Above: The 2020 Rose Parade float commemorating the Women's Suffrage Centennial
Welcome to NOW Sonoma
Our President's Message
May 2022 News
NOW Sonoma members raising their voices
Women Unite Now!
Dear NOW friends,
The horrifying news of the leaked Supreme Court
brief to overturn Roe v. Wade is upon us and nationwide protests are
occurring as you are reading this newsletter. We all need to take immediate
action or we will lose the right to choose what happens to our bodies. This
will affect all future generations, too! At our next meeting, on May 16th,
we will plan our chapter's own action to fight this. Bring your ideas!
We held one protest in Sebastopol on May 3rd and
there will be more! However, since we are such a small group, the best way
may be to partner with other organizations, such as the NAACP, the
Democratic Club, etc. In the meantime, see below for actions you can take
from your own homes. We must not let the Supreme Court remove our right to
choose!
Women's March organization has proclaimed May 14 as
the day they have arranged a nationwide march. According to their website,
"In partnership with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Ultraviolet,
and MoveOn, we will mobilize on May 14, 2022 and let the world know we will
not take this attack on our rights silently. "
Click this link to pledge to participate.
I've copied in what our National organization sent to the chapter leaders
following their call to mobilization on May 3.
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THE WAR ON WOMEN:
Banning abortion has nothing to do with
protecting and everything to do with controlling women’s autonomy.
Overturning Roe violates a woman’s Constitutional rights
The majority of the country has long supported
abortion rights, proving that the forced-birth movement is nothing more
than a well-financed political distraction perpetrated by right-wing
extremists.
Outlawing abortion won’t stop abortions - it
just stops safe abortions for the most vulnerable women.
This decision proves the utter disrespect the
justices on the right have for judicial precedent, despite testifying
under oath not to let their personal beliefs conflict with their oath to
uphold the Constitution. Overturning Roe is a clear dereliction of duty.
WHAT’S AT STAKE:
Privacy, individual dignity, and access to safe
reproductive health care for all are the values at stake with this
decision. The conservative ideologues on the Supreme Court are willing
to erase these vital protections that are essential in a democracy – if
they overturn Roe.
Overturning Roe will legitimize and escalate the
culture war radical conservatives are waging. If they win, they will set
their sights on blocking access to contraceptives, marriage equality,
affirmative action, and more.
WHAT CAN BE DONE:
The Supreme Court must be reformed so that can
no longer be captured by reckless right-wingers – answerable to no one.
We must pass the Women’s Health Protection Act,
putting Roe protections in federal statutes. The House of
Representatives has already passed the Women’s Health Protection Act –
we are awaiting Senate action where there are at least 52 votes in favor
of this vital legislation.
More than a dozen states have adopted laws that
protect access to abortion with several more considering similar
legislation.
WHAT YOU MUST DO:
Call your federal and state legislators to urge
that they take action to protect abortion care for the millions of
people who depend on protections to safe care that responsible state
governments are adopting into law.
Other news:
We have a YouTube channel! Thanks
to our Webmaster, Ken Norton, we have a new channel and on it are videos of
the recent forum we held with the candidates for Superintendent of Schools
as well as the panel we hosted last August of well-known leaders in the
county. The link to our channel is:
https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCIgTr7_29T8COX2MNul_Q8g . We will be
uploading other videos soon, so be sure to subscribe to the NOW Sonoma
County Chapter.
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Don't forget to vote! Mail-in
ballots are in the process of being sent to each registered voter. To
register, go to RegistertoVote.ca.gov and for information on the
measures/candidates, go to the Registrar of Voters website for the June
election.
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Special announcement: Our
treasurer and former president, Elaine B. Holtz, who is also the co-producer
and host of
Women’s Spaces radio show, has been nominated for the 12th Poet
Laureate of Sonoma County. Nominations for Poet Laureate require that the
poet be a resident of Sonoma County whose poetry manifests a high degree of
excellence and who has produced a critically acclaimed body of work.
The
nominee must also have demonstrated an active commitment to the literary
arts in Sonoma County, must propose and perform a project of their own
creation, and must agree to participate in official ceremonies and poetry
events.The selection of the Poet Laureate for our county will be announced
on July 1st. For additional information on the process for selection and
timelines, go to
https://www.sebarts.org/poet-laureate/
“This is truly an honor to be nominated," said Elaine. She has read many of
her poems on
Women’s Spaces. You can listen to Elaine live on Mondays at 11
PM and replayed at 11:00 AM on KBBF 89.1 FM, or stream them on www.kbbf.org.
All shows are archived on
www.womensspaces.com.
For additional information, email Elaine at
elainebholtz@gmail.com.
--Amy Nykamp
.
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Our proud Chapter!
Above: Our Chapter celebrating the 50th Anniversary of NOW with the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, October 2016.
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August 26, 2020, the 19th Amendment Centennial and
Women's Equality Day was celebrated in Sebastopol with the Women's Suffrage
Banners.
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The 2020 Rose Parade featured the We Heart float
commemorating the Women's Suffrage Centennial and won the Theme Trophy.
See video clip below for the passage of the float and the Women Suffragist
marchers in front of KTLA cameras January 1, 2020.
NOW Sonoma
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