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From Our Founder & Director, Julie Burkhart
Social Media and Communications, Steph Herold
From the Capitol, Virginia Phillips
On the Grant Front, Tiffany Choplin
Why Donate and How, Tiffany Reynolds
Why Trust Women?
From Our Founder & Director, Julie Burkhart
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe that Trust Women has been up and running for a little over a year now. Thanks to you, we’ve been able to begin working in states where women’s human rights and dignity are consistently under attack. We have a plan of action and we’ll be spending 2011 putting the pieces of that plan in place so that women have greater access to re-productive health care, no matter where they live.
I’d like to take a minute to acknowledge the wonderful, dedicated team working at Trust Women.
Tiffany Reynolds, who is our Fundraiser and Treasurer, has been with working with Trust Women since last April. She’s a native of St. Louis and has a long history in the women’s rights movement and in electoral politics.
Stephanie Herold is our Social Media Coordinator. She’s been on board since last June where she has exceeded all of our goals for Twitter and Facebook; she also sends out the weekly email correspondence and regularly updates our website.
Tiffany Choplin is our Executive Assistant and Grant Writer. She came to us from Kansas by way of Louisiana and comes from an academic background. Tiffany joined the Trust Women team last November.
Virginia Phillips joined us this year as our Lobbyist and Policy Manager. She’s working in the Kansas Capitol and will also be spearheading a policy workshop for elected officials in the near future. Virginia comes most recently from a hard fought Congressional race.
And last but not least, Laura Ferro joined us last November as our Legislative Intern. She’s busy researching statutes and policies that are aimed at benefiting the human rights of all pregnant women. Laura is pursuing law and nursing degrees at this time.
When you hear from them, please take a minute to thank them for their courageous work and for helping this organization grow.
As I mentioned earlier, we have a plan to help women in the Midwest and South gain access to reproductive health
care. We have a plan to help educate lawmakers and candidates so they understand why women’s human rights and dignity are important to our democratic process. We have a plan to communicate more widely with constituents who care about these rights.
With you and with our fabulous staff, Trust Women will make a difference in the lives of women across the Midwest and the South. Thank you for your support and for having the common vision of equality for all people.
Warmly,
Julie
Social Media and Communications, Steph Herold
Trust Women is active on both twitter and facebook, where we connect and communicate with almost 3,000 of our supporters. Follow us for reproductive health news, volunteer opportunities, and updates on our exciting, on the ground work. Trust Women is working on a dynamic communications plan to reach pro-choice
supporters in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
We published an op-ed in the Huffington Post about the future of the reproductive rights movement, and speak out frequently about reproductive rights violations in the South and Midwest. In the last month, we’ve launched a new website with direct
actions our supporters can take to further our work, including volunteering with us, signing petitions, and calling their legislators.
From the Capitol, Virginia Phillips
This is the first session Trust Women has a presence in the Capitol and there has been much time spent on introductions and explanations of our goals. Pro-choice legislators are happy to know we’re there and eager to keep in touch.
On the legislative front, there have been two anti-choice bills introduced, HB 2007 and HB 2035. HB 2007, sponsored by Representative Huebert (D-90), seeks to take away the mental health exception for late-term abortions. HB 2007 was referred to the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs; a hearing date has yet to be set.
HB 2035, sponsored by Representative Kinzer (D-14) and 61 other listed co-sponsors, referred to as this year’s “omnibus abortion bill,” contains some of the most anti-choice legislation the state of Kansas has seen in the last two decades. The provisions in HB 2035 that present the most danger to Kansas women and their rights to make private medical decisions about their bodies are the creation of a two-parent consent requirement for minors living in stable intact families with no evidence of abuse and changes to the standards by which courts can grant exceptions to parent consent bypass law.
