Week of 03/06/2017 Celebrating International Women’s Day, push back on the ACA Repeal, & #OHLeg updates

Celebrating International Women’s Day, push back on the ACA Repeal, & #OHLeg updates

March is Women’s History Month. And today — March 8th — marks International Women’s Day, a day dedicated to showcasing the social, economic, cultural, and political successes of women while calling for a more inclusive, gender equal world.

On this day, activists will take part in the International Women’s Strike and A Day Without a Woman by refraining from work to demonstrate the economic power of women, highlight the role women play in paid and unpaid labor, and call for economic justice.

Taking the day off of work or abstaining from unpaid work, such as childcare, is simply impossible for many women. However, there are numerous ways for women — and male allies — to show their support for gender equity on this day outside of striking.

Here are 5 ways that you can participate in A Day Without a Woman and celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th:

Women take the day off of work (both paid and unpaid labor)

Avoid shopping, except at small, women-owned, and minority-owned businesses

Wear red in solidarity with the movement

Attend an International Women’s Day event happening in cities across the country, including Athens, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Toledo.

Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtags #InternationalWomensDayand #ADayWithoutAWoman

For more information about the movement, visit the Women’s March on Washington “A Day Without a Woman” page here and International Women’s Day website here.

Legislative Lowlight of the Week:

Monday night, Congressional Republicans unveiled the American Health Care Act (AHCA), their long-awaited plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — also known as Obamacare.

While women have benefited greatly from the ACA, this new replacement plan would be disastrous for women by:

Increasing the costs of healthcare while providing weaker protections and less adequate coverage;

Threatening coverage for low- and middle-income families, pregnant women, people with disabilities and the elderly by cutting Medicaid and tax credits;

Defunding Planned Parenthood, denying access to vital health care services such as STI testing, cancer screenings, and birth control for millions of women;

Allowing private insurance companies to exclude abortion coverage; and

Jeopardizing the Essential Health Benefits (EHB) standard, which has been a groundbreaking advance for access to quality insurance coverage for women.

Follow the steps laid out by UHCAN Ohio’s call to action to push back on this replacement bill and help protect the ACA.

#OHLeg Alerts:

We are tracking the progress of any state bills affecting women in the Ohio Legislature for the 132nd General Assembly. Here’s a quick overview of some key highlights for this week:

SB 7 — This legislation would allow prosecution of domestic violence offenders who evade service of protection orders. It received a third hearing and vote yesterday, passing with a unanimous 32–0 vote out of the Ohio Senate.

HB 97 — Ohio is currently one of only eight states with “marital exemptions”in rape cases so long as there is no force or threat of force. This bill that would close Ohio’s marital rape loophole and was assigned to the House Criminal Justice Committee this week.

We are also sharing timely legislative updates on these and other women-centric legislation on Twitter using the #OHLeg hashtag. Follow us to stay up-to-date on what’s happening at the Statehouse.

TAKE ACTION:

Call your State Representative and ask them to support HB 97, and then contact House Criminal Justice Committee Chair Rep. Nathan Manning to urge him to hold hearings on the bill

Find out more information about the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network and sign up for our email alerts by visiting our website, at www.womenspublicpolicynetwork.org