February 2024
 DM PRESIDENT’S 2024 MESSAGE…THE NATIONAL DM SUMMIT…STUDENT LOANS…MONTHLY QUOTES & IDEAS… CLIMATE CHANGE UPDATE…FACTS YOU CAN USE CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT North Carolina State University Lanadia Williams, DM campus leader, reports: “Democracy Matters has effectively educated our students on the significance of voting. Tabling for voter registration and organizing events on gerrymandering have sparked dialogues that changed students’ perceptions of voting and increased their level of engagement. Although building this club from the ground up was a challenge, it has successfully united individuals from diverse backgrounds, and fostered a collective commitment to staying involved.” STATE UPDATES: Women’s Rights on the Ballot Abortion Since 2022 when the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion, voters in 7 states – California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont – have sided with abortion rights on ballot measures. This November, voters in New York, Maryland, and Florida will also have the chance to weigh in on this issue. And abortion measures will also likely be on the ballot in 9 more states, including Arizona, Nebraska, South Dakota, Nevada and Colorado. Equal Rights Amendment: InNovember, voters in New York will also vote on whether to join the 29 other states that have the right to equality in their state Constitution. At present, the NY Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause covers individuals based on ”race, color, creed or religion.” This Amendment, if passed, would expand protection by “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive health care and autonomy”, as well as “ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability.”https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/state-ballot-measures-in-2024-could-drive-voter-turnout-and-change-the-future-of-elections https://ballotpedia.org/New_York_Equal_Protection_of_Law_Amendment_(2024) QUOTES of the MONTH “No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body.” Margaret Sanger “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” “ Audre Lorde “When women’s rights are under attack, we fight back.” Kamala Harris IDEAS of the MONTH During Women’s History Month, we celebrate women’s determination to stand up for justice and equality. Whether suffragists in the1800s, Women’s Liberation activists in the 1960s, or campaigners working today to restore women’s reproductive rights, they inspire us with their courage and collective action. And on March 8, International Women’s Day, we also are mindful of the majority of the world’s women who still suffer from sexual violence, poverty, and the lack of reproductive rights and health care. FACTS YOU CAN USE: Abortion Inequities Even before the 2022 Supreme Court’s devastating decision overturning the right to abortion, over 500 abortion restrictions had been passed by states. These restrictions exacerbated already unfair health care inequities by both race and class. It is the Southern and Western states, where the largest proportions of African-Americans and low-income citizens live, that have enacted the most abortion bans. US abortion policy has also increased international inequalities, putting the lives of women in poor countries at risk. Since 1973, the Helms Amendment has prohibited the use of any U.S. foreign aid for abortion procedures anywhere in the world. Most affected by this prohibition are poor women of color living in the Global South,where virtually all of the 25 million unsafe and risky abortions worldwide occur each year.https://www.guttmacher.org/2023/01/inequity-us-abortion-rights-and-access-end-roe-deepening-existing-divides https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion |