#SaveScotus and #SaveRoe Town Hall Summaries – Aug 2018

The last two town hall events of the #SaveScotus/#SaveRoe across the state were the last week of August, 2018. Here is a summary of both, with pictures.

The #SaveScotus town hall for the Triad was at Forsyth Central Library in Winston-Salem on 8/29/18. Jen Ferris from Progress North Carolina moderated (see her standing by podium in the picture). Panelists (pictured) are Elizabeth Freeze, Director of Philanthropy at Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic; Gailya Paliga, President of NC NOW; and Alicia Diggs, Board Secretary of NC AIDS Action Network (NCAAN). Ms. Diggs is also a medical case manager at Positive Wellness Alliance in Lexington, so she deals directly with patients.

       #SaveSCOTUS town hall in Winston-Salem on 8/29/18
       People kept coming in! Photo Credit: Matt Martin

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Press Release – Protect Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:
Karen Ziegler, Tuesdays with Tillis, ziegl001 at gmail.com (organizer)
Gailya Paliga, President of NC National Organization for Women (NC NOW), www.northcarolinanow.org, president at raleighnow.org (organizer)

Raleigh, NC, 8/6/18 – “Protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security” 

Medicare and Medicaid’s 53rd birthday was July 30, 2018; Social Security’s 83rd birthday is August 14. All three of these programs are under attack by the same people who recently gave a 1.5 trillion dollar tax cut to the wealthy last fall. One in three Americans is currently covered by Medicaid or Medicare.  These programs are vital for the survival of some of our most vulnerable people, and the intention of Paul Ryan as well as some NC legislators to cut them is widely known and would be detrimental to us all. This week’s rally calls attention to the importance of these programs and exposes some threats.  

WHAT:  Rally to call attention to the importance of these programs and learn about problems with proposed changes

WHEN: Tuesday, August 7, 2018 from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm

53rd Anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare – 7/30/18

July 30, 2018 is the 53rd anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the bill that led to Medicare and Medicaid into law.  This was part of Johnson’s social reform movement known as “The Great Society,” whose main goals were to eliminate poverty and racial injustice. The programs were intended to remove racial segregation practiced by hospitals and other health care facilities at the time.

At first Medicare covered fewer than 5 million people, but since 1965 it has expanded significantly. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act expanding Medicaid, Medicaid covers even more people. In 2015, one in three Americans was covered by Medicare or Medicaid. 

In North Carolina, almost 2.3 million people receive comprehensive, affordable health coverage through Medicaid. 

Here is some general information about the two programs, which many people confuse, and how it helps people in North Carolina.

NC NOW Legislative Update #5, 17 Jun 18

Here is the beginning of the summary of the NC NOW Legislative Update #5. Click North_Carolina_NOW_Legislative_Update_5.17_June_2018 to read the whole update. Other topics include Restrictions on Early Voting, Medicaid Expansion, ERA (including action to take on ERA), and Judicial Redistricting.

BUDGET

As expected, Governor Cooper vetoed the budget, citing inadequate funding for education and teacher pay raises, implementing unnecessary tax cuts, and the deplorable process used to pass the budget.  Both the Senate and the House have overridden the Governor’s veto.  For an overview of the shameful way laws are being made this session, see
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article213240389.html, News and Observer, 6/15/18.

Voting Rights Rally at Bicentennial Plaza in Raleigh on 6/12/18. Photo Credit: Phil Fonville

 

VOTER ID/STATE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

NC NOW Legislative Update, 4 Jun 18

NC NOW Legislative Update #3 of the Short Session, 4 Jun 18 talks about the budget as the most controversial in modern history—not for what it contains, but for the process it went through. The process was explained in detail in NC NOW’s Legislative Update #2 for the Short Session, 28 May 18. This week, people learned more about some inappropriate recipients of taxpayer money, and some of the things the budget did and did not do. 

“The budget did not expand Medicaid coverage or provide adequate funding for education, including supplies and teacher salaries. No money was allocated to begin testing and tracking the backlog of untested rape kits, even though Attorney General Josh Stein requested $2,000,000 for this purpose.”

