THE EQUAL WRITE - Newsletter of South Jersey NOW - Alice Paul Chapter PDF Free Download

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THE EQUAL WRITE - Newsletter of South Jersey NOW - Alice Paul Chapter PDF Free Download

THE EQUAL WRITE - Newsletter of South Jersey NOW - Alice Paul Chapter PDF free Download. Think more deeply and widely.

PLEASE CONTACT US/FOLLOW US!!!

Website: www.southjerseynow.org E-mail: outreach@southjerseynow.org

Facebook:

South-Jersey-NOW-Alice-Paul-Chapter Indivisible Facebook: IndivisibleSJNOW

March/April 2024

Contents

Feminist Calendar ..................... p.2

Read!View!Do!..........................p.21

News Bytes …………………... p.20

Contacts ..................................... p.24

Become a member! ................... p.24

Chapter Events

Open to members only

Planning Meeting: Wed, April 3rd, 7:30

PM. If you are a chapter member, please

email outreach@southjerseynow.org for a

Zoom link to the virtual meeting. Please

specify you want the link for the Planning

meeting.

Open to members and non-members

Program Meeting Wed, April 10th.

Socialize 7-7:30PM. Speaker starts at

7:30PM.

Please email outreach@southjerseynow.org

for a Zoom link to the virtual meeting.

Please specify you want the link for the

Program meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------

This issue of The Equal Write is partially

underwritten by the Judith Glick Buckman

Fund for the Future. To make a tax-deductible

contribution to the Fund, please make check

payable to JGB FFF and mail it to Judith

Glick Buckman Fund for the Future, P.O. Box

4725, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034.

A Message from the President of SJNOW

Few people admit that Trump is only three years younger than Biden.

Ask an insurance agent which one they’d rather cover— the one in good

physical shape or the one who is 78 pounds overweight? Due to Biden’s

decades of experience in governing, coalition building and international

relationships, even if he forgets a detail here and there, his body of

knowledge is significantly greater than Trump’s will ever be. We all

know folks (or ARE folks) in their 80s who are smarter than some folks

in their 40s. For many people age is just a number. In this case, that’s the

least important part of the equation.

What do we do with this information? Worry about Trump getting re-

elected? Hell, no! We don’t sit around and tell like-minded folks how

worried we are. What we do is work like hell to make the future what we

want it to be. We talk to Democrats who don’t think it’s worth voting,

who think Biden is too old, who don’t realize how much power they

have. We talk to Independents to remind them how much they have to

lose, especially women who care about abortion choices, IVF and birth

control for themselves, their daughters and their granddaughters.

We check out the Women for Biden-Harris website,

www.womenforbidenharris.com to see a long list of accomplishments,

especially lowering the costs of a family’s everyday expenses. There are

at least 35 successes—you could write a letter to the editor each day of

the month without repeating yourself. Or drop a short note with that info

to your fellow Dems and Independents. If folks don’t know what Biden

has done, why should they vote for him?

My personal favorite is Biden’s Proclamation for National Equal Pay

Day. This is an issue that gets on my last nerve since it’s barely moved in

the 50 years that I’ve been a women’s rights activist. It negatively

impacts women’s lives not just during their working years (which would

be bad enough) but diminishes their Social Security as well. If you can

read that proclamation and not get angry as hell, you are a better person

than I am. If it motivates you to get angry enough to ACTIVELY work

for Biden and Harris, that’s good enough for me. You can bet your

bottom dollar that Donald Trump is not going to be supporting any Equal

Pay Days….

For NOW,

Judy Buckman

- 2 - Equal Write

Feminist Calendar

For phone numbers of chapter

members referenced below, see

Contacts, page 26.

Facebook is a great ways to keep informed

about Chapter Events and to connect with

Chapter Members and other like-minded

Feminists. Please support your Chapter by

“Liking” our FB page today!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

HAPPY WOMEN’S HISTORY

MONTH!

NOW through JUNE 7

Period Product Drive, sponsored

by the Alice Paul Institute’s Girls

Leadership Council. Drop off

pads, liners, tampons or reusable

menstrual cups at Paulsdale or at

the Cherry Hill Library’s Period

Pantry. To make cash donations

or for more info contact Quincey

at qwansel@alicepaul.org.

MARCH 12

Equal Pay Day. This date

symbolizes how far into the year

women must work to earn what

men earned in the previous year.

Because women earn less, on

average, than men, they must work

longer for the same amount of pay.

The wage gap is even greater for

most women of color. Equal Pay

Day was originated by the

National Committee on Pay

Equity (NCPE) to illustrate the gap

between men's and women's

wages. For more information or to

get an Equal Pay Day Kit, contact

NCPE at www.pay-equity.org.

MARCH 16

Quarterly Chapter Luncheon.

Location and details to follow,

please save the date. RSVP to

Diane Stenzel (phone or text 856-

419-0812).

MARCH 19

A Peace Builder’s Perspective

on the Abrahamic Holyland.

Interfaith Community Builders

Town Talk (via zoom) on the

history of Israel and Palestine

with Joe Ritacco, an interfaith

leader and specialist who will

discuss taking the side of peace,

opening one’s heart and mind and

understanding the past to create a

better future. For registration

contact John Enz

at jsenz@mac.com. or Chris Bond

at Chris.bond@wwprsd.org.

MARCH 23

Activate Your Art: Build Your

Own Suffrage Scrapbook.,

10am. When newspapers wouldn’t

cover protests, suffragists

scrapbooked to display during

protests to make their voices

heard. This gave them the

autonomy to tell their stories on

their own terms. Alice Paul

Institute, free family event,

suggested age for participates, 4

yrs.+, Paulsdale, 128 Hooton Rd.

Mt. Laurel. info:

www.alicepaul.org

MARCH 28

Liberated Leadership at

Paulsdale, special event benefits

Alice Paul Institute’s girls’

leadership development program.

Featuring the leadership of API’s

Founding Mothers through new

exhibit. Also, presentation of the

Alice Paul Trailblazer Award to

State Assembly Majority Whip

Carol Murphy who is seeking the

Democratic nomination for

Congress 3

Congressional

District. As the highest-ranking

elected woman in the history of

South Jersey, Murphy’s major

public policy initiatives include

pay equity, fair wages, women's

reproductive healthcare and new

initiatives to combat human

trafficking. Two programs:

Breakfast, 8-10am OR Happy

Hour, 5-7pm (same program each

time). Tickets: $75, Young

Advocates (ages 18-29): $25,

Info: www.alicepaul.org, 856-

231-1885.

Be A Newsletter Contributor

Would you like to see your name in

print? How about submitting an article to

the South Jersey NOW – Alice Paul

chapter newsletter? Maybe you have an

idea or an issue that you would like to

publicize? Please send any articles to

our newsletter editor, Kathy Pritz, at

apnoweditor@gmail.com. The

deadline for submitting articles is the

first Friday of each month.

Please note that all articles and

advertisements submitted for printing

are subject to the discretion of the

editor.

- 3 - Equal Write

APRIL 3

South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul

chapter PLANNING Meeting,

7:30. All NOW members are

invited to attend. To get zoom

link, send your email address to

outreach@southjerseynow.org

and specify that you want the link

for the PLANNING meeting.

Please join us!

APRIL 9

SJNOW Indivisible Steering

Committee Meeting, 7:30 Learn

about Congressman’s Andy

Kim’s candidacy for the US

Senate to replace Bob Menendez.

To get zoom link, contact Ralph

Hendrickson,

cmapa@comcast.net.

APRIL 10

South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul

chapter PROGRAM Meeting.

Look for flyer with details about

our speaker in your email. Open

to members and non-members,

please ask a friend to join us!

Request zoom link for the

PROGRAM meeting from

outreach@southjerseynow.org by

4/9.

APRIL 18

“Suffs” opens on Broadway,

Music Box Theatre, 239 W 45th

St, New York following a sold-

out, extended run off-Broadway

last year. This musical about early

century efforts to win the

right to vote for women was

called by Variety a “remarkable,

epic new musical” that boldly

explores the victories and failures

of a struggle for equality that’s far

from over. It’s 1913 and the

women’s movement is heating up

in America, anchored by the

suffragists — “Suffs,” as they call

themselves. Reaching across and

against generational, racial, and

class divides, these brilliant,

flawed women entertain and

inspire with the story of their

hard-won victory in an ongoing

fight. So much has changed since

the passing of the 19

Amendment more than a century

ago, but we’re reminded that

sometimes we need to look back,

in order to march fearlessly into

the future. Co-producers Hillary

Clinton and Malala Yousafzai,

Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace

Prize winner and advocate for

women’s education, will be

ambassadors for the show,

helping to promote it as well as

offering input. Previews begin

3/26.

APRIL 27

Brunch with Pulitzer Prize

Winning Cartoonist Signe

Wilkinson sponsored by the JGB

Fund for the Future, 10:30-1,

Ashley Crossing in Delran. You

should have received a Save the

Date via email or U.S. mail. If

not, please send your email

address and street address to P.O.

Box 4725, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

or info@jgbfundforthefuture.org

so that we can send you an

invitation.

-----------------------------------------

DO SOMETHING!

From South Jersey NOW:

Fair Ballot Alliance NJ

Most people have no idea that

New Jersey’s ballots are different

than and substandard to the

national best practice ‘office bloc’

ballot design used in every one of

the other 49 states. The 'county

line' design used in our primary

elections enable county party

chairs to boost their chosen

candidates' chances by 35 points,

according to study by Prof Julia

Sass Rubin of Bloustein School of

Public Policy at Rutgers. The

national best practice ballot

design puts all candidates for an

elected office together in a bloc so

that simple positioning on the

ballot itself can't affect the results.

In addition, a Fairleigh Dickinson

Univ poll in Nov 2022 showed

that, when the poll question

informed them of the issue, 65%

of NJ voters, across the political

spectrum opposed the ability of

NJ county political parties to

place candidates in advantageous

positions on the ballot, helping

preferred candidates to win.

Our coalition of 30 New Jersey

citizen groups in Fair Ballot

Alliance NJ has asked all Senate

candidates of both major parties

to support Fair Ballot design for

2024 primary by calling on the

county party chairs to use fair

ballots in the 2024 primary

election, and to date, 3

Democratic candidates and 1

Republican candidate has agreed

with us. Now, as citizens, we are

collecting signatures of registered

voters in each county to ask all

county party chairs for a fair

ballot design. People don't have a

way to let the party chairs know

that we are not happy to be denied

a fair chance to elect the

candidate of our choice after the

chosen candidate of the county

leaders gets a 35-point head start.

Please sign our petition to tell

- 4 - Equal Write

them we want Fair Ballots.

For the best impact, we need as

many signatures as possible by

early March. Please share this

info and ask your family and

friends to sign, too with this link:

www.fairballotalliancenj.org

Thanks for speaking up so that

voters can truly be the deciders in

New Jersey primary elections and

all candidates start from equal

footing on the ballot.

