Locked Out and Silenced: A Call to Reclaim Women's Reproductive and Healthcare Rights
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Reproductive Justice Hearing brings together the presidents, executive directors, and lawyers from the leading organizations working on behalf of women's rights: ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, National Black Women's Health Imperative, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and more to bring urgent attention to the corrosive effects of U.S. policies impacting women's healthcare in the U.S.
WHAT:
This hearing shines a bright light on the women's human rights and dignity. Maternal and infant mortality in the United States rivals that of many developing countries and is the worst among nearly all developed nations. Increasingly, pregnant women experience threats of criminal and civil punishment for refusing cesarean sections. Pregnant women in the United States have been arrested for falling down steps, experiencing miscarriages, refusing bed rest due to employment obligations, and even forced into solitary confinement under the guise of protecting their fetuses. More than 30 states have enacted laws that override women's advance directives if they are pregnant. Many states even allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense reproductive medicines to women, despite passage of the landmark Patient Protection Affordable Care Act.
It's time for lawmakers to be aware and accountable to the needs of half the nation's population.
WHERE: National Press Club, 529 14th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
WHEN: Friday, November 6, 2015, 9:00 a.m.–4:15 p.m.
9:15 a.m. Contraception & Abortion
10:25 a.m. Religion, Conscience Objections, & Hospital Mergers
11:30 a.m. Criminal Punishment & Civil Regulation of Pregnant Women
1:50 p.m. Poverty & Politics: Undue Burdens on Girls and Women's Healthcare Access
3:00 p.m. Violence Against Women: Domestic Violence, Gun Control, & Online Harassment
ABOUT THE REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE INITIATIVE
The Reproductive Justice Initiative (RJI), part of the Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Police at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, aims to engage in the cross-disciplinary study of urgent legal and human rights issues affecting the lives of women and children around the globe, focusing on four key capacity-building areas: security and safety; health and human rights; incarceration; and education. The RJI serves as a center of excellence and specialization on those vital areas of concern. Click here for more about the initiative.
SOURCE University of California, Irvine School of Law
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