Category: Women's Issues

Introducing Hands Off! Happy Hour - PACG Event

7/17/2022

Introducing ✋ Hands Off Happy Hour🤚 !
Wednesday, August 10th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Rozz-Tox
2108 3rd AV
Rock Island, IL 61201 (map)

PACG Gender Equity Forum

One of our new forum's goals is education about issues impacting women and non-binary people. We have decided to follow in the footsteps of our very active and successful Environmental Forum and do a monthly educational, social gathering for the Gender Equity Forum. If you are unfamiliar with Green Drinks, the PACG Environmental Forum has been holding these monthly meetings since February of 2019. Green Drinks usually offers one guest speaker who discusses their particular area of environmental expertise at the meeting. You can see a complete list of all of the PACG-hosted Green Drinks meetings here.

With this inspirational group in mind, the Gender Equity Forum will host its first Hands Off! Happy Hour on Wednesday, August 10th at 5:00 pm at Rozz-Tox in Rock Island.

You can order a drink either inside or at the walk up window outdoors. If the weather permits, we will gather outside in the green space at the right side of the building, and, if it’s raining, we will meet inside.

This will be a social hour with no selected speaker. We will speak briefly about the importance of community, friendship and self-care during the difficult work ahead.

Please join us for the fun!

Alta Price and Carolyn Martin
Gender Equity Forum Co-Facilitators

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Gender Equity Forum - A Message from the Board

6/30/2022

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Gender Equity replaces Women's Equity in forum name

A Message from the Board

Gender Equity Forum

We have decided to change the name of the Women's Equity Forum to the Gender Equity Forum to reflect the original intended inclusiveness of the group.

PACG was founded in 2005 as an organization built around our multi-issue forums. As progressives, we all care about many different issues. Those who feel strongly about a given concern or problem can join with others to work specifically on that topic as a member of that issue forum. Members meet to plan events and actions around their cause.

In July of 2008, the PACG Women's Issues Forum held its first meeting. But over the years the need for this forum was replaced by other work for the common good, and it was disbanded.

When we decided to reactivate the group as a result of the SCOTUS leak on the looming decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, we realize that we only slightly updated our forum name. However, in doing so, we may have unintentionally excluded an entire population of people from our group - those who do not identify as women but are nonbinary. We apologize for our oversight.

We welcome everyone to join this forum to work on Gender Equity in the QCA and the nation! You will see name changes across our platforms to reflect our desire for inclusivity.

Thank you for your patience with us as our own progressiveness progresses!

Alta Price and Carolyn Martin

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SCOTUS Abortion Ruling Op Ed - Women's Equity Forum

6/26/2022

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SCOTUS Abortion Ruling Op Ed

PACG Women's Equity Forum

Note: This Op Ed was prepared by the new PACG Women's Equity Forum in advance of the ruling by the Supreme Court. We submitted it to the the Quad-City Times last week and hope that it will be published soon..

Date: June 21, 2022

The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to deny women federal protection to control their own reproductive choices and bodily autonomy, and to allow individual states to enact widely varying laws regarding abortion, represents an enormous setback for women.

As individuals within a collective society, we will never fully agree on the question of when life begins because personal beliefs dictate and shape that thought. But a more readily answerable question might be this. Whose life is more important and valued: an autonomous woman already navigating her adult life, or a dependent fetus whose continued growth and delivery may pose grave physical, personal, and economic risk to that woman?

Another perplexing question is whether we trust women to make informed decisions regarding their own health and welfare - what is best for them in their own unique set of circumstances – or if we believe that remote legislative bodies in a state or national capitol know better.

Maternal mortality rates are often used as a sentinel measure of a society’s well-being, and cultures that do not value women suffer a higher percentage of maternal deaths. The United States is a sad outlier among high-income countries, with one of the highest rates of maternal mortality. A woman is substantially more likely to die from a pregnancy-related complication or in the first year postpartum if she lives in the United States than if she resides in Canada, Australia, or Europe. Contributing factors include our highly fragmented medical system and lack of universal health care, among others. Enforcing pregnancy, while simultaneously failing to provide nationally funded, comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care, and denying free and universal access to effective contraception is unfathomable.

It is much safer to undergo an abortion than to continue a pregnancy. In 2020, the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists stated that the risk of death associated with pregnancy and childbirth is 14 times higher compared with abortion. Legislation within a democracy typically exists as a means by which the health and welfare of its citizens is protected, not abandoned. But the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision reversing nearly a half-century of reproductive health protection is abandonment. Similarly, the recent decision by the Iowa Supreme Court, ruling that our state constitution does not protect the right to an abortion, endangers women’s health.

