back loud and clear with Summer of Choice . Right on!
What to Say to an Anti Opinion
America is pretty divided right now when it comes to abortion and specifically laws that limit access. Arm yourself with the knowledge of history and statistics that prove your points. And if you are a millennial, perhaps look forward to a future that’s more agreeable to your point of view.
TEA Fund
