NCJW President Phyllis Snyder Announces Launch of Plan A -- NCJW's Campaign for Contraceptive Access

June 7, 2007, Washington, DC -- At a press conference today, NCJW President Phyllis Snyder delivered the following remarks announcing the launch of Plan A: NCJW's Campaign for Contraceptive Access:

"I'd like to thank the Women Donors Network and the Communications Consortium Media Center for their help in making today possible. As you have just heard, we are using this day -- June 7, the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's Griswold decision -- to highlight and bring attention to the issue of access to contraception.

"But, today is not the start of the National Council of Jewish Women's efforts on this issue. For those of you less familiar with our history, NCJW has, since our founding in 1893, been working to advance the well-being of women, children, and families. For over a century, we have been taking a progressive stance on issues such as women's rights, reproductive freedom, and the separation of religion and state.

"Our efforts to ensure that all women have access to safe and legal reproductive health care date back to our organization's early support of women and women's rights. It was clear to my NCJW predecessors, back in the tenements and settlement houses, that family planning was essential for women's well-being, just as it is clear to me today that family planning is essential for women's equality and economic opportunity.

"NCJW was an early supporter of Margaret Sanger, the founder of the birth control movement here in the US, who back in the 1920s -- said: 'No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.' NCJW could not have agreed more. And, at our 1930 National Convention, we approved a resolution in support of confidential family planning, making us the first organization in the United States to publicly demand the legalization of birth control.

"It is outrageous to me -- outrageous to NCJW, outrageous to all of us sitting up here -- that this many years later, this many decades later, we are still having this debate. A debate about making one's own important life decisions -- important life decisions that can only be made responsibly if there is full access to information and options.

"It is unacceptable to me -- unacceptable to NCJW -- and unacceptable to all of us sitting here that access to contraception can no longer be taken for granted. This puts public health -- and women's health -- at risk.

"According to a 2005 nationwide Harris Poll, 93 percent of American adults believe that contraceptives should be available. America clearly supports contraceptive freedom. So who are the 7 percent that do not?

"A small but powerful minority that believes our federal government should restrict access to safe, legal contraceptives. A small but powerful minority that puts medically inaccurate abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in our public schools; a small but powerful minority that wants pharmacists to refuse to fill legal prescriptions for birth control, and wants to put family planning services out of reach for low income women by reducing public funding.

"Who are the 7 percent that do not? A small but powerful minority that is attempting to impose a single religious belief on us all.

"And make no mistake -- reproductive rights are closely tied to religious freedom. Interference with family planning decisions denies a woman's right to be respected as a moral decision-maker and to make personal decisions based on her own beliefs and traditions. For one religion's view to be imposed on all of us defies the very meaning of religious liberty and the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution.

"93 percent of Americans support contraception, but 7 percent have created a climate in which comprehensive information about and access to contraceptives can no longer be taken for granted; a climate where -- time and again -- ideology and politics trump sound science and medicine. This impact can be felt in homes, schools, pharmacies, and doctors' offices.

"We cannot -- we will not -- stand by silently and let this happen. And who better to carry this message but NCJW, an organization with a long history of defending reproductive rights and religious liberty. A national organization with an extensive grassroots network of 90,000 members, volunteers, and supporters spread out in communities around the country. And with the organizing know-how -- to not only speak in support of full contraceptive access -- but to mobilize state by state, and community by community -- to do something about it.

"And, we have a plan. Plan A: NCJW's Campaign for Contraceptive Access. We have a plan: to educate ourselves. We have a plan: to educate others. We have a plan: to organize, mobilize, and activate the progressive community, the faith-based community, and the public at large to help ensure that every woman has access to contraception and medically accurate sexuality education.

"Today, we launch Plan A: NCJW's Campaign for Contraceptive Access. A multi-faceted, community-based proactive campaign that works to protect and secure access to contraception and comprehensive sexuality education.

"We know that most women at some point in their lives will use contraception -- and that most Americans support their ability to do so. We know that if we don't educate and mobilize, far too many women -- not just young or poor women, but women of all ages, classes, and colors -- may find themselves unable to get birth control or emergency contraception, may be told lies about the efficacy of contraceptives, or may experience an unwanted pregnancy or even disease, simply because they could not get the information or the contraception they needed.

"Today, we take on those who aim to limit access to contraception because we know that for women to achieve full equality, they must have access to and accurate information about birth control. Through a combination of education and advocacy initiatives at the community, state, and national levels, our Plan A aims to ensure that women will be able to walk into any pharmacy and have their prescriptions filled. Our Plan A is determined to guarantee that women will be able to buy emergency contraception just as they can any other over-the-counter medication -- without being judged, humiliated, or refused. Our Plan A intends to make sure that students will receive medically accurate, comprehensive sexuality education in public schools -- arming them with the information they need to make wise and healthy decisions. Our Plan A seeks to make certain that needed contraceptive services are available to all women, including young women and low-income women.

"At a time when half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, NCJW's Plan A is to make sure that every woman who wants a plan to prevent pregnancy has one. NCJW's 90,000 members and supporters -- our grassroots, our lifeblood, already active and involved in local communities throughout the country -- are ready and waiting to get to work creating Plan As for their communities.

"On NCJW's website, individuals and members will find the information and the tools they need to be involved in this national campaign on the local level. They will be prepared to raise awareness and make their communities healthy places for women and girls to take, as Margaret Sanger said, "responsibility for their own bodies."

"The facts are on our side. Public opinion is on our side. And there are strong partners on our side ready and willing to join with us.

"And finally NCJW's history is on our side -- a history of mobilizing our local communities and the faith-based community to work for progressive social change, a history of coordinating our efforts to secure and protect access to contraceptives!

"In our communities, and in our country, Americans support women's access to contraception. Our task now is to remind them. To remind them how important it is for women and their families. And to let them know how important it is for them to speak out. That's why we're launching Plan A.

"On the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized birth control, each of us must renew our commitment to making information about and access to contraceptives a reality for all women. I know I have. Will you?"

NCJW is a volunteer organization, inspired by Jewish values, that works to improve the quality of life for women, children, and families and to ensure individual rights and freedoms for all through its network of 90,000 members, supporters, and volunteers nationwide.

Contact:
Debbie Stillman
202 296 2588 x2; debbie@ncjwdc.org