Overturning Roe will not end abortion in the U.S. Banning abortion will only stop safe abortion. Women will die.

Since 1935, when maternal mortality rates in the U.S. were first separated out by race, a disturbing racial disparity has been documented. Black and Indigenous women die from pregnancy related complications at two to three times the rate of their White counterparts. We will likely see this disparity increase even further, as Black and Brown women are more apt to be deprived economically and may lack the material support and means to travel out of state to have an abortion, should they desire to do so.

Numerous unanticipated events can complicate a previously uneventful pregnancy. With the recent Supreme Court ruling, women and physicians in certain states now find themselves subjected to scrutiny and treatment debates over common obstetric complications such as ectopic pregnancy and incomplete abortion (a subcategory of spontaneous miscarriage). It is untenable that there are now states in which life-saving treatment of these complications is up for debate, something reminiscent of a dystopian novel rather than modern 21st century life. It is not possible to write a state law capable of addressing the myriad potential developments in a patient’s pregnancy, while also allowing for the nuance required in good clinical management. These challenging decisions need to be made between the woman who is pregnant and her physician. No one else should be allowed into that conversation.

Besides the absence of universal health care, we lack affordable childcare and universal pre-K education. Since 2009, the Iowa minimum wage has remained a paltry $7.25 an hour, while in Illinois it was increased in 2022 to $12 an hour. It is simply not possible for a family, let alone a single-parent household, to thrive on these wages. For a family with one child, existing childcare costs in Iowa take up a whopping 18% of a single parent’s family budget, and with two or more children the percentage is even higher. The economic hardships of an enforced pregnancy will push more women and their children into poverty, denying them full and self-determined lives.

Societal progress has been slow, and women are tired of waiting for change and the elusive concept of equality. But besides the dire health and economic consequences, an enforced pregnancy can cause other catastrophic upheavals: It can change the entire trajectory of a woman’s life. Her education may be derailed and never completed, she may choose to stay in an unhappy or abusive relationship, she may not have the time or emotional capability to care for additional children, and her future may be irretrievably altered.

We profoundly disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Carolyn K. Martin, M.D.
Alta L. Price, M.D.
Co-Facilitators, Women’s Equity Forum
Progressive Action for the Common Good

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We Will Not Go Back! rally for Choice in Davenport - Action Alert

6/24/2022

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We Will Not Go Back! rally - Action Alert
Sunday, June 26th at 3:00 pm

PACG Women's Equity Forum and other groups

Vander Veer Park
215 W Central Park AV
Davenport, IA 52803 (map)

Sponsored by:
QC-National Organization for Women, PACG Women's Equity Forum, One Human Family-QC, Iowa Women United and others

Women around the U.S. awoke today to the news that they have less reproductive freedom than their mothers did. A woman's right to make her own decisions regarding pregnancy has been either taken away or is in grave danger of being abolished.

While we have known for some time that the Supreme Court intended to overturn Roe v. Wade, today’s decision is no less devastating to women and nonbinary people across the nation.

We Will Not Go Back!

Thirteen states have trigger laws that immediately end abortion access. We know that another 13 states will likely move to end abortion rights in the coming weeks and days. This decision will certainly affect Black, Brown and poor people disproportionately. They already face unsatisfactory medical outcomes, placing them at even greater risk of dying either through forced pregnancy or illegal abortions.

This outrageous attack upon women and nonbinary people cannot stand. We must codify women's choices about their own reproductive health into law.

Bring your signs (if you have them) and your energy and join us at Vander Veer Botanical Park to rally for women's rights. We will be meeting at the Stone Fountain on the south side of the park closest to West Lombard Street.

Alta Price

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ACLU of Iowa Meet and Greet - PACG Event

6/24/2022

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ACLU of Iowa Summer Meet & Greet Events: Davenport Edition
Wednesday, July 6, 2022 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

LULAC Center
4224 Ricker Hill Rd
Davenport, IA 52802 (map)

Women's Equity Forum and Civil Rights Forum

Come hear timely updates on our work from ACLU of Iowa staff, meet other ACLU advocates in Davenport, and find out more about how to get involved in some of the most pressing civil liberties issues in our state!

Everyone who registers will receive a free ACLU of Iowa t-shirt and have the chance to win raffle prizes from local businesses. Appetizers will be provided.

Please RSVP by June 28.

Schedule:
5:30-6: Check-in and mingling
6-6:45: Program
6:45-7:30: Social time

Register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/FMnVs-ygaUuoA1Y9vGSG1A2

Alta Price

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Introducing the Women's Equity Forum - A Message from the Board

6/21/2022

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Introducing the PACG Women's Equity Forum

A Message from the Board

Progressive Action for the Common Good has started a new Women’s Equity Forum in response to the looming U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. This radical ruling threatens catastrophic consequences for women who will lose the right to bodily autonomy and control over their reproductive health care decisions. It will up to state governments to decide the fate of women and their families.