-----------------------------------------

Slightly Blue Article

(Language Alert! You’ve been

warned!)

www.womensmarch.com

Well, damn. We are finally

getting confirmation of what we

have all long suspected.

The GOP wants to make sure that

the only ones f*****g people in

the United States is them. And…

not in the good way.

We always thought they didn’t

like sex because they aren’t very

good at it (source: many

disappointing personal

experiences), but it turns out that

being against sex is one of the

few clearly articulated political

goals the GOP has.

The Heritage Foundation, an

extremist right-wing think tank,

said, “conservatives have to lead

the way in restoring sex to its true

purpose, and ending recreational

sex and senseless use of birth

control pills.”

The GOP is, ironically, obsessed

with inserting itself – into our

doctors appointments, birth

control, our bedrooms, and our

medical decisions. But then again,

the GOP f*****g over women so

that we can’t get f****d

elsewhere is actually on brand.

The thing they forgot is that this

pussy grabs back. Everything is

on the line in 2024. If you’re with

us, donate today to support our

organizing work in 2024.

-----------------------------------------

The right to vote is

increasingly under attack

in America

www.citizen.org

Here’s what I’m talking about:

 The landmark Voting Rights

Act of 1965 contained a

provision requiring states with

histories of voter suppression

to get federal approval (or

“preclearance”) for any

changes to their voting laws.

 Congress reauthorized the

Voting Rights Act, including

the preclearance provision, in

1982 and again in 2006 with

overwhelmingly bipartisan

support. Indeed, not a single

senator — Democrat or

Republican — voted against

reauthorization in 2006.

 But in 2013 — in a case

known as Shelby County —

the Supreme Court struck

down the preclearance

provision of the Voting Rights

Act.

 The court’s majority based its

ruling on the farcical premise

that racism was essentially a

thing of the past.

 The impact of the Supreme

Court’s misguided Shelby

County ruling has proved to

be every bit as cynical,

discriminatory, and anti-

democratic as many of us

predicted it would be.

 In the decade since,

Republican legislators across

the country have imposed

barriers to voting, barely

concealing their intent to deter

people of color from voting.

 Nearly 100 laws have already

been passed in more than half

of the states, that make it

harder for people of color to

vote. Hundreds of other voter

suppression bills have been

introduced in virtually every

state in America.

 And — as revealed in a

massive new study by the

Brennan Center for Justice —

after Shelby County, the gap

between higher voting rates

among white people and

lower voting rates among

people of color has increased

the most in places that had

been subject to the

preclearance provision.

Legislation to restore and

strengthen the original Voting

Rights Act, including its

preclearance requirement, has just

been reintroduced in Congress.

This critical legislation — the

John R. Lewis Voting Rights

Advancement Act — is named in

honor of the late Rep. John Lewis.

On March 7, 1965 — in what is

known as Bloody Sunday —

Lewis was savagely beaten by

racist state troopers as he led

peaceful civil rights activists in a

historic march across the Edmund

Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

The Voting Rights Act, with its

critical preclearance requirement,

was passed just five months later.

A few years ago, I had the honor

to be at the House of

Representatives when John Lewis

- 5 - Equal Write

spoke about legislation to protect

voting rights:

“You have heard me say on

occasion that the right to vote is

precious — almost sacred. In a

democratic society, it is the most

powerful nonviolent tool we have.

In my heart of hearts, I believe we

have a moral responsibility to

restore access for all citizens, who

desire to participate in the

democratic process. Many people

marched and protested for the

right to vote. Some gave a little

blood, and others gave their very

lives.”

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights

Advancement Act would fortify

the original Voting Rights Act of

1965, including by restoring the

requirement that jurisdictions

with histories of voter suppression

get federal approval for any

changes to their voting laws.

Tell Congress:

The fundamental right to vote is

under assault. We call on

Congress to protect and expand

voting rights by passing the John

R. Lewis Voting Rights

Advancement Act.

Go to www.citizen.org, and click

on the yellow Act box near the

top to find many ways to make

your voice heard.

-----------------------------------------

Top Actions on

MomsRising.org

Help celebrate Immigrant

Caregivers!

Pass the expanded Childcare Tax

Credit NOW!

Tell Congress to protect the

Affordable Care Act!

Tell Your Neighbors!

Nonpartisan report shows

immigrants make the economy

stronger!

Tell Congress to support families

by passing good paid leave

policies

Go to www.momsrising.org and

click on Take Action in the

banner along the top to Take

Action on these and other topics

-----------------------------------------

There’s a new pill for

postpartum depression, but

who can access it?

By Nada Hassanein

www.19thnews.org 01/16/24

The first pill for postpartum

depression approved by the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration is

now available, but experts worry

that minority and low-income

people, who are

disproportionately affected by the

condition, won’t have easy access

to the new medication.

About 1 in 8 people experience

symptoms of postpartum

depression after giving birth,

federal data shows. Suicide and

drug overdoses are among the

leading causes of pregnancy-

related death, defined as death

during pregnancy, labor or within

the first year of childbirth. Black,

Indigenous, Hispanic and low-

income people are more likely to

be affected.

Most antidepressants take six to

eight weeks to take full effect.

The new drug zuranolone, which

patients take daily for two weeks,

acts much faster. But the

medication, manufactured jointly

by Biogen and Sage Therapeutics

under the brand name Zurzuvae,

comes with a hefty price tag of

nearly $16,000 for the two-week

course.

Postpartum depression can be

treated with a combination of

therapy and other antidepressants.

But Zurzuvae is only the second

medication, and the first pill, that

the FDA has approved

specifically for the condition.

The first approved drug,

brexanolone, also made by Sage

Therapeutics, under the brand

name Zulresso, costs $34,000

before insurance and requires a

60-hour hospital stay for an IV

treatment. Doctors typically must

get approval from patients’ health

plans before prescribing it, and

hospitals must be certified to

administer it.

Experts and advocates are urging

state Medicaid agencies to make

sure the low-income patients who

are covered under the joint state-

federal program have easy access

to Zurzuvae. They want Medicaid

managed care plans — and

private insurers — to waive any

prior authorization requirements

and other restrictions, such as

“fail-first” approaches that require

patients to try other drugs first.

Zurzuvae became available by

prescription last month. Several

state Medicaid agencies contacted

by Stateline said they haven’t yet

adopted a policy and will handle

prescriptions on a case-by-case

basis. Others said they

automatically add FDA-approved

drugs to their preferred drug lists,

though some require prior

authorization.

Medicaid covers about 41 percent

of births nationwide and more

than two-thirds of Black and

Indigenous births, according to

- 6 - Equal Write

health policy research

organization KFF.

As of last month, only 17 insurers

in at least 14 states — less than 1

percent of the nation’s 1,000

private insurance companies —

had published coverage

guidelines for Zurzuvae,

according to an analysis by the

Policy Center for Maternal

Mental Health. Five of the 17

companies said they will require

patients to try a different

medication first. Three will

mandate that psychiatrists

prescribe Zurzuvae, though OB-

GYNs can and do treat perinatal

and postpartum depression, per

the American College of

Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Experts say restricting

prescription privileges to

psychiatrists will limit access

because many of them don’t

accept insurance. While most

states now offer Medicaid

coverage for a full year

postpartum, many psychiatrists

don’t accept Medicaid due to low

reimbursement rates.

States also are grappling with

shortages of psychiatrists and OB-

GYNs.

“A lot of people in the early

postpartum period are going to

still be served by their obstetric

provider, and if their obstetric

provider is very, very far away,

it’s going to be more difficult for

them to get diagnosed with

postpartum depression and have

the recommended follow-up care,

whether that’s through an

obstetric provider or referral to a

mental health care provider,” said

Maria Steenland, a researcher on

maternal and reproductive health

services and health policy at

Brown University.

In a statement to Stateline, a

spokesperson for the federal

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid

Services said Sage Therapeutics

participates in the federal

Medicaid drug rebate program,

but that individual state Medicaid

agencies will determine their own

coverage policies.

Dr. Leena Mittall, a psychiatrist

and chief of the Division of

Women’s Mental Health at

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

in Boston, advocates a “no wrong

door” approach to the new

treatment and mental health

coverage overall.

“I’m really hopeful that there will

not be excessive restrictions in

terms of especially burdensome

authorization processes or

availability,” she said. “If

somebody’s seeking treatment or

help, that we have multiple points

of entry into care.”

In New Mexico, more than a third

of residents are covered by

Medicaid, the highest percentage

in the nation, according to 2021

figures analyzed by KFF. New

Mexico Medicaid said it

automatically adds drugs

approved by the FDA to its

preferred drug list, meaning

Zurzuvae is covered.

A spokesperson for the Medicaid

agency in Louisiana, which has

the nation’s second-highest

proportion of Medicaid recipients

at 32 percent, said it also will

cover the drug.

In Illinois, where 20 percent of

people are covered by Medicaid,

officials told Stateline that for

now, they will cover the cost of

the medication on a case-by-case

basis.

“We will not have them wait for

our system to have it listed on that

[preferred drug] roster,” said Dr.

Arvind Goyal, chief medical

officer of the Illinois Department

of Healthcare and Family

Services. “We will maybe talk to

the prescriber and make sure that

it’s the appropriate medication.”

The Massachusetts state health

department told Stateline it will

add Zurzuvae to its preferred drug

list in March, but will require

prescribers to get prior

authorization. The Georgia

Department of Community Health

said it will consider coverage on a

case-by-case basis until May 1,

after the issue is discussed at an

April drug board meeting.

“We recognize that Black and

Brown women are reported to be

disproportionally impacted by

[postpartum depression]. In

addition, those who live in rural

areas and those who have

Medicaid may be more likely to

receive inadequate postpartum

care, compared to those who live

in urban areas,” Biogen

spokesperson Allison Murphy

wrote in the statement.

-----------------------------------------

- 7 - Equal Write

More ‘navigators’ are

helping women travel to

have abortions

The growing network of workers

is helping people seeking

abortions understand what’s

legal, where they can travel for

care, and how to get there.

By Lillian Mongeau Hughes,

KFF Health News

www.19thnews.org 02/12/24

Chloe Bell is a case manager at

the National Abortion Federation.

She spends her days helping

people cover the cost of an

abortion and, increasingly, the

interstate travel many of them

need to get the procedure.

“What price did they quote you?”

Bell asked a woman from New

Jersey who had called the

organization’s hotline seeking

money to pay for an abortion. Her

appointment was the next day.

“They quoted me $500,” said the

woman, who was five weeks

pregnant when she spoke to Bell

in November. She gave

permission for a journalist to

listen to the call on the condition

that she not be named.

