Call for Bloggers!

Sharing this so that interested bloggers may participate.

Dear blogger friends,

You’re invited to take part in a Planned Parenthood Blogger Bee!

On Wednesday, Dec. 2, Planned Parenthood will be holding a National Day of Action to lobby the Senate for health care reform that ensures women’s access to reproductive health care. In order to get the word out as quickly and widely as possible, Planned Parenthood is asking bloggers to write about the National Day of Action and the negative impact that the Stupak amendment would have on health care reform if it is included in the final legislation.

Under the Stupak amendment, millions of women would lose benefits that they currently have and millions more would be prohibited from getting the kind of private sector health care coverage that most women have today. It is imperative that women and their allies make their voices heard, so that they do not become second-class citizens in a newly reformed health care system in the United States. The first step will be to make sure everyone has the tools they need to inform themselves and others about the new health care system under the House-passed bill and the Stupak amendment.

We ask that on Wednesday, Dec. 2, you use the key points (after the jump) to inform your readers and spread the message that we will not accept health care reform that leaves women worse off than before.  To participate, send the name and url of your blog and your Twitter name if you have one, to Constance DeCherney at constance.decherney@ppfa.org by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1. If you sign up, your blog will be listed and linked on Planned Parenthood’s Action Center and included in a special Planned Parenthood (@PPact) Twitter List.

For more information on health care reform and the Stupak amendment, visit us at http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/healthreform.

We need to hear from you! Help us protect women’s access to reproductive health care!

Best,

Christie Petrone
Senior Press Officer – Health Care
Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Red Pump Project

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is Tuesday, March 10th.

It’s a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women & girls and encourages us to take action. While progress has definitely been made in the areas of AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women accounting for 66% of that group.

In observance of this day, two wonderful bloggers, Karyn and Luvvie came up with the idea of The Red Pump Project. So Bourgie Adventures is rockin’ the Red Pump to celebrate and recognize the strength and courage of women fighting HIV/AIDS or affected by the disease both directly and indirectly.

I remember that one episode of South Park where Cartman thought he had AIDS but no one cared because AIDS was “so retro” and everyone was concerned with cancer. Well I certainly don’t want to diminish cancer but HIV/AIDS is not “retro”, the whooping cough is. HIV/AIDS is still going strong. Look:

*HIV is the 5th leading cause of death in women in the United States, ages 25-44
*High-risk heterosexual contact is the source of 80% of these newly diagnosed infections in women

*From the beginning of the epidemic through 2005, almost 86,000 women have died of AIDS and AIDS-related complications.
*The largest number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses during recent years was for women aged 15–39 – Stats from CDC.gov

Yo. That last stat really gives you some perspective. Ages 15-39. That’s me, my friends and my sisters. Let’s not lose sight of reality, okay?

Please check out WomensHealth.Gov for info about National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Also feel free to post this information on your blog as well!