Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/6
Fighting for our freedoms
Hi, all, and happy Thursday,
As expected, the vote on the Right to Contraception Act failed yesterday. The final count was YEA: 51, NAY: 39, and Not Voting: 10 ( you can see the breakdown here). Two Republicans, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, supported the bill. Chuck Schumer voted no for procedural reasons, so he can bring it up for a vote again. Otherwise every Democrat voted yes (except for Senator Menendez, who didn’t vote.)
In case you wonder what the bill would have done, it’s simply this (per the Hill):
The bill would guarantee the legal right for individuals to get and use contraception and for health care providers to provide contraception, information, referrals and services related to contraception. It would apply to hormonal birth control pills, the “morning after” pill, intrauterine devices (IUDs) and other methods.
It would also prohibit the federal government and any state from administering or enforcing any law, rule or regulation to prohibit or restrict the sale or use of contraception.
Pretty simple, right? Yet Republicans almost universally opposed it. Absolutely bonkers.
If your Senator is a Republican and voted against this bill AND IS UP FOR REELECTION, please call them out. Tell your friends and family to do so as well, over and over. Post about it on your social media platforms. Make sure people who ignore the news know what they did. Anyone who currently or in the future plans to use contraceptives should be aware of and making noise about this appalling vote.
Folks, we knew this bill would fail. We know who Republicans are. We know they aren’t kidding about coming after ALL of our freedoms. Not everyone does. Talk to people you know about this vote. Explain its ramifications. Help them understand that their fundamental freedoms are under threat—really.
Access to contraception is an issue Americans care about and upon which they are largely agreed. Let’s rally around it. And when talking about Republicans’ position on it, be sure to use the words “extreme and out of touch” often. They’re effective, pointed, and true.
On a more delightful note by far, the circuit court overseeing Aileen Canon is no longer taking “orchestrated” complaints about her conduct because they’ve received so many! Folks, that is YOU. We made the news, and no one will ever know but us.
I say we keep going. We just need to change up the text a bit more to make the complaints less “orchestrated.” Let’s get creative and send another thousand!
OK. My kid is culminating from the 8th grade today so I’ve got to go get ready. Never a dull moment! Thanks for all you do, and all you will do in these next months.
In the recipe for a healthy democracy you—yes, YOU reading this right now—are the essential ingredient. Never forget it.
Now let’s get to work.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) and House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling about the new report by ProPublica revealing that witnesses in the criminal cases against Donald Trump have received huge financial benefits from him, like pay increases and large bonuses.
These benefits often came at delicate moments in the legal proceedings against Trump and were clearly meant to pressure these individuals into going easy on him or not testifying at all. This is witness tampering. Has the Congressmember/Senator made a statement condemning it and calling for investigations? If not I’d like them to. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Here’s a great action from subscriber Jan S. All of us with Democratic lawmakers in any office should heed her call! She wrote the below letter to President Biden, but by changing a few words we can also send it to our Democratic Senators, House members, State legislators, Mayors, Governors, or Dogcatchers through their official websites (or using Resistbot, in most cases)! Let’s do it!
From Jan:
NC political consultant Thomas Mills wrote a great Substack today that I'll link you to here:
So I followed up, as Thomas urged his readers to do, by writing President Biden, mostly using Thomas's words (with his permission). Here's what I wrote:
Every elected Democrat should be calling for Donald Trump to drop out of the race. Including you, Mr President. Trump was convicted by a jury of his peers for paying off a porn star to hide an affair that could damage his campaign and he conspired with the leading tabloid in the country to kill negative stories that could hurt his presidential bid. Americans should be outraged and it’s Democrats’ job to make sure they are.
If every Democrat from city hall to the White House stood up and called on Donald Trump to drop out of the race we would be probably arguing over whether a convicted felon is fit to serve, not whether the conviction was political. In other words, Democrats would be controlling the debate. That’s smart politics.
Republicans have a unified national response that is being covered in every media outlet in the United States and being parroted ad nauseam throughout the right-wing media ecosystem. In contrast, Democratic strategists are waiting for the polls to come in to determine how to respond and which witty ad to make. They look weak, uncertain, and incompetent. Please do not look weak, uncertain and incompetent.
Donald Trump needs to drop out of the race!
I know I’m doing this. I hope you will, too! Oh, and if you want to send this EXACT letter to Biden? Text SIGN PPHQTR to 50409!
Get Smart! 📚
Historic Firsts: Pride Edition—June 10, 2024 at 8 pm ET
Join Sister District and Teen Vogue for a Pride Month virtual event to lift up trailblazing pioneers from the LGBTQIA+ community who have made history in state legislatures and beyond. Featuring:
Keynote address from Erin Reed, AMAZING journalist and transgender rights activist
Panelists: Arizona State Rep Lorena Austin, Minnesota State Sen Clare Oumou Verbeten, and Washington State Sen Emily Randall
Moderators: Gaby Goldstein, Sister District Co-Founder, and Allegra Kirkland, Teen Vogue Politics Director
Spread the Word! 📣
This is a gift link to WaPo’s article from yesterday entitled “Conservative Attacks on Birth Control Could Threaten Access.” It’s good and helps make clear how and why GOP lawmakers are coming after contraception. Americans need to understand it. Please share! (The gift link will work for whomever opens it, too.)
Give 💰!
Blue Tent, a great organization dedicated to helping left-leaning donors get the most out of their political donations, has spent the past year identifying effective groups engaging voters in key battleground districts as part of their People's House project. By supporting this work, donors can help flip the House this fall — and also build a more representative democracy.
Blue Tent is excited to tell you more about the People's House strategy and introduce three of their recommended groups in a briefing they’ll be hosting on Tuesday, June 11 at 10am PT / 1 pm ET.
Special Guests:
Michael Gomez Daly — Battleground California
Winn Kuong — Action Together New Jersey
Ken Whittaker — Michigan People's Campaign
We'll hear from each of these leaders about what their organizations are doing to mobilize and persuade voters in some of this year's most consequential U.S. House races.
Win Races! 🗳
Blue Wave Postcards has launched their first Ohio Voter Registration postcard campaign
In this campaign, they will focus on the need for fair maps.
From them:
Ohio's population is almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. However, because of extreme gerrymandering, the state legislature has Republican supermajorities in both chambers. Ohioans are getting a Citizens Not Politicians amendment on the ballot in November, creating a new citizens redistricting commission to create fair maps.
Ohio has also purged close to 650,000 voters since 2018. Some of these voters may need to learn they are no longer registered, but they must re-register 30 days before the election to vote. We must remind them to check their voter registration status early and re-register if necessary.
Join us! Registering voters is one of the most effective actions you can take during the 2024 election year.
You do have to pay for these cards but the campaign is super easy—they come with address labels and all you write is one sentence in colored ink!
Please order Ohio Postcards here.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
Since I gave you a Resistbot letter above (see the end of the Extra Credit section if you missed it) I’m skipping it here.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
Here's the gift link to the WaPo article again in case the one above doesn't work. https://wapo.st/3wTbFKI
Lysistrata urged all women to withhold sex until they got what they wanted- the end of the Peloponnesian war. It worked. Women, withhold until our bodies are our own!! Vote BLUE!!