“We can definitely help,” Bell

told her. “We can cover the cost

of the procedure. You just tell

them you have a pledge from the

NAF.”

Bell is one of a growing network

of workers who help people

seeking abortions understand

what’s legal, where they can

travel for care, and how to get

there.

These “navigators” can often

recite from memory the names

and locations of clinics

throughout their region that offer

abortion services at a given point

in a pregnancy. Often, they can

then name the hotel closest to the

clinic. And some are so familiar

with the most common airports

for connecting flights that they

can help patients find their next

departure gate in real time.

State abortion laws have always

varied, so helping people access

legal abortion services isn’t new,

but the amount of travel needed to

get care has risen sharply.

In the first six months of 2023,

nearly 1 in 5 abortion patients

traveled out of state to get care,

compared with 1 in 10 in 2020,

according to an analysis by the

Guttmacher Institute, a national

nonprofit that supports abortion

rights. That increase in travel,

even for early-pregnancy

abortions, has sparked a

corresponding rise in the need for

case managers like Bell.

Most callers are like the woman

from New Jersey — people in the

early stages of a pregnancy who

can’t afford the $500 cost of a

medication abortion. But with

elective abortion banned almost

entirely in 14 states and after six

weeks in two more, the logistics

of ending a pregnancy at any

stage have become more

complicated.

“People are being forced later into

pregnancies to access care”

because of the difficulty of

arranging travel over long

distances and the chilling effect of

the bans, said Brittany Fonteno,

president of the NAF, a nonprofit

professional organization of

clinics that provide abortions. “It

increases the cost of care and has

a devastating impact on people.”

After hanging up with the woman

from New Jersey, Bell told a

woman from Georgia that she

likely wouldn’t need to pay the

$4,800 bill for her 24-week

abortion. Half the money would

come from the National Abortion

Federation and Bell would contact

local organizations that have their

own abortion access funds to find

the rest. Once the money was

sorted, the woman told Bell she

couldn’t decide whether she

should drive more than 14 hours

to Washington, D.C., for her care

or buy a plane ticket. Her

appointment was the following

week.

“I was looking at flights, but most

of them won’t be there at the time

that I need to be there,” she told

Bell, a former librarian who talks

to as many as 40 callers a day.

The Georgia woman said she had

$1,200 saved for the trip. Because

of the length of a second-trimester

abortion procedure, she would

likely have to stay in Washington

for three nights.

“Sometimes we can help with

travel,” Bell told the Georgia

caller. “Book the flight and hotel

to see if the $1,200 covers those

things, also meals and ride-shares

from airport to hotel. Factoring in

all of those expenses, if you feel

like $1,200 doesn’t cover that,

reach back out to me

immediately.”

Since July 2022, NAF case

managers like Bell have helped

patients pay for nearly three times

the number of hotel rooms and

plane, train, and bus tickets each

month as they did before the

Supreme Court overturned Roe v.

- 8 - Equal Write

Wade, which had recognized a

constitutional right to abortion.

The most requests for financial

assistance have come from people

in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and

Alabama — populous states with

strict abortion laws. Calls are also

longer and more involved. The

nonprofit now spends $200,000 a

month (up from $30,000 a month

before Texas instituted a six-

week-ban in 2021) and is still not

meeting the need, Fonteno said.

In 2020, Fonteno’s organization

employed about 30 full-time

hotline operators. That number

rose when Texas passed its six-

week ban. And since the Dobbs

decision overturning Roe, the line

has employed 45 to 55 people,

said Melissa Fowler, the NAF’s

chief program officer.

Other reproductive health

organizations — at the local,

regional, and national levels —

have also added staff like Bell.

Planned Parenthood affiliates,

including some in states with full

bans, now employ 98 people

known as patient navigators. Most

were hired after Dobbs, said

Danika Severino Wynn, vice

president of abortion access for

Planned Parenthood Federation of

America. She estimates 127,000

people have relied on these

navigators since July 2021.

Planned Parenthood Columbia

Willamette in Portland, Oregon,

has hired three abortion patient

navigators since Roe was

overturned, according to

spokesperson Sam West.

Abortion is legal in Oregon, with

no restrictions, but that doesn’t

mean everyone has equal access

to services. One of the new

navigators speaks Spanish and

focuses on the rural parts of the

state, where services are sparse.

The clinic declined a request for a

journalist to listen in on calls with

its navigators, citing patient

privacy. The two other navigators

focus on helping callers who are

from out of state (usually Idaho),

are younger than 15, or are in

their second trimester.

Lawyers contacted for this story

who are familiar with current state

laws said patient navigators are

unlikely to be at legal risk for

their work helping people connect

with abortion services, though it

could matter which state they are

sitting in when they offer help.

For example, an Idaho law stating

that adults in Idaho are not

allowed to “recruit” minors to get

an abortion could apply to

navigators if they answered the

phone in Idaho. That law, along

with many others in states with

bans, is being challenged in court.

Back at her desk in Georgia, Bell

took a call from a 20-year-old

woman in North Carolina named

Deshelle, who was seeking

financial support for a second-

trimester abortion. Deshelle

talked with KFF Health News a

few days later, speaking on the

condition that only her middle

name be used, to protect her

privacy.

On the day Deshelle became

pregnant, it was legal to get an

abortion in North Carolina at up

to 20 weeks of pregnancy. About

six weeks later, when she

discovered she was pregnant, she

went to a nearby clinic to have a

medication abortion. She went to

the first appointment to fill out

paperwork. She was required by

state law to wait 72 hours before

returning to get the abortion pills.

She was also given an ultrasound

she didn’t want. The image of the

embryo rattled her and she

skipped the second appointment.

By the time Deshelle decided

again to go ahead with an

abortion, she was nearly 15 weeks

pregnant and the North Carolina

law had changed. By July 1,

nearly all abortions after 12

weeks were banned. She would

have to go out of state.

With the help of NAF navigators,

Deshelle made an appointment at

a clinic in Virginia, where a 15-

week abortion is legal. Her

mother drove but did not support

Deshelle’s decision to end the

pregnancy. Then there were

protesters. By the time Deshelle

got inside, she was crying. She

met with a provider but decided

once again not to go through with

the abortion.

None of that came up on her call

with Bell in November. By that

time, Deshelle was 26 weeks

pregnant. It was her second time

calling the hotline and her third

time trying to get an abortion. She

just wanted to know if she could

still get financial assistance. The

cost of her care had escalated

from about $500 when she could

have gotten a medication abortion

to $6,500 for a multiday abortion

procedure.

Bell took her cue from Deshelle

and stayed focused on logistics.

She approved funding to cover

half the cost of the procedure and

secured a donation to cover the

rest. She confirmed that Deshelle

had a place to stay and the

- 9 - Equal Write

required companion to go to the

clinic with her each day. Then

they hung up. The rest of the

journey was Deshelle’s alone.

“This isn’t what I want, but I

think it’s the best choice for me,”

Deshelle said from just outside

the waiting room on the first day

of the procedure. She read aloud

from a pamphlet about the

medications she’d be given and

the timing of it all. Then her name

was called.

A week later, after it was all over,

she still felt she’d done the right

thing.

“You literally have to be really

strong to abort your baby and be

OK,” she said she’d tell anyone

else in her situation, “and you

also have to be really strong to be

a single mom.”

-----------------------------------------

Andy Kim files lawsuit

challenging NJ’s ballot

design

“The current primary election

ballot design scheme represents

an unconstitutional governmental

thumb on the scale of New

Jersey’s primary elections,” the

complaint reads.

By Matt Friedman

www.politico.com 02/26/2024

Democratic Senate candidate

Andy Kim filed a lawsuit (02/26)

seeking to abolish New Jersey’s

unique and controversial “county

line” balloting system, calling it

“fundamentally unjust and

undemocratic.”

“The issue presented to the Court

today is quite simple: the line

must be abolished because it is

unconstitutional,” reads the

lawsuit filed by Kim, a three-term

member of Congress from the 3rd

District, as well as two underdog

Democratic congressional

candidates in South Jersey: Sarah

Schoengood and Carolyn Rush.

Kim is running mainly against

New Jersey first lady Tammy

Murphy, whose campaign is

banking on her expected

advantageous ballot placement in

New Jersey’s most heavily

Democratic counties to gain

enough support to become the

party’s nominee.

The lawsuit, which was first

reported by The New York

Times, targets county clerks in all

19 counties that award a line in

their primary process, calling

instead for a judge to order the

elections be conducted using the

“office block” style, in which all

candidates are listed together

under the offices they’re seeking.

It comes three years after a group

of progressives filed their own

still-pending lawsuit against the

nominating system using the same

attorneys: Brett Pugach and Yael

Bromberg.

“The current primary election

ballot design scheme represents

an unconstitutional governmental

thumb on the scale of New

Jersey’s primary elections,” the

complaint reads.

The 79-page complaint alleges the

balloting system violates the First

and 14th Amendments, as well as

the Constitution’s elections

clause.

Background: New Jersey allows

county organizations who endorse

candidates to place them in the

same row or column with all the

other county-backed candidates,

from president to town council.

“The current primary election

ballot design scheme represents

an unconstitutional governmental

thumb on the scale of New

Jersey’s primary elections,” the

complaint reads.

The 79-page complaint alleges the

balloting system violates the First

and 14th Amendments, as well as

the Constitution’s elections

clause.

Background: New Jersey allows

county organizations who endorse

candidates to place them in the

same row or column with all the

other county-backed candidates,

from president to town council.

Kim, who has not faced a

seriously contested primary, did

not eschew the county line in any

of his three previous

congressional elections.

In a meeting with reporters on

Monday, Kim said he hadn’t

raised the line as an issue in past

years because he didn’t have a

primary challenge in his first two

runs and in his third election he

felt comfortable against his

opponent. “I never really

understood or experienced it full

force” until running for the

Senate, he said.

“This is not power people are just

going to give up voluntarily. This

is something that is so entrenched

in our politics in New Jersey,”

Kim said. “They’re not going to

change this unless the courts tell

them to.”

What’s next: If the slow

movement of the three-year-old

lawsuit targeting the line is any

indication, it’s hard to see how

this lawsuit could be disposed of

before the June 4 primary. County

- 10 - Equal Write

clerks beginning mailing ballots

to voters on April 20.

-----------------------------------------

Sandra Day O’Connor is

too ‘undistinguished’ to

warrant a statue, Arizona

Republicans say

By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy

Arizona Mirror

www.19thnews.org 03/04/24

Arizona lawmakers rejected a

plan to commission a statue of

state icon Sandra Day O’Connor,

the first woman to serve on the

U.S. Supreme Court, and display

it in the U.S. Capitol building,

with conservatives saying that the

idea of honoring O’Connor, a

moderate Republican, was

offensive.