HB 2035 would also extend access of Kansas Department of Health and Environment abortion records to county prosecutors, which is particularly troublesome when recalling the recent Phill Kline attack on reproductive rights. Additionally, the bill provides enhanced reporting of evidence of sexual abuse of minors seeking abortions, the stipulation that information be provided to women seeking abortions informing them that abortion terminates the life of a human being and the option to bring civil lawsuits against abortion providers who are alleged to have violated state law in the provision of abortion care. It would also rewrite the state’s partial-birth abortion ban to mirror federal law—a moot provision since the federal law trumps state law.
The House Committee on Federal and State Affairs held a hearing for HB 2035 on January 26th. Our supportive committee members pointed out the problems and spoke about their concern for the women and families whose lives would be negatively affected by HB 2035 in its current form. The bill is still in the Committee on Federal and State Affairs and will likely be voted on in the next few weeks.
Trust Women expects that following HB 2007 and HB 2035, the Legislature will address “fetal pain” in a manner much like similar anti-choice legislation in Nebraska. This is a tough time for reproductive choice and protecting the rights of pregnant women, but it’s not an impossible time. And, together, we can take a stand and tell legislators that Kansans need from this legislative session are policies that will stimulate the economy and sound public education standards — NOT a government that spends its time snooping around in the lives of pregnant women.
On the Grant Front, Tiffany Choplin
In order to accomplish our mission of increasing women’s access to quality reproductive and maternal health care, Trust Women has been approaching foundations concerning funding opportunities. Over the past months, we have been working diligently in applying for a variety of grants. We have received positive feedback and were just awarded our first grant. Trust Women is greatly encouraged about our funding prospects in 2011.
We are always looking for ways to reach out to potential women’s rights investors; if you have suggestions for grant opportunities, contact Tiffany Choplin at (314) 361-3661.
Why Donate and How, Tiffany Reynolds
During the past year, Trust Women has witnessed the political discourse this nation has taken. Our reproductive rights were once protected under the 1973 Supreme Court ruling of Roe V. Wade. Instead our rights have been eroding over the past several years thanks to many conservative-led state legislatures.
The November election taught us that we need to recruit and support more pro-women, pro-choice candidates. Throughout the United States, there are now 29 firmly anti-choice governors; of those there are 15 that have solidly anti-choice state legislatures.
In 2010 there were hundreds of pieces of anti-choice legislation that restricted women’s access to reproductive rights if not stripping her rights altogether. This year, there has already been over 600 pieces of legislation filed throughout the country.
Most importantly, since the murder of Dr. Tiller, his clinic remains closed. Trust Women sees the need for a clinic and plans to restore services in Wichita this year.
Trust Women has solidified our plan of how we will tackle the political and social hurdles that we face in this current climate. We need support from friends like you to make our goals possible. Please join us today with a contribution to Trust Women.
To donate to our Political Action Committee, remit your contribution to:
Trust Women PAC
PO Box 50057
St. Louis, MO 63105
Or to donate online, visit
www.trustwomenpac.org
To make a tax-deductible contribution to our Foundation 501(C)(3) remit to:
Trust Women Foundation
4660 Maryland Ave., #200
St. Louis, MO 63108
Or donate online, visit
www.itrustwomen.org
To make a contribution to our Legislative Fund 501(C)(4) remit to:
American Action League
4660 Maryland Ave., #200
St. Louis, MO 63108
Want to discuss planned giving or sustainer levels?
Call Tiffany Reynolds at (314) 361-3661 or treynolds@trustwomenpac.org.
Why is Trust Women so important? Because we have a plan on how to help revitalize the prochoice movement and to restore our reproductive rights.
An innovative approach
We are creating a revolving fund that will allow us to provide access to reproductive healthcare in targeted
areas that currently suffer from the lack of reproductive healthcare services.
More pro-choice candidates, the more pro-choice legislators
We recruit, support, and elect candidates that will protect and fight for our reproductive rights.
Reframing the message
Trust Women is in the midst of redeveloping how and what we communicate about our movement.
Making the legislative change
We work with pro-women policy makers to develop, sponsor, and pass legislation that will benefit women and their families. We challenge anti-women, anti-choice legislators who introduce restrictive legislation that pertains to reproductive rights.