Although our members living in Illinois have protections at the state level, those in Iowa face grave risks.

The Iowa Supreme Court recently reversed a decision from four years ago that guaranteed the right to abortion under the Iowa Constitution. This change opens the way for Governor Reynolds and the Republican state legislature to ban abortions in Iowa. Our new Women’s Equity Forum will allow PACG to respond to this disaster by giving members of our community a place to take effective action to counter some of the worst consequences of the loss of these rights.

Although the immediate crisis is the loss of abortion rights, we recognize that many other issues affect women and nonbinary persons. The Women’s Equity Forum will address these as well.

The co-facilitators of the Women’s Equity Forum are Alta Price, MD and Carolyn Martin, MD. Both are retired physicians. Dr. Martin is an Obstetrician-Gynecologist and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the forum. Dr. Price has been involved with PACG since its founding, so she knows how to take action!

Contact either Alta or Carolyn to get involved.

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PACG Book Club - September 2022

5/21/2022

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PACG Book Club - The Cider House Rules by John Irving
Monday, September 19th at 4:30 pm

Since we are taking a break in July and August, you will have plenty of time to read our lengthy September book, The Cider House Rules by John Irving. I read this book decades ago and loved it. Since one of the themes of the book is abortion, and the setting is in a time when abortions were illegal, it seems quite relevant today. The book also deals with other issues of interest to our members, such as racism and sexism.

Although we may meet in person in September, depending on the Covid situation it may be a Zoom meeting. In either case, it will be at 4:30 pm on Monday, September 19th. Watch the Progressive Action Update (email) for more information.

Here is more information from Goodreads:

Raised from birth in the orphanage at St. Cloud's, Maine, Homer Wells has become the protege of Dr. Wilbur Larch, its physician and director. There Dr. Larch cares for the troubled mothers who seek his help, either by delivering and taking in their unwanted babies or by performing illegal abortions. Meticulously trained by Dr. Larch, Homer assists in the former, but draws the line at the latter. Then a young man brings his beautiful fiancee to Dr. Larch for an abortion, and everything about the couple beckons Homer to the wide world outside the orphanage.

Contact me for a link to the meeting (if it is by Zoom) or with questions.

Alta Price

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Introducing Hands Off! Happy Hour - PACG Event

Introducing ✋ Hands Off Happy Hour🤚 !
Wednesday, August 10th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Gender Equity Forum - A Message from the Board

Gender Equity replaces Women's Equity in forum name

SCOTUS Abortion Ruling Op Ed - Women's Equity Forum

SCOTUS Abortion Ruling Op Ed

We Will Not Go Back! rally for Choice in Davenport - Action Alert

We Will Not Go Back! rally - Action Alert
Sunday, June 26th at 3:00 pm

ACLU of Iowa Meet and Greet - PACG Event

ACLU of Iowa Summer Meet & Greet Events: Davenport Edition
Wednesday, July 6, 2022 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Introducing the Women's Equity Forum - A Message from the Board

Introducing the PACG Women's Equity Forum

PACG Book Club - September 2022

PACG Book Club - The Cider House Rules by John Irving
Monday, September 19th at 4:30 pm

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Introducing Hands Off! Happy Hour - PACG Event

Introducing ✋ Hands Off Happy Hour🤚 ​!Wednesday, August 10th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Gender Equity Forum - A Message from the Board

Gender Equity replaces Women's Equity in forum name

SCOTUS Abortion Ruling Op Ed - Women's Equity Forum

SCOTUS Abortion Ruling Op Ed

We Will Not Go Back! rally for Choice in Davenport - Action Alert

We Will Not Go Back! rally - Action AlertSunday, June 26th at 3:00 pm

ACLU of Iowa Meet and Greet - PACG Event

ACLU of Iowa Summer Meet & Greet Events: Davenport EditionWednesday, July 6, 2022 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Introducing the Women's Equity Forum - A Message from the Board

Introducing the PACG Women's Equity Forum

PACG Book Club - September 2022

PACG Book Club - The Cider House Rules by John IrvingMonday, September 19th at 4:30 pm

Archives

Categories

Introducing ✋ Hands Off Happy Hour🤚 !
Wednesday, August 10th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

We Will Not Go Back! rally - Action Alert
Sunday, June 26th at 3:00 pm

ACLU of Iowa Summer Meet & Greet Events: Davenport Edition
Wednesday, July 6, 2022 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

PACG Book Club - The Cider House Rules by John Irving
Monday, September 19th at 4:30 pm