TEA Fund Weekly Round Up – July 24
Posted on 24. 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
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 August 2nd at 7:00 PM. Email us at teafund@gmail.com for more details. Be there or miss out on helping with this amazing event!
A scary direction he's pointing us towards
Rick Perry Signs Law to Defund PP
Our very own (rumored-to-be presidential runner) governor signed SB7 on July 21, 2011 to defund Planned Parenthood. The unconstitutional bill “excludes abortion providers and their affiliates from the Medicaid Women’s Health Program, and also places Planned Parenthood at the bottom of a list of eligible recipients of family planning funds. Lawmakers last month also drastically cut the state’s pool of such funds, from $100 million to about $38 million.” The real costs of defunding Planned Parenthood are staggering, and so are other stances our governor takes, such as that of requiring sonograms of women seeking abortions.
Dallas is famous for a few things
Dallas known for Roe V. Wade-Hooray!
In an unlikely connection, the monumental legislation is mentioned with the likes of our Dallas County District Attorney, Craig Watkins.
If only it would cover yoga too...
IOM Recommends No Cost Family Planning
In huge news, an expert panel of the Institute of Medicine recommends 8 major preventative health measures that benefit women’s health, one of which is free birth control. And the Latina community is one of many communities this will benefit. To help make the recommendation a reality in policy, sign the petition. However, do keep in mind, it still helps only those insured, while the uninsured are without an option.
In need? Yes, in need of the facts when it comes to my health.
End CPC’s Deceptive Advertising
The Stop Deceptive Advertising in Women’s Services Act seeks to crack down on Crisis Pregnancy Centers that “falsely advertise themselves as a honest providers of information and services for women facing unintended and untenable pregnancies.”
An alternative road
Long Distance Abortion
There is talk of telemedicine and its benefits for women, especially for those who need abortions in rural areas. It comes as no surprise that these methods are also under attack by anti-choice organizations. It echoes the similar news of misoprostol being used in countries around the globe that have no access to medical centers that provide abortion services. An upcoming documentary, Alone, may help shed light on the issue.
Male Birth Control
Researchers have been at it for a long time, and the time for male contraception seems to be closer than ever. However, questions still remain, not least of all, will guys use it and do gals feel that it is something they can trust in?
Pro-Choice Jobs
NNAF is looking for passionate workers in the movement like you! Follow the link for some new employment opportunities.
TEA Fund Weekly Round Up – July 17
Posted on 17. Jul, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
Welcome to the first of many weekly blogs from TEA Fund. We support 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 in what affects our mission. We will be posting on relevant legislation, news, and events. Keep reading to get your first preview of what’s to come.
Record Restrictions
Look at me! I'm the most depressing picture you will see all day.
Guttmacher’s latest report states a record number of abortion restrictions were enacted the first half of 2011.
Texas is one of 19 states to enact laws. Although not entirely surprising, the news is still staggering. “The 80 abortion restrictions enacted this year…more than triple the 23 enacted in 2010.”
Check out the list of anti-choice legislation in Texas.
Standing up to Sonograms
The men behind the signing of the bill. Oh the irony.
Remember when we asked you to stand with us against anti-choice legislation? Well, the bill regrettably passed and now there is a new fight to bring it down.
Supporters of choice take on the horrifyingly invasive sonogram bill in a Texas courtroom.
Free BC
A dollar a pill is such a pill
Free birth control equates to equal access. No, we don’t have it yet, and yes we should. With new healthcare overhaul, what sounds like a pipe dream can become a reality with your help.
Follow the campaign to become involved.
New Executive Director
TEA Fund has its first appointed Executive Director. After being volunteer-run for years, the time came to move to the next level. Keep an eye out for the next newsletter for more on the formal announcement.
Stand With Us Against Anti-Choice Legislation
Posted on 13. Feb, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
You’ve probably seen in the news the heinous legislation being proposed at the national and state levels.
HR3 will kill Title X family planning funding in a deliberate effort to take out Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood’s 825 clinics provided family planning services to almost 2 million people last year. The bill is called the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”–but Title X has never provided funding for abortion, since it was signed in 1970. Planned Parenthood does not use federal dollars to pay for abortion services. This bill will remove the only low-cost access to family planning services available to millions of American families. Don’t let that happen.
And Texas legislators are proposing a bill that will force a woman to view a sonogram before she can obtain an abortion. She will not have the option to decline viewing the sonogram, and the provider will be required by law to show it to her. She will then have to wait 24 hours after viewing the sonogram before she can have the procedure. This legislation is insulting to all women and should be viewed as insulting and degrading by all humans who believe that reproductive choice is a human right.