Actual rape kits used in NC. Displayed at the NC NOW State Conference in Oct 2017. We heard the story of how Fayetteville made the rape kit inventory happen! Photo Credit: Catherine Evangelista

Latest Attack on Women and Planned Parenthood, 5/22/18

Speech by NC NOW President Gailya Paliga, at the 5/22/18 Tuesdays With Tillis event, which was organized by NC NOW, Naral Pro-choice NC and the Tuesdays With Tillis group. Topics were Crisis Pregnancy Centers, presented by Tara Romano, Executive Director of Naral Pro-choice NC and the Trump Administration’s latest attack on family planning, women and Planned Parenthood, by Gailya Paliga.

Lady Liberty and other rally participants outside of Senator Thom Tillis’ office in Raleigh. Photo Credit: Mike Eisenberg

Real Money for Fake Women’s Clinics

Funneling money to fake women’s clinics while defunding Planned Parenthood sends a clear message that our leadership does not care about women’s health; especially low-income women.

At this event, we will talk about what CPCs are, and focus on an issue an aspect of which is currently under consideration by the Supreme Court: Crisis Pregnancy Centers, CPCs, which lie to women and scare and manipulate them in order to prevent them from having abortions.

In North Carolina, eight centers associated with the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship are receiving 1.3 million dollars in state taxpayer money a year – $2.6 million over 2 years! That money should be going to women’s real health care needs. There are 112 CPCs in North Carolina, and only about 13 abortion clinics.

WHAT:  Rally to protest federal and North Carolina policies regarding women’s health care, “Real Money for Fake Women’s Clinics”

WHEN: Tuesday, May 22,  11:30 am-12:00pm

Tax Cuts Bill is a FIVE ALARM FIRE! Call or write now!

DC friends are hearing from Senate staff that there are not enough calls going to the Senate to stop the tax bill which will inevitably result in cuts to health care programs and more pain for the middle class and the poor. Please share widely. But first, call or write NOW! THIS IS A FIVE ALARM FIRE!!!!!!!

The “tax cuts and jobs act” bill does huge damage, including

• eliminates the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate
• reduces services affecting women’s reproductive health, including the right to safe, legal abortions
• eliminates the personal medical deduction
• eliminates tax law provisions that help to finance the development of health care facilities or the development of low-income housing

Sign at Tuesdays With Tillis protest in Raleigh in November, 2017. Photo Credit: Stacie Borrello

According to National NOW in “GOP Tax Bills Irresponsible – Will Harm Women and Families, there is a world of hurt just in one point itself, “the repeal of the individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), resulting in at least a 10 percent hike in premiums, 13 million persons losing health insurance, and the eventual demise of the ACA.”

National Actions To Take NOW!

We have 3 actions to take on national issues. Oppose the House Budget which slashes trillions of dollars from healthcare, food and income assistance, education and more. Oppose HR 38 – giving domestic violence offenders the right to stalk and kill their intimate partners across state lines! Oppose HR 36 – another abortion ban.

Thank you to National Task Force to End Sexual & Domestic Violence and to National Women’s Law Center for the information.

Action Alert 1: Tell your Rep. to vote “NO” on the US House budget: it slashes trillions from Medicaid, Medicare, food and income assistance, education, housing and more. It takes the money to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, and for corporations!

Monday-Wednesday, Oct 2-4: Call Your Rep and Say NO!

Red Alert: Take Action Against Latest Healthcare Attack

Have you called your Senators yet to tell them to vote AGAINST the latest terrible Trumpcare proposal? Please do. We *MUST* persist. Like the NWLC tweeted, “This is a civil rights fight…Let’s not throw up our hands, let’s roll up our sleeves.” @SenKamalaHarris #ProtectOurCare

Call your Senators and tell them to vote “NO” on the Graham-Cassidy Bill. In NC, 
Sen. Richard Burr – Phone: (202) 224-3154
Sen. Thom Tillis – Phone: (202) 224-6342
See how to contact them by email (which obligates them to write you back) at “How to contact NC’s US Senators – Burr and Tillis.”