Throughout this past year, we fought against roll-backs to child labor laws, chemical reform protections, reproductive freedom, same-day voter registration, and the Maine Human Rights Act.

We sent you action alerts, and you sent thousands of messages to law-makers. Click on the title to read the original alert.

And the winner is (now, I know that most people start with number five, and count down to number one … and there’s a bunch of fan-fare and hoopla and suspense … but, I’m not going to do it that way).

ahem.

And the winner is…

1. beards?

February 23, 2011 – This alert was about this (now famous) quote by Governor LePage, “The only thing that I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards.”

The Governor’s quote referred to a proposal to roll-back the chemical policy reform that Maine has been leading the nation with. Well, you said “not so fast, Governor.” You sent over 900 messages.

You helped to stop the roll-back.

2. Governor LePage Just signed the bill…

During the session, we fought hard to protect voting rights.  You sent almost 400 messages to legislators. The bill passed, and on June 21, 2011, Governor LePage signed a bill that would eliminate same-day voting rights in Maine. A group of Maine voters immediately gathered at the offices of the Maine Women’s Lobby to file an application to veto the bill. Throughout the summer, we all fought hard to protect voting rights in Maine.  And, on election day 2011, you stood proud with the rest of the Protect Maine Voting Rights Coalition to celebrate the successful people’s veto. The law that allows voters to register and vote on Election Day stands in Maine. Burn.

3. bathroom politics

The Maine Women’s Lobby has fought for civil rights for more than three decades. The victories – and critical protections – were hard won. During this past session, legislation was proposed that would undermine the Maine Human Rights Act and invalidate critical protections for transgender, lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. You sent almost 350 messages to the legislature asking them to defeat a proposal that would scale back the Maine Human Rights Act. The proposal was defeated. Oh Yeah.

4. don’t script me

We saw four bad anti-choice bills this past session. I mean big bad scary bills – the kind they pass in Texas (sorry about that to all my Texan friends). This particular piece was in response to a bill that would have required a woman to listen to a (biased) script before she could make choices about her own body. You sent over 320 messages to law-makers asking them to protect a woman’s choice of whether – and when – to have children. All four bills were defeated. We do things a little differently up here in Maine than they do in Texas (again, apologies).

5. What’s Next – Running with Scissors?

Now this one. wow. This was about the proposed roll-back to child labor laws. I know, huh?

The 1800′s called and they want their regulations back.

YOU sent 920 messages. You protected Maine laws that had existed for over one-hundred years. Mainers believe that for our youth, school is their job.

For more in the Child Labor law realm, you can read: the boss ate my homework, Is exploitation the new business friendly?, Jobz v. skool, and lots of others by visiting our online archive.

All said and done, this year alone YOU’VE sent over 3,000 messages to law-makers. GOOD JOB – and thank you. Subscribe right now.

Please contribute right now to help us continue this important work.

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Happy New Year,

Charlotte Warren
Associate Director

This weekend, we will celebrate the Fourth of July with family gatherings and fireworks. In part, we will honor our democracy. Even after independence, women had to fight for more than a century to gain access to the ballot – and I think you know as well as I do that we are not willing to give up any ground.

Unfortunately, with the Legislature’s recent elimination of same day voter registration, women and men who are eager to exercise their right to vote may be turned away at the polls. Busy single moms, disabled and elderly Mainers who have trouble getting around, people who move frequently – these are the folks who are going to show up but not be able to register and vote on Election Day.

Last week, six Mainers stood up for voting rights by filing an application for  a People’s Veto with the Secretary of State, and 500 of you have joined in by signing up as volunteers! We are expecting to get signature forms back next week from the Secretary of State and then we will be hitting the streets. We need to collect 57,000 signatures to put a People’s Veto on the fall ballot and protect same day voter registration in Maine. After we get the forms back, we will have one month to get the signatures – it’s game time.

As we celebrate this weekend, let’s stand up to protect voting rights. Let’s not turn back the clock on our democracy. Sign up to help us collect signatures.

Elections matter. Every vote counts. Protect yours.

Will you sign up to help? What about your friends, family and neighbors? Spread the word about this important effort to protect our democracy.

Here’s the scoop: this past session the Legislature passed L.D. 1376, which says that voters can no longer register to vote on Election Day.

And, the Governor just signed it into law.

Not so fast Governor LePage.

L.D. 1376 eliminates same-day voter registration, making it harder for Mainers to vote. Voting is fundamental to our democracy.

We should be making it easier for people to vote – not harder.

Maine has a long tradition of helping people to vote and participate in their governance. For 38 years, Mainers have been able to register to vote on Election Day.

But if Governor LePage has his way, that will end.