“We cannot allow the

distinguished members of this

body to have to suffer walking by

such an undistinguished jurist

when they enter here in the

morning,” Rep. Alexander

Kolodin, a Republican

representing Scottsdale, said.

The statue would not have been

placed at the Arizona Capitol, but

instead inside Statuary Hall in the

nation’s Capitol in Washington,

D.C.

Kolodin said that O’Connor, who

was the first female majority

leader in the nation while she

served in the Arizona Senate, was

a good lawmaker but an awful

Supreme Court justice. He

specifically took offense with

O’Connor’s rulings on abortion

and affirmative action.

Rep. Neal Carter also stated his

dislike of O’Connor, recalling a

time in law school when an

unnamed sitting Supreme Court

justice told Carter that O’Connor

was the “worst thing that

happened to the federal bench.”

“I believe that we should honor

people, things and institutions for

their merit, and not merely

because they came from this

state,” Carter said on the House

floor.

Democrats, meanwhile, largely

voted no on the resolution due to

concerns voiced by the O’Connor

family.

-----------------------------------------

It's not 'all in their head.'

Heart disease is

misdiagnosed in women.

And it's killing us.

Opinion by Barbra Streisand and

Dr. Noel Bairey Merz

www.usatoday.com 02/29/24

February is American Heart

Month – when cardiovascular

disease, the No. 1 killer of

women, gets its moment in the

spotlight. Every year when this

month comes around, as co-

founders of a women’s heart

health organization dedicated to

fighting gender inequity in

cardiovascular research, treatment

and prevention, we wonder the

same thing: How far have we

come?

Yes, we’ve made progress. After

years of stagnation, sex-specific

research is steadily increasing.

We’ve funded the first large-scale

heart disease outcome trial in

women, aptly named WARRIOR,

with results due later this year.

There’s a greater understanding of

the biological differences between

men’s and women’s hearts.

Yet gaps remain. Awareness of

heart disease is on the decline

among women – especially

younger ones, who are at

increased risk. Only 38% of

clinical trial participants are

women, and research is

chronically underfunded.

Fewer than 20% of medical

schools have sex- and gender-

based curriculum that goes

beyond obstetrics and

gynecology. And women are

more concerned about other parts

of our bodies, when in fact the

heart – our very essence – is at

higher risk.

There’s another factor

contributing to heart disease’s

stubborn hold, and it’s

dangerously underdiscussed:

Heart disease in women is often

completely missed or its diagnosis

delayed.

Heart disease in women is too

often misdiagnosed as 'all in

their head'

Confusion surrounding the unique

signs of heart disease in women,

compounded by systemic issues,

has created a crisis of

misdiagnosis. Even when

presenting with symptoms of

heart disease or cardiac distress,

women are too often told it’s "all

in their head."

Fixing this problem will require

more, and better, action from

doctors, medical schools,

policymakers and women

themselves.

While there’s scant data on the

overall impact, there’s little doubt

that misdiagnosis is all too

common. Here’s what we’ve

heard women say:

“The EMT advised me to breathe

- 11 - Equal Write

into a bag. He said I was having a

panic attack.”

“A cardiologist said to me,

‘Young lady, I’ve been doing this

for 30 years. I am telling you it’s

not your heart. I’m going to send

you back to your doctor to have

your nerves checked.’ ”

“A doctor told me that my arm

pain was tennis elbow and to wear

a brace. In fact, I was having a

heart attack.”

These are the stories of real

women who have been

misdiagnosed – with near-deadly

consequences. It’s impossible to

capture the voices of the women

who “felt off,” went to the

hospital, were sent home and died

of a heart attack in their sleep.

Misdiagnosis is a crisis hiding in

plain sight. Women presenting

with symptoms of heart disease

are routinely dismissed,

gaslighted or given a mental

health diagnosis. Because

women’s symptoms of heart

disease can be subtle and differ

from men’s, missed or delayed

diagnosis can result – not only by

health care professionals but also

among women, who aren’t aware

of the signs to look out for.

Disparities in medical system

mean disparities in care

At the heart of misdiagnoses are

profound gender disparities. Just a

little over half of physicians and

cardiologists report they feel

prepared to diagnose a heart

attack in women. Women are less

likely than men to be admitted to

the hospital, receive thorough

evaluations that can identify heart

problems or be given lifesaving

procedures.

More women than men die within

a year of having a heart attack.

And women – especially women

of color – wait an average of 11

minutes longer to see a physician

than men who reported chest pain.

Misdiagnosis is a personal affront

– an infuriating example of how

women are often not heard and

our health concerns dismissed or

belittled.

It comes out of systemic issues:

inherent bias in the health care

system, how medicine is taught,

underfunding of gender-specific

research and an old guard of

doctors who can’t – or won’t –

advocate for change. Rushed

health care professionals have less

time to make an accurate

diagnosis, and many patients have

limited or no access to heart

specialists.

And, yes, it’s also because

women don’t know enough about

cardiovascular disease to connect

what’s going on in our bodies to

our hearts. We often downplay

symptoms, blaming stress,

menopause or aging – or just

ignore the warning signs

completely.

Misperceptions that heart disease

is an “older” woman’s problem

also abound, with chilling

implications for young women,

who have worse outcomes

following a heart attack and tend

to wait longer to seek out

treatment. Cardiovascular disease

is the leading cause of pregnancy-

related mortality in the United

States, endangering the lives of

young women, especially women

of color.

Know the signs of heart attack

in women

Ending the crisis of misdiagnosis

cannot, and should not, rest solely

on women’s shoulders. But

greater awareness and self-

advocacy can go a long way

toward prevention. Knowing the

unique signs and symptoms of a

heart attack in women – chest

pain or pressure; jaw, throat,

back, arm or neck pain;

shortness of breath; extreme

fatigue; nausea or vomiting;

heartburn or indigestion – is

critically important, as is being

specific and direct with health

care professionals when

experiencing symptoms.

On a systemic level, we also need

more gender-specific research on

cardiovascular disease. The White

House Initiative on Women’s

Health Research, led by first lady

Jill Biden and the White House

Gender Policy Council, hopes to

fill significant gaps in research,

with the goal of better

understanding how to diagnose,

treat and prevent cardiovascular

disease in women.

We also need to better integrate

sex and gender differences into

medical school curricula. Given

that heart disease is the leading

killer of women, it should be a

requirement that every medical

student learn what we’ve known

for years – that women’s hearts

are different from men’s.

Lastly, we are calling for a

nationwide public health

campaign to make sure that heart

disease awareness and prevention

messages reach every corner of

America.

Most of us don’t know our risks,

and it’s killing us. Let’s change

that. American women deserve

better.

- 12 - Equal Write

Barbra Streisand is an acclaimed

artist and activist. Dr. Noel

Bairey Merz is director of the

Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart

Center in the Smidt Heart

Institute at Cedars-Sinai, and

scientific adviser to Women’s

Heart Alliance.

-----------------------------------------

Overlooked No More:

Betty Fiechter, Pioneer in

the World of Watches

She started out at Blancpain as an

apprentice and eventually took

over as an owner, a move that one

industry insider noted was

“totally unprecedented” for a

woman.

By Rachel Felder

www.nytimes.com 03/01/24

In September, Swatch released a

group of watches in collaboration

with the venerable brand

Blancpain: the Bioceramic Scuba

Fifty Fathoms collection, which,

the company said, “met all the

needs of underwater exploration.”

The original Fifty Fathoms —

introduced by Blancpain in 1953

and still an anchor of the brand —

was groundbreaking: It was

considered to be the first modern

divers’ watch, with water

resistance of up to about 300 feet.

And it wouldn’t have been

created without a woman who

was equally trailblazing: Betty

Fiechter, the first female owner of

a Swiss watch house in a

traditionally male industry.

Fiechter (pronounced FEESH-

tehr), who had started out as an

apprentice, rose to the top at

Blancpain in 1933. “It was totally

unprecedented,” said Pascal

Ravessoud, a vice president of the

Swiss trade organization the

Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.

“It would have been twice as hard

for a woman to fight her way

through.”

In her 30-year tenure at

Blancpain, which was acquired by

Swatch in 1992, Fiechter held a

variety of positions, including

president and general director

(titles she held simultaneously),

and oversaw the creation of some

of the company’s most successful

watches.

She placed an emphasis on

women’s timepieces, like the slim

and elegant Rolls, the first

automatic watch designed for

women, created in 1930, and the

Ladybird, a delicate 1956 piece

considered at the time to have the

smallest round watch movement,

or internal mechanism. (Marilyn

Monroe was famously a fan of

Blancpain’s feminine creations.)

In her 30-year tenure at

Blancpain, which was acquired by

Swatch in 1992, Fiechter held a

variety of positions, including

president and general director

(titles she held simultaneously),

and oversaw the creation of some

of the company’s most successful

watches.

She placed an emphasis on

women’s timepieces, like the slim

and elegant Rolls, the first

automatic watch designed for

women, created in 1930, and the

Ladybird, a delicate 1956 piece

considered at the time to have the

smallest round watch movement,

or internal mechanism. (Marilyn

Monroe was famously a fan of

Blancpain’s feminine creations.)

Fiechter managed the company

with a dominating presence and

shepherded it through difficult

eras, including the Great

Depression and World War II,

with innovative sales methods.

-----------------------------------------

France makes abortion a

constitutional right

By Angela Charlton

03/09/24

Associated Press www.inquirer.com

In a ceremony on International

Women’s Day, a newly passed

amendment was sealed in the

national charter.

France inscribed the guaranteed

right to abortion in its constitution

(03/08), a powerful message of

support for women’s rights on

International Women’s Day.

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-

Moretti used a 19th-century

printing press to seal the

amendment in France’s

constitution at a special public

ceremony. Applause filled the

cobblestoned Place Vendome as

France became the first country to

explicitly guarantee abortion

rights in its national charter.

The measure was overwhelmingly

approved by French lawmakers

earlier this week, and Friday’s

ceremony means it can now enter

into force.

While abortion is a deeply

divisive issue in the United States,

it’s legal in nearly all of Europe

and overwhelmingly supported in

France, where it’s seen largely as

a public health issue rather than a

political one. French legislators

approved the constitutional

amendment Monday in a 780-72

vote that was backed by many far-

right lawmakers.

- 13 - Equal Write

Friday’s ceremony in Paris,

attended by around 1,000 people,

was a key event on a day focused

on advancing women’s rights

globally. Marches, protests, and

conferences were held from

Jakarta, Indonesia, to Mexico City

and beyond.

The French constitutional

amendment has been hailed by

women’s rights advocates around

the world, including places where

women struggle for access to

birth control or maternal health

care. French President Emmanuel

Macron called it a direct result of

the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in

2022 rescinding long-held

abortion rights.

Macron called for other countries

to follow suit and proposed

including the right to abortion in

the European Union’s charter,

drawing cheers from the crowd in

Paris. However, such a move

would likely meet stiff resistance

from EU members that have tight

abortion restrictions, such as

Poland.

