Late yesterday afternoon, Senator Bright shocked the South Carolina Senate by proposing an amendment to the budget that removed rights to comprehensive healthcare services for victims of rape and incest.

Luckily, 18 Senators stopped this harmful amendment.

Please thank these 18 Senators and encourage them to continue to stand up for victims’ rights.

We believe this issue will come up again – show you support victims’ rights to healthcare by sending your email now.

Send a message to those Senators who stood up for victims and thank them for their efforts

In the scheme of things — considering American taxpayers’ preoccupation with the economy, war, a presidential election, and various other distractions — it’s unlikely that a lot of attention will be paid to one Utah family’s personal prosperity over the last twelve years thanks in part to their relationship with Heritage Community Services, Inc. a family-owned abstinence-only-until-marriage business  headquartered near Charleston, South Carolina.  Yet the stories of the savvy entrepreneurs who seized the opportunity to get-rich-quick provided by the rise of an abstinence-only-until-marriage industry continue to fascinate those of us who work in reproductive/sexual health. So meet Stan and Maryanne Weed….

When the Weeds filed the 1998 federal tax return for the Institute for Research & Evaluation, the nonprofit business they had created ten years earlier, they reported net assets of $2,086. The Institute operated out of the Weeds’ three-bedroom home at 6068 S. Jordan Canal Road in Taylorsville, Utah, just outside Salt Lake City and a stone’s throw from Taylorsville’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

By 2000, according to their IRS Form 990, they had established a relationship with Focus On The Family, a prominent Christian-right activist organization and an influential proponent of social conservative policy.  That same year, their program service revenues jumped to $254,826 and Stan and Maryanne Weed were paid $153,850. Around the same time, Heritage Community Services hired Stan Weed to document the effectiveness of their own abstinence-only-until-marriage curriculum. According to IRS 990 filings, Heritage paid the Institute a lot of money over a series of years.

Fast forward to 2010, when the Institute for Research & Evaluation reported net assets of $1,067,640. What happened  between 1998 and 2010 to grow their assets by over $1 million is well documented on the Institute’s IRS 990 filings, which are available via Guidestar, www.guidestar.com and other public resources. The short story is that, as more and more federal and state funds — (that is to say, your and my tax dollars) — have been directed toward abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, Stan Weed has built a lucrative business out of his home by being the go-to- guy to “prove” that your homegrown abstinence-only-until-marriage programs work. If you are an abstinence-only vendor, attempting to convince your state government that you deserve another big grant, you absolutely love Stan Weed. His evaluations read like scholarly articles  —  (he earned a PhD at the University of Washington in 1978) — and so one must be willing to lift the veil to understand not only the shared ideologies between Dr. Weed and his customers, but also the symbiotic economic relationships (loads of revenue for both parties).

Why do we care? For starters, Heritage Community Services, Inc. is an aggressive organization that uses evaluations such as the above, as well as other means, to gain entry into South Carolina schools.  The more schools, the more potential revenue. The Charleston school district’s Health Advisory Committee, for example, is barely functional at this writing, due to a relentless campaign to undermine high school-level reproductive health instruction based upon evaluated, medically accurate age-appropriate curricula recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, as adults argue, point fingers and value greed over young peoples’ health, teens in Charleston’s high schools and high schools across the state continue to get pregnant.

If each side would agree to lay down their swords in the best interest of the state’s young people, the greater good, then perhaps we could agree to teach abstinence through middle school, but then teach science-based, comprehensive education in Grades 9-12, the time when more than half of our teens report becoming sexually active. Heritage Community Services and other abstinence-only-until-marriage vendors could maintain their revenue streams, however the quid pro quo would be that high school students finally get a consistently high-quality learning opportunity:  They could actually be taught about birth control and family planning. They would actually know how to prevent pregnancies.

Is this too much to hope for?

Since this bipartisan legislation first passed in 1994, it’s been reauthorized twice without a hitch. And it’s been tremendously successful in helping to combat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Send an email urging your Senators to support the Violence Against Women Act.

Since this law passed, it has helped reduce the annual rate of domestic violence by an astounding 53 percent. The rate of women killed by an intimate partner has dropped 34 percent. Its programs, including violence prevention programs, shelters and rape crisis centers, and funding for the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes have made a world of difference in giving victims of violence a safe place to turn.

It has without a doubt saved thousands of lives.

Send an email urging your Senators to support the Violence Against Women Act.

Download the application here

This event will bring together people from across the state to celebrate the power of women. According to Unitewomen.org, this is the first time in American history that a simultaneous rally will be happenings in all 50 states!

Join us on Saturday, April 28th, from 11am-1pm at the South Carolina Statehouse

DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION HERE

Council Goals:

1. 1. Raise awareness among South Carolina youth about the need for STI and pregnancy prevention efforts for themselves and other young people.
2. 2. Advocate improving sex education policies that effect students in South Carolina and other policy priorities.
3. 3. Empower other youth to get involved in their communities.
4.   

What can YOU expect?