The Maine Women’s Lobby is committed to doing everything in our power to remove barriers to civic participation, which is why we are working with allies across the state to move ahead with a People’s Veto effort of L.D. 1376. It won’t be easy, but the time is now to claim our voting rights.

You and I both know women fought hard to win the right to vote. And, we take voting rights seriously.

Will you join us as we take it to the streets and collect signatures for a people’s veto?

We cannot do this without your help. Register your support here.

Looking for more history of this bill? Check out some of our recent blog posts on the issue:
Maine House Votes to Revoke Voting Rights

Integrity

This week, Maine lawmakers stood firm against efforts to roll back access to reproductive health care and civil rights protections for transgendered Mainers.

The bills were defeated by wide margins—and for good reason.

In upholding Maine law, legislators put the health of Maine women and teens first and did not erect  unecessary barriers to comprehensive health care services.

In defending the Maine Human Rights Act, they refused to put the rights and safety of transgendered Mainers at risk. Click here to thank the Maine lawmakers who voted to protect the equality of all Mainers.

They took a stand for putting focus where it’s needed—jobs and the economy—rather than policing the personal, private decisions between women and their doctors.

Click here to find out how your legislators voted on these bills (the bill text is at the top of each page): L.D. 116, L.D. 924, L.D. 1457, and L.D. 1046.

The Bad (really, really bad).

Also this week, a majority of Maine lawmakers voted to eliminate Maine’s 38-year-old, same-day voter registration.

L.D. 1376 creates unnecessary barriers for prospective voters, and turns back the clock on our democracy.

Click here to see how your legislators voted on this bill.

The tabled.

The legislature is almost finished for the session, though there are critical decisions yet to make. But some bills were tabled and we’ll see them back on the table in January – including the attacks on collective bargaining.

One thing you can count on for sure – we’ll be right there fighting for you.

Statement of Sarah Standiford
Executive Director, Maine Women’s Lobby

“Late last night the Maine House of Representatives stood firm against efforts to roll back access to reproductive health care and civil rights protections for transgendered Mainers.

“These bills were defeated by wide margins—and for good reason. Maine lawmakers understand the danger of unraveling decades of bipartisan compromise. In upholding Maine law, they put the health of Maine women and teens first instead of erecting impossible barriers to comprehensive health care services. In defending the Maine Human Rights Act, they refused to put the rights and safety of transgendered Mainers at risk.

“They also took a stand for putting focus where it’s needed—jobs and the economy—rather than policing the personal, private decisions between women and their doctors.

“We thank members of the Maine House who voted against these bills and urge the Senate to follow suit in rejecting those bills up for remaining votes: L.D. 116, 924, 1457, and L.D.  1046.”

L.D. 1376, An Act To Preserve the Integrity of the Voter Registration and Election Process, eliminates Maine’s 38-year-old same-day voting registration and bans absentee voting two business days before Election Day.

This bill creates unnecessary barriers for prospective voters, and turns back the clock on our democracy.

Please contact your Senator right now and ask them to oppose L.D. 1376.

Why would anyone want to turn back the clock on voting rights?

There are real life consequences of making it harder for Mainers to register and vote.

Imagine a military service member who completes her service shortly before an election and returns home to Maine, not able to vote because she was not able to get to the registrar’s office in town before the deadline.

Imagine a busy single mom, recently moved to a new town, unable to find care for her children so she can get to the town office to register.

Their civic responsibility – their right to vote – is deferred.

This bill will disenfranchise the thousands of Maine citizens who rely on Election Day voter registration.

And to what end? What problem does this bill aim to fix?

Maine’s voting system works, and works well.

Please contact your Senator right now and ask them to oppose L.D. 1376.

Portland – A diverse coalition of advocates for seniors, students, and women have a special Memorial Day weekend message for lawmakers: Leave Maine’s voting laws alone.

The Maine House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on a proposal, sponsored by Speaker of the House Robert Nutting and Secretary of State Charles Summers, that would eliminate same day voter registration (or Election Day voter registration). The vote is expected to be extremely close.

“There are few activities more patriotic and none more fundamental to our democracy than voting,” said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.  “We honor those who died defending our country by preserving the fundamental freedoms for which they sacrificed so much. It would be a shame to roll back broad public access to the right to vote.”

In 2010, 18,364 Maine voters registered to vote on Election Day. In 2008, 49,666 voters registered to vote on Election Day. The proposal before the legislature would require voters to register ahead of time in order to vote on Election Day.

