Activate the Mechanism!

From the link:

In the US, women age 17 and over have the legal right to get emergency contraception — sometimes called Plan B or “the morning after pill — over the counter and without a prescription at their pharmacy.

But not, it seems, if you’re Native like me. I live on a reservation in South Dakota and when I went to get emergency contraception, the IHS workers told me I’d need to drive to a clinic over an hour away. I don’t have a car and neither do many people on the rez.

It turns out this is happening all over the country to Native women- a recent roundtable report by the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center found that women are often told they have to see a doctor or have a prescription to get EC. Some find that the pill isn’t in stock on their reservation. I even heard about a woman who was raped who was shamed and then turned away.

This is especially alarming in light of the fact that 1 in 3 Native American women will be raped in their lifetime. I haven’t become a statistic but I live in fear that if the worst happened, I wouldn’t even have the resources to prevent a pregnancy.

Thanks goes to jolly-dolly for the link!

sinidentidades:

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on Wednesday warned that the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act could die in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The VAWA, originally passed in 1994 and reauthorized twice since, provides funding to local communities to improve their response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. The federal grants from the law support police training, victim services, transitional housing, and legal assistance.

“Time is running out,” Leahy said on the Senate floor. “There are only a few weeks left in this legislative session before election year politics takes over and Congress comes to a standstill. There are critical improvements in the Leahy-Crapo Reauthorization Bill that will not take effect unless Congress acts.”

The Senate approved the Violence Against Women Act by a 68-31 vote in April, with 15 Republicans voting yes. But the Republican-led House has refused to take action on the Senate bill. Instead, House Republicans passed their own version of the bill which omits provisions related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, immigrant and Native women and men.