Macron’s critics questioned why

he pursued the measure in a

country with no obvious threat to

abortion rights but where women

face a multitude of other

problems.

While some French women saw

the step as a major win, others

said that, in reality, not every

French woman has access to

abortion.

“It’s a smokescreen,” Arya

Meroni, 32, said of the event.

“The government is destroying

our health-care system. Many

family planning clinics have

closed,” she said at an annual

“Feminist Night March” in Paris

on the eve of International

Women’s Day.

Still, for people like 44-year-old

public relations director Lunise

Marquis, it was a “major

milestone for women’s rights.”

“We are sending a message to the

world,” she said.

-----------------------------------------

Six Reasons Drug Prices

Are So High in the U.S.

By Rebecca Robbins and

Christina Jewett

ww.nytimes.com 01/17/24

Research shows prices in the

United States are nearly double

those in other well-off countries.

Florida’s plan to save money by

importing medications from

Canada, authorized this month by

the Food and Drug

Administration, has renewed

attention on the cost of

prescription drugs in the United

States.

Research has consistently found

that drug prices in America are

significantly higher than those in

other wealthy countries. In 2018,

they were nearly double those in

France and Britain, even when

accounting for the discounts that

can substantially reduce how

much American health plans and

employers pay.

Florida’s plan to save money by

importing medications from

Canada, authorized this month by

the Food and Drug

Administration, has renewed

attention on the cost of

prescription drugs in the United

States.

Research has consistently found

that drug prices in America are

significantly higher than those in

other wealthy countries. In 2018,

they were nearly double those in

France and Britain, even when

accounting for the discounts that

can substantially reduce how

much American health plans and

employers pay.

Here are six reasons drugs in the

United States cost so much:

1. There is no central negotiator

willing to walk away.

Other wealthy countries rely on a

single negotiating body — usually

the government — to decide

whether to accept the price a

pharmaceutical company wants to

charge. In the United States,

negotiations with drug makers are

split among tens of thousands of

health plans, resulting in far less

bargaining muscle for the buyers.

Other nations also conduct careful

analyses of how much additional

benefit a new drug presents over

drugs already on the market —

and at what cost. If the cost is too

high and the benefit too small,

those countries are more willing

to say no to a new drug.

“Our lack of consolidation in

negotiating is a key reason that

we pay more than other countries

— but also this unwillingness to

negotiate as hard,” said Stacie

Dusetzina, a health policy expert

at Vanderbilt University School

of Medicine.

The Inflation Reduction Act,

enacted in 2022, authorized

Medicare to negotiate directly

with drug companies over the

prices of a small number of drugs

years after they entered the

American market. Health policy

- 14 - Equal Write

analysts say that is a start, but

much broader negotiating

authority is needed to make a dent

in drug prices overall.

Pharmaceutical companies argue

that the higher prices come with

added benefit: Industry-funded

analyses have found that patients

in the United States get medicines

faster, and with fewer insurance

restrictions, than those in other

countries.

2. There are no price controls.

Some countries set limits on how

much they will pay for medicines.

France, for example, caps the

growth of drug companies’ sales:

If sales exceed that threshold, the

government gets a rebate.

Drug companies in the United

States have avoided legal

restraints on prices for patients

covered by commercial insurance

and on introductory sticker prices

when drugs first enter the market.

“Drugs are so expensive in the

U.S. because we let them be,”

said Michelle Mello, a Stanford

law and health policy professor.

“We designed a system in terms

of drug costs that is all engines,

no breaks.”

3. The system creates perverse

incentives.

Drug companies are not the only

ones who make money from high

drug costs. Doctors, hospitals and

an array of intermediaries also see

higher revenue when costs soar.

One case in point: Under

Medicare policies for some drugs,

doctors pay upfront for drugs that

they administer to patients

intravenously in their offices,

such as chemotherapy. To recoup

their costs, they send a bill to

Medicare for both the cost of the

drug and a percentage of that cost,

set by Medicare, to cover their

overhead. That billing system

creates an incentive for a doctor

to choose a higher-priced drug.

For example, a Medicare rate of 6

percent on a $10,000 drug would

pay $600 — a lot more than the

$6 fee paid for infusing a $100

medication.

Experts also see misaligned

incentives stemming from

pharmacy benefit managers, or

P.B.M.s, big businesses that

negotiate with manufacturers on

behalf of the employers and

health plans that pay most of the

bills for prescription drugs.

P.B.M.s make more money in

fees from manufacturers when the

sticker price of a drug is higher.

They sometimes require patients

to take a drug with a higher

sticker price even when a cheaper

alternative is available.

4. The system is fragmented and

complicated.

Drug industry executives often

complain that they are unfairly

blamed for high prices while

other parties, including P.B.M.s

and insurers, are profiting from a

growing share of drug spending

and saddling patients with high

out-of-pocket costs.

“The United States is the only

country that allows middlemen,

such as P.B.M.s, to profiteer on

medicines unchecked,” said Alex

Schriver, an official at

Pharmaceutical Research and

Manufacturers of America, or

PhRMA, the drug industry’s main

lobbying group.

Manufacturers retain only half the

money that health care payers

initially spend on prescription

drugs before discounts are

applied, according to a 2022 study

funded by PhRMA.

The system is so confusing that

doctors and patients trying to

decide between seemingly

comparable drugs have no easy

way to determine what their

actual cost will be at the

pharmacy counter.

Even researchers have trouble

parsing the system — in

particular, the complex deals

made between drug makers,

intermediaries and insurers — as

they try to pinpoint problems and

come up with solutions.

5. Patent gaming keeps prices

high longer.

Around the world, countries issue

patents to drug companies that

grant them temporary monopolies

during which lower-priced

generic competitors can’t enter

the market. But in the United

States, drug companies have been

especially successful in finding

ways to prolong that monopoly

period, through tactics like piling

up patents to protect inventions

that are only tangentially related

to the drug in question.

For example, the drug company

AbbVie delayed competition for

its blockbuster anti-inflammatory

drug Humira for more than four

years longer in the United States

than in Europe. Patents were a

key factor: A number of

AbbVie’s patent applications

were refused by Europe’s patent

examiners or revoked after being

challenged, according to an

analysis by the Initiative for

Medicines, Access and

Knowledge, a nonprofit that

tracks drug patents.

- 15 - Equal Write

AbbVie declined to comment for

this article.

6. Drug prices are what the

market will bear.

Drug industry executives often

say that their prices reflect the

value their products provide to

society. For example, a one-time

$3 million cure may be a bargain

if it ends up averting $10 million

in hospital bills and lost wages.

But a comparison with other

valuable resources shows how

that model could send prices

spiraling out of control. “If we

allowed water utilities to charge

us the full value of water in our

lives, society would very quickly

break down,” said Christopher

Morten, an expert in

pharmaceutical law at Columbia

University.

Drug companies also say the

prices of medications reflect the

huge, rising costs of running

clinical trials and the need to

recoup expensive investments in

failed drugs. But academics have

found no relationship between

how much drug companies spend

on research and how much they

charge.

The reality, experts say, is that

companies set their prices as high

as the market will bear.

-----------------------------------------

Less than 1 percent of

construction jobs go to

women of color in this city

By Jessica Kutz

www.19thnews.org 02/15/24

In 2023, Diamond Harriel was

looking to make a career switch.

She had a 10-month-old daughter

and had recently gone back to

school for a business

administration degree, hoping it

could help her earn higher pay

than the temporary administrative

jobs she had been working.

One day, through a program that

helps single moms, she saw a flier

about a new city initiative in

Rochester, Minnesota, that aimed

to bring women of color into the

construction workforce.

After learning more, Harriel

enrolled into a trades readiness

training program that taught the

ins and outs of construction, from

how to read a blueprint, to

operating different tools and basic

safety. The program exposed her

to the possibilities within the

construction world: building

inspections, project management,

apprenticeships in skilled trades

like plumbing and electricity.

“I think it was really eye opening,

because for me I didn’t know

these kinds of jobs were

available,” Harriel said. With her

administrative skills, she learned

that there were comparable jobs in

construction where the entry level

rate was $25 an hour.

She now has an interview to be a

project coordinator with an area

construction firm and has dreams

of eventually working on

affordable housing projects for

the community. As a bonus, the

course also gave her practical

skills she can put to use at home.

“As a woman, a single mom, I’m

like we need these things. Now I

can do my own plumbing and my

own electricity and also do my

own little renovations around the

house,” Harriel said.

The city initiative that guided

Harriel through the training and

helped set up the interview is

called the Equity in the Built

Environment program. It started

in 2023 after Rochester Mayor

Kim Norton won a $1 million

grant from the Bloomberg

Philanthropies Global Mayors

Challenge.

When the 2020 recession hit, one

thing had become apparent to

Norton: Women of color were

bearing the brunt of it. In

Rochester, they already held some

of the lowest paid jobs, and as the

pandemic took hold, those

positions disappeared in sectors

like the service industry, which

disproportionately employs

women of color.

“Probably they struggled the most

anyway,” Norton said. “But it was

held up and in the sunlight during

the pandemic in a way that it was

so obvious you couldn’t ignore

it.”

What her office realized is that

there wasn’t a shortage of

employment opportunities.

Rochester, with a population

around 220,000, was halfway into

a $585 million, 20-year funding

initiative to build new

infrastructure downtown. It was

also home to the prestigious

Mayo Clinic, which had just

announced a $5 billion economic

growth project.

All of that growth meant a lot of

available construction jobs, which

was facing a worker shortage.

Could that problem be solved by

diversifying the workforce?

“Our research showed that very

few women are in construction

and almost no women of color.

We said, ‘Well, here’s an

opportunity,’” Norton said.

- 16 - Equal Write

According to the city, women of

color make up 13 percent of the

city’s population but less than 1

percent work in the construction

industry.

Over the past year the city has

piloted Equity in the Built

Environment to create a solution

that could work for everyone —

both the construction industry

facing an employee shortage and

the women they sought to help. If

they are successful, they could be

a model for other cities as

construction projects boom across

the country.

The pilot project consists of

tackling the workforce challenge

in three ways, said project

manager Julie Brock: educating

women and girls about the

employment possibilities; training

and recruitment for women of

color; and addressing long-

standing issues with

discrimination and harassment in

the industry.

First, program participants are set

up with a career counselor with a

local workforce development

nonprofit, and then they enter

either a trades readiness track, or

an entrepreneurial track that helps

women start their own

construction businesses.

Throughout that time they have

access to wraparound services

like child care and transportation

to remove barriers to attending

classes. For those looking for a

job, the program works to place

them at three different companies

that are partners in the work. So

far eight women have completed

the program.