“Election day registration is part of Maine’s vibrant democratic tradition,” said Sarah Standiford, Executive Director of the Maine Women’s Lobby. “Turning back the clock means more barriers to vote – especially for those in our communities who move frequently, including busy single moms, young women, and basically anyone who lives on the economic margins. ”

Same day voter registration was passed into law unanimously by the Maine State Legislature when it was last controlled by the Republicans in 1973.  At the time, Senator Elden H. Shute (R-Farmington) was the chief sponsor. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion in 1973 (303 A.2d 452), which appears to support same-day voter registration, stating that any durational residency requirement would be constitutionally permissible only as far as it was necessary for the actual process of registration.

Proponents of LD 1376 have suggested that the measures would eliminate voter fraud, but only two known cases of an individual voting twice have been identified in the past thirty years in Maine.

“Having worked to make the voting process easy for voters and manageable for poll workers alike, I know that our system is working well,” said John Smith, former Deputy Secretary of State. “Maine has secure, accurate and accessible elections.  There is no need to change a system that is not broken.”

In 1972, prior to adoption of same day voter registration, Maine ranked 21st in the country in voter turnout. In 2008, Maine had the third highest voter turn-out in the country. The only states to surpass Maine in voter turn-out in 2008, Minnesota and Wisconsin, also have Election Day voter registration.

LD 1376 is opposed by the AARP, Disability Rights Center, EqualityMaine, Homeless Voices for Justice, the League of Women Voters, the League of Young Voters, the Maine Civil Liberties Union, the Maine People’s Alliance, Maine Women’s Lobby, and Preble Street Resource Center.

Email your legislator now!

That’s why I’m writing to you today.

Believe it or not, we have A LOT to celebrate. Thanks to you, and your calls, emails, and visits to the State House we have – together – successfully defeated (and in some cases diminished) a myriad of dangerous roll-back proposals.

Here’s the skinny:

Child Labor: L.D. 1346, a bill to implement a sub-minimum wage for teen workers and eliminate hour-caps on teen labor during the school week, was killed in committee. L.D. 516, a bill to increase the number of hours a week a teen can work, is currently awaiting action in the House, but with much less drastic language. We still must work hard to defeat this bill but this amendment points us in the right direction.

Safe Chemicals: Attempts to roll back Maine’s Kid-Safe Products act were defeated, as lawmakers reached an agreeable compromise. And, the ban on the toxic chemical BPA was passed with near-unanimous support from the legislature and without the Governor’s signature!

Human Rights: The Judiciary Committee voted Friday “ought not to pass” on a bill to roll back human rights protections for transgendered Mainers – leaving Maine’s Human Rights Act intact! We still need to work hard to hold the line on the floor vote.

Reproductive Freedom: On Friday, the Judiciary Committee also voted “ought not to pass” on four anti-choice bills: a bill requiring parental consent for contraception, one requiring parental consent for abortion, one requiring a 24-hour waiting period, and one that would require doctors to read a biased and coercive script to a patient 24 hours before she could obtain an abortion. This vote was a victory for Maine’s longstanding, bipartisan tradition of reproductive privacy.

So, we have a lot to celebrate, AND a lot of work left to do.

Despite the good news for reproductive freedom reported out of the Judiciary Committee on Friday, we expect a contentious floor debate on all four of these anti-choice bills. Believe me, our lobbyist is working hard, but she needs your help!

Please email your legislator now and tell them to vote NO on all four of these anti-choice bills.

Your calls and emails have gotten us this far, so keep them coming.

The time to protect Maine’s women’s reproductive freedom and privacy is now. ]]> http://www.mainewomen.org/blogs/2011/05/heres-the-skinny/feed/ 0 http://www.mainewomen.org/blogs/2010/11/surge-of-anti-choice-women-governors/ http://www.mainewomen.org/blogs/2010/11/surge-of-anti-choice-women-governors/#comments Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:11:35 +0000 sstandiford http://www.mainewomen.org/blogs/?p=2211 Here we go! Happy Election Day.  Don’t forget to VOTE! (But, you knew that).

Something we haven’t heard a lot about nationally - Women’s E-news reports today that anti-choice female candidates for governor are poised for big wins. What will this mean for state protections for reproductive rights and access to health care?

Not only is this an exciting step for same-sex couples across the country, it also reveals the extraordinary power of just a few voices speaking for social change – the case was brought forward by two gay couples. And now it will begin its journey through the legal world until it reaches the high and mighty Supreme Court.

But wait…there’s more!

It’s time to get out our thank-you notes once again. Sens. Snowe and Collins supported a $26 billion funding bill to provide helpful aid for states to fund education and Medicaid. In Maine, this means about $77 million to the state’s General Fund and an additional $39 million for local aid to help school districts in need and protect teachers’ jobs. The spending package provides a much-needed supplement to the state budget  to go towards programs that disproportionally benefit women. Find out more here.