• • $100 per month stipend
• • Meet, work with, and learn from amazing young leaders across the state and country
• • Gain information and skills that you will be able to capitalize on throughout your academic and future careers.
• • Collaborate and make connections with Tell Them and Advocates for Youth staff who care about these issues as much as you do.
• • Share your experience and perspective.
• • Hard work, excitement, and fun… all while making a difference!
• • The opportunity to travel, and attend trainings across the state and country
•   

Who can Apply?

Anyone meeting the following qualifications is encouraged to apply for S.W.A.R.M.

1. 1. Be currently enrolled in a South Carolina college and between the ages of 18-24.
2. 2. Be able to commit to the S.W.A.R.M. Council for a minimum of one school year.
3. 3. Participate in bi-monthly conference calls
4. 4. Complete presentations, events, and write personalized blogs
5. 5. Participate in activities to continue building a strong base of advocates in the community and on campus.
6.   

Interested?

Please contact us with any questions. Then fill out the application and email, fax, or mail the application back to Tell Them by May 10, 2012. We will conduct interviews for selected candidates. Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.

Email: tallen@newmorningfoundation.org
Phone: (803) 929-0088       
Fax: (803) 929-0089

I don’t remember when my mom had “the talk” with me. This is probably because I don’t think she ever did in any distinct sort of formal way. When I started school and noticed that my mom was usually much younger than most of the other moms, I asked questions. She was always open about the fact that she and my dad had started our family earlier than most people. As I got older and my questions about this became more pointed and specific, her answers did too. 

I am grateful to my mother for a million things. One is the value of the age-appropriate sex education she provided throughout my childhood and teens. Another is the importance of choice.

That said, Tell Them’s Bill of Rights hits on many of the aspects of reproductive freedom that mean so much to me. These are just three of them.

The Right to get uncensored, medically accurate instruction and counseling about my body and human reproduction.

I am not a medical professional so I rely on my healthcare providers to provide me with truthful information about the way my reproductive system works. Never was this truer for me than when I experienced a very early miscarriage the first time I became pregnant. This pregnancy was very much wanted and planned by my husband and me and when I lost it, we were devastated. Other than sperm-meets-egg, I had understood very little about the way pregnancies actually develop. My doctor was wonderful both about emotionally supporting me as well as providing education about what had happened. Ironically, I learned the most about conception and by extension, contraceptives, at a time when the very last thing I was interested in was birth control.

The Right to practice my own religious tradition’s beliefs about family planning.

Obviously, I use birth control. When people derisively refer to “Cafeteria Catholics” who pick and choose their beliefs, I am very aware I fall into that category. Actually, there are quite a few beliefs in the Catholic faith that I do not ascribe to but overall, I still consider myself Catholic.

In order to use birth control, one must have access to it. However, having access to birth control does not mean one must use it. My take on family planning as it relates to religious beliefs is that all people should be free to do what they want to do and free not to do what they don’t want to do; if someone believes the use of birth control is immoral, then they should not use it. 

But the most important right to me is:

The Right to decide whether, when and how I want to start a family.

The decision to start our family was one my husband and I had both directly and indirectly thought about, planned, and started to ready ourselves for even before we met.

When I became pregnant, my husband and I were 30 years old and had been together for four years and married for one. Very significantly to both of us, we were blessed to have been able to obtain college degrees and establish the professional careers that would support us financially. We may not have been able to do these things, at least in the way we wanted to, if we had started our family earlier. I cherish having had the time before I had children to lay the foundation for the family life that I wanted.

My husband and I so deliberately chose when to stop using birth control in order to conceive our first child that for months beforehand, whenever I started a new pack of pills, I would announce “3 more months, 2 more months…”  We weren’t yet counting down the months until we met our baby; we were counting down the months until we made our baby — under the circumstances that we felt best for all three of us.

Before religious institutions go any further with why they disagree with Birth Control insurance coverage, they should realize that their own arguments, if applied generally to their congregation, would shut down pretty much all of their social gatherings.
My understanding is that the Catholic Church believes providing health insurance plans for their employees, or for the employees of their affiliates, infringes on their First Constitutional Amendment to “Freedom of Religion.”  If they are forced to provide a health insurance plan that would cover birth control, it is as if they are contributing to their employees’ sinful sex lives- “Sex should never be pleasurable; not even in marriage; that is baby making time.”

So, since the Catholic Church officials feel so strongly about aiding and abetting potential sins against the cloth by refusing to provide comprehensive insurance, I’d like to take a moment to point out other sins they proactively encourage for the health of their congregation:

1. 1) Single’s Date Night- Promoting dozens of single people to get together in the same room increases the likelihood that some of them are going to have sex outside of marriage.
2. 2) Monthly Potlucks- It’s like a mob of drooling zombies about to stammer upon a frat house of past out pledges- plenty of brains there!  Timmy with a giant mound of mac-n-cheese, Mom with her samples of every casserole known to man, and granddad gnawing away on a sugar-free and diabetic-friendly chocolate cake have all be delivered into the grasps of evil with the persuasion of gluttony.  If only the Cardinals would have lobbied to outlaw buffets.
3. 3) Communion: Everyone knows someone who feels the effects of just one glass of wine like a kick in the face.  I guess most of our state already has blue-laws limiting the sale of alcohol on Sundays, but priests get to be bartender 2am-until.
4. 4) Bible Verse Competitions: Encouraging competitions incites pride.
5. 5) Prayer: There’s nothing like praying with an entire congregation to get that gossip around.
6.     