Explaining to women that there

could be a job in the field that fits

their interests and skills has been

a challenge, Brock said. At first,

women assumed that the only

jobs available would be more

around tradework. Now, the pilot

program has framed

conversations around the built

environment, more broadly, with

other career opportunities in

health and safety inspections,

interior design and project

management among others.

-----------------------------------------

The Supreme Court just

turned us all into vigilantes

By John Stoehr

www.alternet.org 03/07/24

The conventional wisdom appears

to be the US Supreme Court was

right in ruling that neither

Colorado nor any other state can

remove Donald Trump from the

ballot on 14th Amendment

grounds. There appears to be a

consensus of elite opinion in

“letting voters decide.”

As worthies such as Madiba

Dennie and Thomas Zimmer have

said, however, voters did decide.

In 2020, they voted Trump out.

He didn’t like that, so he

organized an attempted

paramilitary takeover of the US

government in order to overthrow

the democratic will of the

American people. The Colorado

Supreme Court decision to

disqualify him as an

insurrectionist was a lonely

attempt to hold him legally

accountable.

Colorado’s high court was doing

what’s expected by a democratic

system founded on the principle

of checks and balances. When the

system’s integrity is under threat,

as it was on January, 6, 2021, the

rule of law demands democratic

institutions administer

commensurate justice. The

Colorado Supreme Court tried

that, as did elected officials in

Maine and Illinois, but the US

Supreme Court said no. Worse,

elite opinion appears to believe

that accountability is better left to

voters.

I get it. It’s probably not a good

idea to allow states to kick

presidential candidates off their

ballots, whether for good reasons,

as was the case in Colorado, or

for phony reasons, as would be

the case in virtually any state

controlled by the Republicans.

But that’s not my point here.

My point is about this apparent

conventional wisdom. We have

not thought through the literal

danger of “letting voters decide,”

because we haven’t fully

reckoned with the reason we’re

talking about it, which is the

failure of democratic institutions,

like courts of law, to hold

powerful elites accountable and

protect democracy. They can’t or

they won’t. So those who are

saying voters should decide

Trump’s fate are really conceding

that democratic institutions have

become so corrupt, and

accountability has become so

impossible, that there’s only one

thing to do. Take justice into our

own hands. Become vigilantes.

I don’t know about you, but that

seems bad. As Australia’s former

Prime Minister Malcolm

Trumbull reminded us recently,

democracy and the rule of law are

supposed to work (ideally) in

concert so that a majority is

- 17 - Equal Write

empowered but also constrained

from acting on its worst impulses

against a minority. “Vigilante

voting” not only hints at upending

those checks and balances. It puts

democracy in direct conflict with

the rule of law, so it might have

very little meaning if Donald

Trump wins.

If we’re going to say voters

should decide Trump’s fate, we

must also say the election’s

outcome will be his verdict. If he

loses, he’s guilty of all crimes

committed against democracy.

(Perhaps the justice system would

then proceed.) But if he wins, he’s

innocent. He will have been

granted absolution for everything

he’s ever done. Everything. There

might never again be such a thing

as a crime if the president does it.

He could have his opponents

murdered, safe in the knowledge

that a majority approves.

Democracy will have obliterated

the rule of law.

“Imagine that Trump is president

again and instructs the Justice

Department to bring treason

charges against Jack Smith,”

wrote The Bulwark’s Mona

Charen. “Who will stop him? The

carefully vetted MAGA lawyers

he has hired precisely for their

loyalty?” She went on:

Suppose he orders the Department

of Homeland Security to round up

and deport 11 million immigrants

without due care to ensure that

American citizens aren’t swept

up? What will Congress do?

Impeach him?

What if he instructs the IRS to

audit and fine Liz Cheney, Adam

Schiff, George Conway, and

hundreds of other prominent

critics? This violates IRS rules.

But will IRS employees, again

hired for loyalty to Trump,

demur? After all, he did run on

the promise, 'I am your

retribution,' and his voters agreed.

What if he directs the SEC to

investigate banks that refuse to

loan the Trump Organization

money? Would any whistleblower

risk his job or worse?

What if, in response to street

demonstrations, Trump invokes

the Insurrection Act and

federalizes the National Guard,

allowing the military to shut

down protests and arrest (or

worse) demonstrators without

cause?

I don’t mean to suggest that we

shouldn’t be in this mess or that

America deserves better. (I’m not

sure it does.) I do mean to

suggest, however, that the

conventional wisdom is more

problematic than it seems. It

attempts to normalize, even

minimize, the danger we face by

suggesting that everything will be

fine as long as voters get to

decide.

Don’t bet on it.

-----------------------------------------

Older women resonate.

Brands are pivoting

By Britt Peterson

Washington Post

www.inquirer.com 02/25/24

Companies are forming lucrative

partnerships with over-50

influencers. While representation

has improved, it’s far from

perfect.

Stephanie Glover, 61, never

intended to become a social

media influencer.

“I was very dissatisfied by the

portrayal of women over 50

because it did not speak to the

way I saw myself,” Glover said,

explaining why she began posting

photos in 2016 of her classic chic

Southern lifestyle, first on

WordPress and then on Instagram

as @hautegreyfox. Companies

such as Serena & Lily, J. Crew,

and Target noticed her posts, and

within a few years Glover had not

only earned 11,000 loyal

followers but also $20,000 a year

from her new side hustle.

While the advertising industry

remains fixated on the 18-to-35

age group as a prime target,

over50 influencers such as Glover

have recently garnered thousands

and sometimes more than 1

million followers, both within

their demographic and far

beyond. And brands are

beginning to take notice, with

more and more companies

reaching out to older influencers

to form lucrative partnerships.

“The content [from older female

influencers] is doing really well,”

said James Nord, CEO of Fohr, an

influencer marketing company.

“Not only is the engagement

strong, but they’re buying.”

And yet, many older influencers

still say brands are experiencing

growing pains when it comes to

working with them. Glover, who

views herself as a fashion and

lifestyle influencer, is often

pigeonholed by brands hoping

she’ll sell “anti-aging” skincare or

medicine, just because of her age.

“It just mirrors what society

thinks about women and aging,

and women of color,” she added.

- 18 - Equal Write

In advertising, history does not

repeat

For most of the 20th century,

women portrayed in

advertisements were a very

specific type, according to

marketing consultant and

researcher Jane Cunningham:

“always pleasing, always passive,

usually blond, always thin, and of

course, always young, never …

over the age of about 25.”

Women over 50 remained

practically invisible, even as this

population rapidly increased over

the course of the 20th century.

Representation has improved, but

it’s far from perfect. A few age-

defying older actors pop up in

fashion and skin-care advertising

— Lauren Hutton, Jennifer

Lopez, and Michelle Yeoh for

instance — although far fewer

faces that actually look old

(Paulina Porizkova and Isabella

Rossellini, two women who have

insisted on aging in a more or less

normal way, are perhaps the most

visible exceptions). Notably, most

of these women, whether they

show their age or not, are thin,

white, and conventionally

gorgeous.

“There’s [still] this sort of

squeamishness about presenting

older women and a belief that if

you show older women engaging

with the brand, … that will put off

the younger audience,”

Cunningham said. However, that

view is contradicted by

Cunningham’s research, which

has shown that younger audiences

actually like older women:

They’re curious about their lives,

they’re looking to learn from

them and they don’t find them

off-putting.

Older female consumers also

represent a valuable, untapped,

and rapidly expanding market.

(Globally, the number of over-50

women is expected to grow by

70% by 2050, according to

AARP.) Many female boomers

and Gen Xers have independent

incomes, having attained higher

levels of education than past

generations and worked all their

lives. Although older women,

particularly older women of color,

were hit hard by the pandemic,

they have also rebounded well,

and 1 out of 10 U.S. workers is a

woman 55 or older. And those

who can afford to spend money

on the types of products sold by

influencers (primarily fashion and

wellness products) may be

particularly eager to do so. “[This

generation of women] spent

decades of their lives looking

after other people, looking after

children, compromising their own

kind of needs and wants,” said

Cunningham. “And once their

children have left home … they

really just feel like, ‘It’s my time

now,’ and they have a real carpe

diem attitude.”

-----------------------------------------

Value of works by late

women artists soars as

buyers seek to ‘rewrite

history’

www.semafor.com

From Artnet, The Guardian, Artsy,

ArtNews, NY Times 01/16/24

Private and institutional buyers

are looking to “rewrite chapters in

art history,” by reevaluating the

works of deceased women artists,

according to Artnet — a history in

which paintings by women fetch

only a tenth of the price of those

by men, and only 1% of works in

the U.K.’s National Gallery are

by women.

The late painter and printmaker

Joan Mitchell led the women’s

rankings after her auction revenue

almost doubled to $130 million

last year, boosted by a landmark

sale that made her the highest-

selling female abstract

expressionist in history.

Meanwhile, the late American

modern artist Lee Krasner’s

revenue jumped nearly three

times from $3.7 million to $9

million. Deceased women artists

have been garnering more

attention in the art market in

recent years, Artsy wrote, as

collectors and museums discuss

why they were overlooked across

the 20th century – while

household names such as Pablo

Picasso and Andy Warhol thrived.

African-born artists set new

records

Work by African women artists

made remarkable strides in

auction rankings last year —

thanks in part to the vibrant

growth of the African art scene,

which recently welcomed new

commercial spaces in countries

like Nigeria and Ghana in what

one art fair director described as a

“visibility moment” for the

continent.

It represents a long-overdue

historical correction: art by Black

American female artists

comprised just 0.1 percent of

global auction sales between 2008

and mid-2022, according to the

Burns Halperin report.

- 19 - Equal Write

Contemporary artist Julie

Mehretu smashed her record in a

month after Sotheby’s Americas

chairman bid $10.7 million for

her piece Walkers With the Dawn

and Morning — the highest

public price recorded by an

African-born artist, according to

ArtNews. Nigerian-American

artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby

and the late South African artist

Irma Stern, both of whose work

explores themes of cross-cultural

identity, also ranked highly last

year.

Women increasingly taking the

helm of art galleries and

museums

Women are also making headway

in the male-dominated world of

museum leadership, with several

high-profile recent appointments.

Last year, the Tate Modern

enlisted Karin Hindsbo as its

director, while the Guggenheim

appointed Mariët Westermann as

its director and CEO –– the first

woman to lead the museum in its

more than 60-year history. A

2022 survey found that among

North American art institutions,

the representation of female

leaders had increased

substantially over the previous

seven years. Anne Pasternak, the

director of the Brooklyn Museum,

said that the process of hiring

women as directors has become

easier as more women become

patrons of the arts. “Women are

putting their names on buildings.

They’re stepping up,” she told the

New York Times.

-----------------------------------------

Women fuel boom in

adventure excursions

By Ariel Felton

Washington

Postwww.inquirer.com 01/28/24

Women over 40 tend to have more

time and money. And they aren’t

afraid to travel alone or to great

heights.