Texas lawmakers also propose that the required sonogram be administered by a certified sonographer. There are few certified sonographers, and clinic staff have always provided high-quality ultrasounds. This is an unnecessary measure. Its only function is to further restrict access to abortion.
It’s already hard enough to obtain dignified low-cost access to what is a safe and legal procedure. Please help us keep these damaging bills from being signed.
Bowl-a-Thon 2011 Call for Captains & Teams
Posted on 13. Feb, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
We are participating in the National Network of Abortion Fund’s national Bowl-a-Thon fundraiser again in 2011. This is a fun and easy way to raise a lot of money for reproductive justice through many small gifts! Think Jump Rope for Heart or Girl Scout Cookies. We hope to make the Bowl-a-Thon a similar institution–a way to show low-income women they deserve equal access, every year.
We’re looking for team captains and individual participants, and volunteers for Denton and Dallas Bowl-a-Thon events at the end of April. We’d like for teams of 6 to raise at least $600. It’s not much, and you have two full months. You can do it! Get your friends together and ask everyone you know for $5 and see how easy it is.
Our goal this year is to raise $10,000 and we want to have at least ten teams for each location. Interested? Contact sulan@teafund.org for more information or if you are ready to sign up yourself or a team, go to our Bowl-a-Thon website.
Are you a veteran bowler? If you participated last year, we are having a contest for all past participants who register by the end of February. During our Virtual Kick-Off Week (aka Virtual “TEA-off” Week) Feb.21-27th, we will draw a name each day. Register now and you may win a prize!
Save the Date for First Bloom 2011!
Posted on 13. Feb, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
Our annual benefit luncheon will take place on May 18, 2011, at Baron House Dallas. Plan to join us this year for our most successful–and beautiful–luncheon to date. More details regarding tickets and sponsorships will follow soon.
Many many thanks to Lisa Blue Baron for her generous donation of event space.
TEA Fund Helps Over 1000 Women in 2010
Posted on 13. Feb, 2011 by TEA Fund in news
You helped us provide financial assistance to 1,012 women in 2010!
Yes, that’s right–over one thousand women. That is a record number for the TEA Fund, and 2010 was our first year to fund more than 1,000 women (we funded 914 in 2009). Not only did we help many North Texas women afford access to abortion, we were able to give each of those women an average of 51% more money than in 2009. In 2009 a woman received an average grant of $98 from the TEA Fund. In 2010 that number was about $150.
We have found that when we are able to give a woman more money, she is much more likely to be able to afford the procedure. Seems like common sense–but there is nothing common about your support. It’s rare, and we couldn’t do what we do without you.
On behalf of all of our 2010 clients, we say a heartfelt THANK YOU.
What Does Reproductive Justice Look Like?
Posted on 22. Oct, 2010 by TEA Fund in news
Take a look at these two images:
This is the image that appears on the anti-choice 40 Days for Life Dallas campaign website.
This is an image of a letter sent to us last month by one of our clients (click to enlarge).
We know that the 40 Days for Life image represents a false reality. We know that not every woman who chooses to continue a pregnancy will have the resources to safely deliver a healthy baby and be physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and otherwise all-around able to love and provide for that baby, herself, and any other children or dependents she already has.
We could argue that the thank-you note from our client represents a more accurate reality, that women who choose abortion do so under duress for only the most extreme reasons, such as being unable to care for an existing multitude of children, or having a medical condition that would lead to an unsafe pregnancy, fetal deformities, or longterm difficulty caring for a child.
But the truth is that neither image reflects the actual reality that one in three–35% of–American women will have an abortion before age 45. Clearly thirty-five percent of American women do not have eight children. But it is also clear that a majority of women who choose abortion do not choose abortion to avoid a moment of love with a baby.
The only blanket statement we can make about abortion is that it’s complicated. For some women abortion is an easy emotional choice and a difficult financial choice. For some women abortion is an agonizing emotional choice and money is not a consideration. Sometimes it’s simply a relief, whether or not it’s difficult emotionally or financially; sometimes the only hard part is finding a provider, since 87% percent of counties in the United States do not have an abortion provider. Even when every step of obtaining an abortion–from choosing it to paying for it to getting to the clinic–is not complicated for an individual woman, so many women do not have access that the reality of gross inequity complicates abortion for all American women.
