Blog of Rights
Vania
Leveille
04/13/2011

The Agony and the Ecstasy: Reproductive Rights on Capitol Hill

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office & Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 6:02pm

We Won The Big Fight For Planned Parenthood! There is cause for celebration! The President of the United States and the Senate Majority Leader were unwavering in their support and stood strong against a hard push by extremists in the House who tried to deny Planned Parenthood any and all federal funding.

It came down to the wire but Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama did not falter. As a result of their steadfastness, the support of dozens of senators and members of the House pro-choice caucus — and especially YOU — millions of men and women will continue to have access to basic health care services including family planning and life-saving screenings for breast and cervical cancer. This tremendous victory is a testament to the power of voices — our voices -- raised against extremists. This is a moment to savor, when President Obama said, simply and emphatically, "No" to abortion opponents.

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04/13/2011

The Agony and the Ecstasy: Reproductive Rights on Capitol Hill

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office & Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 6:02pm

We Won The Big Fight For Planned Parenthood! There is cause for celebration! The President of the United States and the Senate Majority Leader were unwavering in their support and stood strong against a hard push by extremists in the House who tried to deny Planned Parenthood any and all federal funding.

It came down to the wire but Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama did not falter. As a result of their steadfastness, the support of dozens of senators and members of the House pro-choice caucus — and especially YOU — millions of men and women will continue to have access to basic health care services including family planning and life-saving screenings for breast and cervical cancer. This tremendous victory is a testament to the power of voices — our voices -- raised against extremists. This is a moment to savor, when President Obama said, simply and emphatically, "No" to abortion opponents.

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10/26/2010

What Does Birth Control Have to do With Your Mortgage?

By Galen Sherwin, ACLU Women's Rights Project & Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 2:19pm

Imagine if you were applying for a loan and were asked to write a letter to the bank discussing your "family planning." Believe it or not, that is what happened to one woman in Pennsylvania who was applying along with her husband for a home mortgage.

Indeed, as the New York Times first reported, some lenders are applying newly tightened restrictions on home loan credit in the wake of the foreclosure crisis in a way that has resulted in pregnant women, women on parental leave, couples, and families with children being inappropriately questioned about irrelevant aspects of their private lives and subjected to pregnancy discrimination and sex stereotypes.

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05/28/2010

The Senate Acts to Ensure that Service Women Can Use Private Funds to Access Abortion Care

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office & Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 3:00pm

(Originally posted on Feministing.)

Yesterday, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee stood up for women in the military and voted 16-10 to repeal the ban on private funding of abortion at military hospitals and facilities.

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05/28/2010

The Senate Acts to Ensure that Service Women Can Use Private Funds to Access Abortion Care

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office & Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 3:00pm

(Originally posted on Feministing.)

Yesterday, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee stood up for women in the military and voted 16-10 to repeal the ban on private funding of abortion at military hospitals and facilities.

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03/22/2010

The Call of History

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 7:46pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

Whatever you may think about health care reform, we can all agree that our federal government made history last night when the House of Representatives passed legislation that promises to improve access to health care for millions of Americans. The potential for this legislation is great and should be celebrated.

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03/13/2009

End Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 3:46pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

This week, President Obama signed into law the omnibus appropriations bill that will fund government operations for the rest of fiscal year 2009. Buried in the spending measure and the media blizzard about earmarks is $99 million for the Community Based Abstinence Education program.

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03/06/2009

Rescind Bush Health Care Denial Rule

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 3:01pm

The Obama administration appears to be making good on a promise to restore the balance between individual religious liberty and access to reproductive health care. As we reported in this space back in December, when the Bush administration pushed through the Health Care Denial Rule as its parting shot against women’s reproductive health, our fears were realized. The Bush rule seriously threatens access to basic reproductive health services, including birth control and information about abortion, and puts the objections of health care workers and institutions above the health care needs of patients.

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08/25/2008

Senator Durbin Stands Up for Domestic Workers

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 12:06pm

On August 8, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent an indicting letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to implement promptly the recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) after its investigation into the abuse and exploitation of domestic workers, predominantly women, by foreign diplomats. The GAO report (PDF), released in late July, documents the State Department's failure to investigate and address this widespread and longstanding problem.

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10/20/2008

Bureau of Prisons Revises Policy on Shackling of Pregnant Inmates

By Vania Leveille, Washington Legislative Office at 12:54pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

The ACLU welcomes the Bureau of Prisons' recent policy change barring the shackling of pregnant inmates in federal prisons in all but the most extreme circumstances.

This new policy represents a sea change in the United States, where the shackling of pregnant women during transport, labor, and even delivery has long been routine in jails and prisons. Currently, only California, Illinois, and Vermont have enacted state laws restricting the practice of shackling pregnant women. By contrast, international human rights bodies have repeatedly expressed concern about policies that permit shackling of pregnant women.

Such reform is long overdue: As the stories from Amnesty International's 1999 report, "Not Part of My Sentence": Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody" make clear, shackling is not only dangerous and inhumane, but also poses serious and unnecessary risks to the wellbeing of the mother as well as her child. Warnice Robinson, who was imprisoned for shoplifting, explains,

"Because I was shackled to the bed, they couldn't remove the lower part of the bed for the delivery, and they couldn't put my feet in the stirrups. My feet were still shackled together, and I couldn't get my legs apart. The doctor called for the officer, but the officer had gone down the hall. No one else could unlock the shackles, and my baby was coming but I couldn't open my legs."
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