Teri McCoy was 44 years old

when she discovered wanderlust.

She was attending a human

resources conference in Denver

but the mountains, the largest she

had ever seen, beckoned on the

horizon. “Later, during one of the

personal development workshops,

I was given a phrase to reflect on

about allowing myself to have

new experiences,” recalls McCoy.

“It all just clicked.”

Since then, she has raced down

white-water rapids in Thailand,

snorkeled with whitetip reef

sharks in the Galápagos Islands,

and, most recently, gone on a

safari in Tanzania, to name a few

destinations. Now 51, she never

celebrates her birthday at home

anymore.

McCoy, an empty nester, is not

alone. Women account for 57% of

travelers who book through global

travel companies, according to the

Adventure Travel Trade

Association. When the travel

company is women-led, such as

Wild Women Expeditions

(WWE), Adventure Women, or

Sisters Traveling Solo, that

number jumps to 64%. Estimated

to be worth $2 trillion by 2032,

the global adventure tourism

industry is expanding rapidly, and

women are a big part of that

growth. They are not afraid to

travel alone or to great heights.

“We definitely see a lot of

travelers in their 40s and 50s

prioritizing adventure travel for

themselves,” says Allison Fleece,

cofounder of WHOA Travel (an

acronym for Women High on

Adventure). The company offers

women-only group trips where

travelers work together to

accomplish a goal, such as hiking

to the top of Kilimanjaro or

trekking alpine landscapes on the

Tour du Mont Blanc. “It’s not a

beach vacation our travelers are

after when they choose to travel

with us. There’s usually a greater

purpose involved.”

Older women, defined as over 65,

represent the greatest recent

increase in solo travel, going from

4% in 2019 to 18% in 2022.

“During the pandemic there was

so much loss; now there’s this

underlying current of ‘Go do

things now,’ ” says Kristi Marsh,

marketing director of Adventure

Women, a company founded in

1982 to help women explore the

outdoors.

“Right now, our big trips are

Galápagos, Iceland, the Northern

Lights, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco,”

Marsh says. The complete roster

includes more than 50 trips a year

for groups of 12 to 14 women

traveling to 65 countries. The cost

of trips typically ranges from

$5,000 to $6,000. Bookings are

20% higher than they were in

2019.

-----------------------------------------

- 20 - Equal Write

STILL NEED A NEW

NEWSLETTER EDITOR

I’ve been doing this for 4 years

now, and I need a break! Please

consider volunteering to be the

editor. The Newsletter Editor job

takes approximately 10 to 12

hours per month. SJNOW relies

on its volunteers so please STEP

UP for this and other positions.

Volunteer now or learn more:

email:

outreach@southjerseynow.org

-----------------------------------------

News Bytes

The increasing value of

women’s sports

The increasing value of women’s

sports is the foundation of the

new eight-year, $920 million deal

between the National Collegiate

Athletic Association (NCAA) and

ESPN for exclusive broadcast

rights to 40 championships. The

NCAA estimates that women’s

basketball represents $65 million,

or 57 percent, of the deal’s annual

value. That’s 10 times the sport’s

value in the current expiring deal.

The deal includes 21 women’s

and 19 men’s sports, guaranteeing

ESPN broadcast rights to a

number of women’s sports with

increasing popularity, including

women’s basketball, volleyball,

and gymnastics.

Stars such as Iowa basketball’s

Caitlin Clark and LSU gymnast

Olivia Dunne have helped drive

attention to their sports with viral

plays and social media influence.

Dunne alone has 12.2 million

followers across platforms.

The deal does not include men’s

football or the domestic rights to

the men’s basketball

championship. Individual

conferences negotiate broadcast

deals for football, and domestic

rights to the men’s basketball

championship are with CBS and

Turner Sports till 2032.

Recently, an NCAA women’s

volleyball double-header, that

included five-time NCAA

champions University of

Nebraska, broke the world record

for attendance for a women's

sports event, with 92,003

spectators. The 2023 NCAA

women’s basketball final between

Louisiana State University and

Iowa drew 9.9 million TV

viewers, double the previous year,

and became the most-viewed

NCAA women’s basketball game

on record.

More broadly, 2023 was a

phenomenal year for women’s

sports, with the Women’s

National Basketball Association

(WNBA) having its most-watched

season in 20 years and highest

attendance since 2018.

The National Women’s Soccer

League (NWSL) surpassed one

million fans in attendance for a

regular season for the first time,

and ended the year announcing a

record $60 million broadcast deal.

-----------------------------------------

Don’t Chuck Those

Markers.

Did you know that Crayola has a

program called ColorCycle?

Crayola ColorCycle will accept

all brands of plastic markers, not

just Crayola markers. That

includes dry erase markers &

highlighters. If you collect the

dead markers, they’ll send you a

free shipping label & you can ship

them back to Crayola to be

recycled! Link to get started with

this program:

http://www.crayola.com/colorcycl

e.aspx This program is currently

in the US & parts of Canada,

check website &

www.crayola.com/colorcycle/freq

uently-asked-questions.aspx -

FAQ's. Kids get so excited to set

up boxes at their schools...know

any teachers? A big box of

markers were collected in just 3

months at a preschool! Imagine

what we could divert from

landfills during the whole school

year at every school!

-----------------------------------------

Minutes from the NJ

Universal Healthcare

Coalition

The New Jersey Healthcare

Coalition met on Monday,

February 5th. Lloyd Alterman

reminded everyone that dues must

be received by March 1. There

will be a meeting on February 7

with Assemblyman John Allen to

discuss reintroduction of A4538,

with improvements and additions

to strengthen the legislation.

There are also plans to lobby

other Assembly/Senate members.

Sam Thronton will send out a

notice to the list-serve soliciting

nominees for the April 15 General

Meeting. Sam has been

investigating a switch to Action

Network, and that transition is

now underway. It should be up

and running in a week or so, and

it should only cost $10 per mass

email. Act Blue and Action

- 21 - Equal Write

Network are compatible, so Act

Blue donors can be automatically

added or flagged on Action

Network. Economist Gerald

Friedman is confirmed to be the

speaker at the April General

Membership meeting. Leaflets

about the General Meeting will be

distributed at the Poor People's

Campaign scheduled for March 2

in Trenton.

Submitted by SJNOW member

Michela Colosimo

Read! View! Do!

BOOKS

Book recommendations

from the New York Times

01/22/24

The Bandit Queens, by Parini

Shroff

Since Geeta’s abusive husband

abandoned her, fellow villagers

have whispered that she killed

him. The rumors sting until her

friend Farah asks if Geeta can

help her do the same. While its

premise might sound grim, this

feel-good debut “demonstrates

how the antidote to bleak

circumstances is female

friendship,” our reviewer wrote.

Horse, by Geraldine Brooks

Brooks’s sixth novel traces the

power of love between a man and

a horse through the snares of

American racism and across

centuries.

-----------------------------------------

Empress of the Nile: The

Daredevil Archaeologist

Who Saved Egypt's

Ancient Temples from

Destruction

by Lynne Olson (Author)

synopsis from www.amazon.com

02/20/24

New York Times Book Review

Editors’ Choice • The remarkable

story of the intrepid French

archaeologist who led the

international effort to save ancient

Egyptian temples from the

floodwaters of the Aswan Dam,

by the New York Times

bestselling author of Madame

Fourcade’s Secret War.

“A female version of the Indiana

Jones story . . . [Christiane

Desroches-Noblecourt] was a

daredevil whose real-life antics

put Hollywood fiction to

shame.”—The Guardian

In the 1960s, the world’s attention

was focused on a nail-biting race

against time: the international

campaign to save a dozen ancient

Egyptian temples from drowning

in the floodwaters of the gigantic

new Aswan High Dam. But the

coverage of this unprecedented

rescue effort completely

overlooked the daring French

archaeologist who made it all

happen. Without the intervention

of Christiane Desroches-

Noblecourt, the temples—

including the Temple of Dendur,

now at New York’s Metropolitan

Museum of Art—would currently

be at the bottom of a vast

reservoir. It was an unimaginably

complex project that required the

fragile sandstone temples to be

dismantled and rebuilt on higher

ground.

Willful and determined,

Desroches-Noblecourt refused to

be cowed by anyone or anything.

As a member of the French

Resistance in World War II she

survived imprisonment by the

Nazis; in her fight to save the

temples she defied two of the

most daunting leaders of the

postwar world, Egypt’s President

Abdel Nasser and France’s

President Charles de Gaulle. As

she told one reporter, “You don’t

get anywhere without a fight, you

know.”

Desroches-Noblecourt also

received help from a surprising

source. Jacqueline Kennedy,

America’s new First Lady,

persuaded her husband to help

fund the rescue effort. After a

century and a half of Western

plunder of Egypt’s ancient

monuments, Desroches-

Noblecourt helped instead to

preserve a crucial part of that

cultural heritage.

-----------------------------------------

Books from Simon and

Schuster

Root Fractures

By Diana Khoi Nguyen

National Book Award finalist

Diana Khoi Nguyen's second

poetry collection, a haunting of a

family's past upon its present, and

a frank reckoning with how loss

and displacement transform

mothers and daughters across

generations.

-----------------------------------------

- 22 - Equal Write

Looking for Jane

By Heather Marshall

This "clever and satisfying"

(Associated Press) #1

international bestseller for fans of

Kristin Hannah and Jennifer

Chiaverini follows three women

who are bound together by a long-

lost letter, a mother's love, and a

secret network of women fighting

for the right to choose—inspired

by true stories.

-----------------------------------------

The House of Eve

By Sadeqa Johnson

NOW IN PAPERBACK

"A triumph of historical fiction"

(The Washington Post), an instant

New York Times bestseller, and a

Reese's Book Club pick, set in

1950s Philadelphia and

Washington, D.C., that explores

what it means to be a woman and

a mother, and how much one is

willing to sacrifice to achieve her

greatest goal.

-----------------------------------------

Career Forward

By Grace Puma and Christiana

Smith Shi

Former PepsiCo C.O.O. Grace

Puma and former Nike President

of Consumer Direct Christiana

Smith Shi offer a groundbreaking,

empowering guide for women

that shows how to prioritize a

career path, build professional

value, and enjoy a full life both in

and out of the workplace.

-----------------------------------------

What We Buried

By Robert Rotenberg

A Toronto homicide detective is

attacked at his doorstep when his

investigation into possible links

between the Nazi occupation of

Italy and the murder of his brother

decades later gets too close to the

truth—in the new crime thriller

from bestselling author Robert

Rotenberg. Perfect for fans of

Scott Turow and David Baldacci.