Yes, a real woman we helped, who has eight real children, sent us the note above, which is why we included it in our newsletter. But we would never suggest that she represents all of our clients–although most of our clients do have at least one child. Nationwide, 61% of women (and 76% of TEA Fund clients) who choose abortion each year are mothers already, so it is heartless to suggest that women who choose abortion do so because they cannot imagine how much they could love a child. It is also heartless to suggest that these mothers are somehow more deficient in their love than mothers who never have to consider or never choose abortion.
We believe that abortion can be a loving option. We can think of no simple way to represent this idea, which we fully support, with an image. You can’t take a picture of a woman’s future and all that she will create and become if she chooses abortion. You can’t take a picture of her ongoing health, her increased opportunity for education, the resources her existing children will have more and better access to. But this is exactly what we want to imagine.
For many, abortion falls somewhere in the vast middle between easy and agonizing, somewhere along a spectrum that no single image could ever represent. We want to protect that spectrum. We want to honor the realities that women’s lives are complex and abortion is complicated.
Imagine something as hard and complicated and beautiful as the ability and freedom to choose for yourself what’s best for you and your family, and that’s what a picture of abortion would look like.
If you’d like to support a woman who has chosen abortion but cannot afford it, donate $40 to the TEA Fund–your money will go directly to help one of the fifty-seven North Texas women who called us for help today.
Femme Fest 2010: June 26-27
Posted on 21. Jun, 2010 by TEA Fund in news
The TEA Fund is proud to be the beneficiary of this year’s Femme Fest, a radical feminist music and art festival right here in Dallas. Come out for great vegan food, incredible music and amazing people!!
hotFLIX feminist film series starts June 8
Posted on 07. Jun, 2010 by TEA Fund in news
hotFLIX is a radical pro-choice, pro-woman, pro-peace, anti-imperialist, anti-racist, queer friendly, feminist, puppy lovin’ film festival sponsored by the Texas Equal Access Fund.
Every Tuesday evening at Denton coffee house Art 6 from June 8th (tomorrow!) through July 6th (all shows begin at 8:30 pm).
Schedule of films:
June 8: Death Proof
June 15: Norma Rae
June 22: Real Women Have Curves or Precious (tba)
June 29: Late Bloomers
June 6: Citizen Ruth
At each screening you will have the opportunity to provide a suggested $5 donation. For a $15 donation, the TEA Fund will reward you with a free season pass for the entire series!
Come on out, bring a blanket to sit on, sip some iced coffee, and enjoy a great film outside on the patio with other like-minded folks!
All proceeds go to benefit the Texas Equal Access Fund and the women that we serve every day.
Thanks for the support and we’ll see you there tomorrow night!
In Honor of Dr. George Tiller, Show the Love
Posted on 18. May, 2010 by TEA Fund in news
Almost one year ago, Dr. George Tiller was assassinated while serving as an usher in the foyer of his church in Wichita by an anti-choice extremist. Dr. Tiller was one of only a handful of doctors in the United States willing to perform abortions later in pregnancy, a much-needed service, and he was a target for anti-choice threats and harassment throughout his career.
While we would like to say this was an isolated incident of terrorist violence, we can’t. Since 1977, the National Abortion Federation has documented more than 6,200 incidents of clinic violence. Doctors, nurses, counselors, and other staff at abortion clinics go to work every day knowing that today, they may be the target of anti-choice violence. They keep coming back because they know that the services they provide are essential to women’s liberty and they know that, in the words of Dr. Tiller, “for women, abortion is a matter of survival.” Yet their work often goes unheralded.
This year, on the one-year anniversary of Dr. Tiller’s murder, the TEA Fund wants to recognize these brave women and men on the front lines in the fight for reproductive rights. The TEA Fund works with 14 area clinics, and the doctors and staff at these clinics provide a service that is invaluable to women. This Valentine’s Day, with the help of your support, we raised enough funds to “show the love” to two area clinics. On this tragic anniversary, help us raise enough funds to show all our of area providers how much their work means to us.
For every $75 donated, the TEA Fund will deliver a handmade card, flowers, and a basket of goodies to an area clinic’s staff on May 31st (the anniversary of Dr. Tiller’s murder). If you can’t donate the entire $75 yourself, forward this email to a couple friends! Your donation will do triple duty, showing these providers how much you care and giving a TEA Fund client the financial assistance she needs to make a choice she wouldn’t have access to without your help. The TEA Fund will also donate a portion of the proceeds from this campaign to the George Tiller Memorial Abortion Fund. Without providers there would be no choice. Show North Texas abortion providers you appreciate their work.
TEA Fund