Here are 5 examples of how some churches open the door to what they understand as sin.  The reality is that the door to sin is always there.  The way I see it is that none of these churches are encouraging their members to be sinful, but they give them the clearance to make a decision as to when too much of something is over the top and where their line lays between good and evil.  Those against insurance coverage sound like they are obsessed with sex more so than the “hippies” demanding their birth control.  Preachers should not be allowed to coerce their fellowships with legal loopholes created specifically to appease their interpretations of the laws set by God.  They should make suggestions and the individuals should have the ability to agree or disagree. Doing so actually allows people to have their “Freedom of Religion.”

“In fact 1 in 5 children from around the world lack access to life-saving immunizations”. The very basic foundations of good health can be uncovered when looking at preventative measures. There is a movement to protect children that begins as soon as they are born. To some that may mean, getting the safest car seat, making sure to buy baby friendly laundry detergent, breastfeeding for the first year of life. For others protecting children has a greater sense of immediacy. It means making sure there is a roof over their head, clothing, and access to life-saving vaccines.

“In countries like the U.S., most children already receive life-saving vaccines. Because of this, American parents don’t typically worry about losing their children to deadly diseases like measles or pneumonia.”

Roughly 75% of all children that are unvaccinated live in 10 countries, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, China, Uganda, Chad and Kenya. And while the US is not represented in this list, there is legislation being introduced every day that could limit access to health services and further censor the health education that youth, and families receive.  

The CDC provides us with 5 important reasons to immunize children:

1. 1) It protects others you care about
2. 2) Immunizations save your family time and money
3. 3) Immunizations save your child’s life
4. 4) Vaccination is safe and effective
5. 5) Immunizations protect our future generations
6.   

Looking through the local lens, Researcher Dr. Jason Glands of Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health reports that 1/10 additional whooping cough (Pertusis) infections could have been prevented by vaccination. The March of Dimes has also taken a stance on the importance of Pertusis immunizations in children, stating that prevention is the best defense.

Whether locally, or globally, a healthier community truly benefits us all. “Expanding access to vaccines strengthens our ability to fight disease and keep our families healthy here at home, while improving economic stability around the world.”

What you can do to Advocate:

1. 1) Advocate locally for access to clinical health services and counseling, sign the Bill of Rights petition 
2. 2) Help save the life of a child every 20 seconds, and stop the nearly 2 million unnecessary deaths that happen every year globally please visit the Shot At Life website
3.   

Sources:

• - CDC: Five Important Reasons to Immunize Your Child
• - Shot At Life: Learn About the Problem
• - Shot At Life: The Power of Vaccines
• - Kaiser Permenente: New Medical Research Highlights Importance of Vaccines for Kids
• - March of Dimes: Babies Need to Be Protected From Pertussis Too

Over the past few months, EmpowHER has expanded its reach with the launch of the EmpowHER Blogger Network, a new program aimed at connecting women interested in health and wellness throughout the world. Over 100 bloggers have already signed on, and one of them is a familiar face.

Tell Them’s own Sondra Bloxam has officially signed on as an EmpowHER recognized blogger. Typically highlighting her work in the Upstate, Sondra’s blogs examine the numerous facets of reproductive health and how restriction of access would impact women in South Carolina. Sondra regularly takes inspiration from her own life, including her dedication to the practice of Yoga. She is a beautiful, confident young woman who speaks on these important issues with a strong voice of reason, and we are excited to have her represent South Carolina in this arena.

Sondra’s blogs will now feature teh EmpowHER Blogger Network Icon.

“We are so pleased to welcome these incredible new bloggers to the EmpowHER social community,” says EmpowHER Founder, Chairperson and CEO Michelle King Robson. “We recognize the value that new and different perspectives bring when it comes to health and wellness issues, and by inviting these new contributors to the site we hope to inspire and connect countless women to begin advocating for their own health and wellness.”

Bloggers were selected to join the network after meeting a strict list of qualifying criteria. In addition to basic determining factors like monthly traffic and social media presense, the applicant’s blogs were vetted to determine whether or not their writing style and topics of interest would be of value to EmpowHER site members as a whole.

As a Top 3 women’s health and wellness site, EmpowHER.com gives bloggers the opportunity to reach millions of women engaging in a one-of-a-kind social health experience. With the use of reciprocal link sharing, bloggers reap the benefits of increased site traffic, social media promotion to EmpowHER’s more than 48,000 member social audience and the distinction of being part of this esteemed network. For audiences, the bloggers chosen to take part in the network will offer new, personal perspectives on a variety of topics including health and wellness, lifestyle or condition-specific content.

Congratulations Sondra! The entire Tell Them team is excited to join up with this incredible resource for women’s health and look forward to a wonderful collaboration.