-----------------------------------------

The Abortion Provider

Who Became the Most

Hated Woman in New

York

By Moira Donegan

www.newyorker.com 01/17/24

“The Trials of Madame

Restell,” a new book by Nicholas

L. Syrett, a gender historian at

the University of Kansas, traces

Restell’s nearly forty-year career

as an abortion provider in

nineteenth-century New York,

and the rapid changes in the

medicine, morality, and law of

pregnancy that shaped it. Syrett’s

meticulously detailed account

comes on the heels of another

biography, “Madame Restell,”

written by the popular historian

Jennifer Wright, which evokes the

moral stakes of Restell’s very

public life. Together, the books

offer a portrait of a formidable

woman navigating an era that, in

several important respects, bears

an unnerving resemblance to our

own.

-----------------------------------------

The Furies:

Women, Vengeance, And

Justice

By Elizabeth Flock

What happens when women

resort to violence, in self-defense

or in defense of others? Flock, a

journalist, explores this question

through the stories of three very

different women, in Alabama,

rural India and northern Syria,

avoiding easy moralizing.

-----------------------------------------

Dinners With Ruth

By Nina Totenberg

In 1971, a call between a reporter

and a law professor turned into a

friendship that would last five

decades. Totenberg, who later

broke the news of Anita Hill’s

allegations, recounts a life of

mutual support with Ruth Bader

Ginsburg, through the highs and

lows of their trailblazing careers

and lives.

-----------------------------------------

VIEW

This Netflix Crime

Miniseries Has a 99% on

Rotten Tomatoes

by Kelcie Mattson

www.msn.com 02/23/24

Netflix's Alias Grace, based on a

novel by Margaret Atwood, was

released the same year as The

Handmaid's Tale and

overshadowed by the Hulu series'

success.

An incredibly faithful and riveting

adaptation written and directed by

women, Alias Grace explores the

psychology of Grace Marks, a

real-life teenage girl convicted of

murder — but pardoned decades

later — in 19th-century Canada.

Based on a work of true crime

fiction and produced during the

Me Too movement, Alias Grace

deftly examines power,

oppression, and moral ambiguity.

- 23 - Equal Write

In 2017, several Margaret

Atwood adaptations hit the small

screen. Compared to the hubbub

surrounding Hulu's The

Handmaid’s Tale, the first

streaming series to win an Emmy

Award for Outstanding Drama

Series, Netflix's Alias Grace slid

under the radar. A 6-episode

miniseries based on Atwood's

1996 book of the same name,

which in turn spins a glorious

fictional meditation inspired by an

infamous real-life murder, Alias

Grace is Handmaid's

unintentional echo. Nothing binds

the stories except Atwood's

thematic preferences. But if

Handmaid's speculates about a

dystopian future-scape, then Alias

Grace is the past from which

Handmaid's nightmares spring.

Adapted with remarkable fidelity

by Academy Award-winning

screenwriter Sarah Polley

(Women Talking) and American

Psycho director Mary Harron,

Netflix's Alias Grace is Atwood at

her most pitiless and ambiguous,

realized by women behind the

camera who understand exactly

what discomforting ideations

they're forcing us to sit with.

Alias Grace is true crime and the

more disturbing for it: a twisty,

self-contained story about trauma,

power, and the cyclical dynamics

of a broken world.

-----------------------------------------

Film: Cabrini

Your editor went to see the movie

Cabrini on March 8

, and

recommends it highly. It’s

engrossing and inspiring, and I

learned much about a name that,

to me, previously had only been

associated with a local area

university. I compare it to

Harriet. Both are about strong

women who saved a lot of lives,

while never taking No for an

answer.

-----------------------------------------

DO!

Shining a Light on

(Her)Story

Throughout all of March, join us

at the Burlington County Library

(or virtually) for Shining a Light

on (Her)Story presented by Dr.

Jacquelin Agostini, Ph.D.! These

weekly classes will be a very

diverse look at women’s history

focusing on both past & present.

Pioneering American women,

together from around the world,

had the courage to challenge

Patriarchy and are still doing so.

Shining A Light on (Her)story

will delve into their history and as

we learn their stories, give us a

foundation for what we can do to

continue moving forward.

Go to :

https://www.bcls.lib.nj.us/events,

then Filter, and type in (her)story

in the Filter section. (You have to

use the ( ) around the her to get

the events to come up.)

-----------------------------------------

Quotable Quotes

Quotable QuotesQuotable Quotes

Quotable Quotes

"Most people who hear Trump

speak these days get

uncomfortable 'Grandpa needs

a nap, but I worry he's going to

bite me' vibes," Marcotte

observes. "But that doesn't

seem to be registering at all

with most Republican voters, at

least not the ones who show up

at his rallies…. One commonly

held theory is that Trump has

always been a moron, creating

an expectation of cognitive

function so low that it's hard to

notice he's failing to meet it."

Amanda Marcotte

www.salon.com

Sooner or later, if man is ever to

be worthy of his destiny, we

must fill our hearts with

tolerance. Stan Lee

Please send news bytes &

reading/viewing recommendations

to: apnoweditor@gmail.com

- 24 – Equal Write

MEMBERSHIP FORM (New Members Only)

I wish to join NOW and commit myself to take action to bring women into full

participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all rights and

responsibilities in truly equal partnership with men.

NAME_____________________________________________________

ADDRESS _________________________________________________

TOWN/CITY/STATE ________________________ ZIP ____________

HOME PHONE_______________ CELL PHONE_________________

EMAIL____________________________________________________

EMPLOYMENT_____________________________________________

IF RETIRED, PREVIOUS JOB:

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dues/newsletters)

$40 (only for residents of AZ, CA, CT, FL, IL, IN, MI, MO, NY, OR,

PA, TX)

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__ $75 Women's Rights Hero (regular dues, plus contribution)

__ $20 Newsletter subscription ONLY (as a "friend of the chapter")

__ $ ______Contribution only, or in addition to any of the above.

If you are/may be a National NOW member, please check here _______

Make checks payable to: South Jersey NOW-NJ 0385. Send form and check to:

South Jersey NOW, PO Box 2801, Cherry Hill, NJ, 08034

All membership dues include national, state, and chapter newsletters. To join the

chapter or state, you must become a national member. NOW's policy is that no person

shall be denied membership because of inability to pay. Memberships are available on a

sliding scale from $10 to $35 (based upon ability to pay). Installment payments are also

available. If you are committed to NOW, but are unable to pay the membership dues,

we urge you to speak to our Membership Vice President to make some other

arrangement.

THE EQUAL WRITE

Editor: Kathy Pritz Proofreader: Suzan

Preiksat

Labels: Lorraine Petrie

Calendar/News: Judy Buckman

The Equal Write is published monthly. All input is

welcome and subject to editing. Email articles, ads,

and tributes to apnoweditor@gmail.com. Call Judy

Buckman to submit items to the calendar.

ADVERTISING RATES

Business Card: $35/1 mo., $75/3 mos., $125/6 mos.

Back Page: 3”x8”, $60/1 mo., $100/3 mos., $200/6

mos.

Newsletter Flyer Inserts: $20/1 mo., $35/2 mos.,

$45/3 mos.

Chapter members receive a 20% discount off the

above prices.

Ads should be sent electronically to

apnoweditoe@gmail.com and

jbuckmanservices@gmail.com by the first Tuesday of

each month.

Checks (payable to South Jersey NOW) should be

sent to Ad Coordinator, South Jersey NOW, P.O.

Box 2801, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

NOW-NJ State Office, 2560 Rt 22 East, #265, Scotch Plains, NJ 07076 609-310-1150

NJ State Legislative Services (Legislators/Bills) 800-792-8630

S o u t h J e r s e y N O W – A l i c e P a u l C h a p t e r

O f f i c e r s f o r F e b r u a r y 2 0 2 3 – F e b r u a r y 2 0 2 4

CHAPTER E-MAIL outreach@southjerseynow.org

CHAPTER WEBSITE www.southjerseynow.org

CHAPTER MAILING ADDRESS South Jersey NOW–Alice Paul Chapter, P.O. Box 2801, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

PRESIDENT: Judy Glick Buckman 856-234-8649 PROGRAM MEETING SET-UP: Ralph Hendrickson 609-367-5129

V.PRESIDENT/ADMINISTRATION: VACANT HELP WANTED! PROGRAM MEETING SET-UP:

V.PRESIDENT/MEMBERSHIP: Lorraine Petrie 609-471-5763 PROGRAM MEETING SET-UP: Ali Wesson 856-778-6030

TREASURER: Nancy Buchanan 609-654-3621 PROGRAM MEETING SET-UP:

Mary Bridges 856-778-1467

RECORDING SECRETARY: Lorraine Petrie 609-471-5763 PROGRAM MTG REFRESHMENTS: Cerie O’Toole 856-354-6341

DATA PROCESSING MANAGER: Lorraine Petrie 609-471-5763 NOW-NJ BOARD DELEGATE: Rita Spaulding

609-410-8254

FUND RAISING COORDINATOR: Fran Forte-Gomolson 856-577-5826 NOW-NJ BOARD DELEGATE ALT: Diane Stenzel 856-419-0812

NOW in the AFTERNOON: Marion Steininger 856-772-0689 NOW-NJ BOARD DELEGATE: Michelle McMullen-Deimling

NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Kathy Pritz 609-351-5488 609-949-3058

NEWSLETTER PROOFREADER: Suzan Preiksat 609-491-7219 NOW-NJ PAC REP: Jen Groves 856-834-0100

PUBLICITY COORDINATOR: Diane Stenzel 856-419-0812 ALICE’S LIST COORDINATOR: Suzanne Newsome 609-864-5949

CLINIC ESCORT COORDINATOR: Roxanne Sutocky 856-287-2698 ALICE’S LIST ASSISTANT: VACANT HELP WANTED!

FEMINIST ESSAY CONTEST: Jenifer Groves 856-834-0100 WEBSITE MANAGER: VACANT HELP WANTED!

PROGRAM MEETING SPEAKERS: Diane Stenzel 856-419-0812 FACEBOOK COORDINATOR: Diane Stenzel 856-419-0812

PROGRAM MEETING SPEAKERS: Elaine Ingulli 856-853-9235

PROGRAM MEETING SPEAKERS: Judy Glick Buckman 856-234-8649 SO. JERSEY NOW INDIVISIBLE: Ralph Hendrickson

Indivisiblesjnow@gmail.com

South Jersey NOW–Alice Paul Chapter

PO Box 2801

Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE PAID

PERMIT #731

CHERRY HILL, NJ

South Jersey NOW –

Alice Paul Chapter

1971-2024

Over 50 Years Strong

If you renewed your NOW

membership this month,

thanks!

Your voice counts.

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THE EQUAL WRITE - Newsletter of South Jersey NOW - Alice Paul Chapter PDF Free Download

THE EQUAL WRITE - Newsletter of South Jersey NOW - Alice Paul Chapter PDF free Download. Think more deeply and widely.

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