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Alabama NOW members write Letters to the Editor (do they ever!) Also full-length Op-Eds! ____________________________________
Op-Ed Published in the Montgomery Advertiser,
April 6, 2011
A woman's well-being requires self-determination, equality, and the respect and support of her society. Regressive legislation is the wrong approach! I believe in a comprehensive approach to achieving reproductive justice for all women—including winning and preserving legal protections, expanding reproductive health services in every community in Alabama, and ending the discrimination and inequality that keep women from controlling their own reproductive lives. Reproductive justice ensures that women are healthy, both physically and emotionally; that they can make decisions about their bodies and sexuality free from government interference; and that they have the economic resources to plan their own families. Instead of trying to influence and impose a set of laws and religious morals upon everyone, the religious community in Alabama should join together to encourage social policies that will make the moral life a possibility for all people in Alabama. Shirley Ann Rawls, President National Organization for Women (NOW) – Alabama Chapter
Letter to the Editor printed in the Montgomery Advertiser, February, 2011 Don't let lies pass as facts “The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton We are silenced not only by fear, but by exhaustion, inertia, disillusionment, and disbelief. How can we still be fighting the fight to decide, as women, whether or when to bear children? Recently, a leader of a local anti-abortion group was quoted as saying that women who have had abortions are two and one-half times more likely to abuse their children. This is a lie. The truth is that child abuse increases when women are forced to bear children they do not want and cannot nurture and care for. A recent Advertiser editorial cartoon depicted a birthday cake, with lit “3” and “2” candles and “Roe v. Wade” written on it. The cake was decorated with bones and little skulls all around the edge and pools of blood on the table. What an upside down sentiment and what a lie. A fetus is not a child. Abortion is not murder. The truth is that countless women’s lives have been saved by legal abortion. The new Congress is poised to further restrict access to safe, legal abortion. We cannot continue to stand silent in the face of atrocious lies presented as fact. Let us no longer hesitate to speak truth and to demand justice and equality for our sisters. Cheryl T. Sabel Montgomery NOW member
Letter to the Editor printed in the Montgomery Advertiser, October 18, 2009 Irony: Restricting abortion kills Call it ironic; On October 14th, the Montgomery Advertiser carried an excellent AP article reporting the results of the Guttmacher Institute’s latest report, which showed an encouraging decrease in worldwide abortions due to an increased use of contraceptives. The article went on to highlight the continuing problem of deaths due to highly restrictive, unsafe abortions in developing nations, with more than half of the deaths among women in sub- Saharan Africa. In the very same issue, the Advertiser also printed an article about gubernatorial candidate Rep. Robert Bentley. He is prefiling bills that would severely restrict legal statewide abortions. Bentley wants these bills to be a litmus test for anti-choice candidates. He would use state monies to defend and further his assault against a woman’s right to choose. However, restricting abortions does not end abortions. It only makes them unsafe, and kills women. In Mr. Bentley’s proposed future, this state would return to back alley abortions and wire hangers. These unsafe abortions would soon result in Alabama being ranked with regions such as sub-Sahara Africa for death among women. Guttmacher’s data shows the better path; increase the use of contraceptives to reduce the need for abortions and provide safe abortion services for those in need. Let us not allow Bentley and other anti-choice proponents to saddle Alabama with legislation that would be ineffective in reducing abortions and lethal to women. Amy Applegate Montgomery NOW member
Guest Column printed in the Montgomery Advertiser, November 20, 2009 ALABAMA VOICES: Equal opportunity Cheryl T. Sabel, Montgomery NOW member Our U.S. secretary of education has stated, "Education is the civil rights issue of our generation. Every school must provide every child with a quality education that offers the path out of poverty and toward equal opportunity. Forty-five years after Title VI, the promise of equal education for all has yet to become reality for all."
Unfortunately, in the state of Alabama, this reality of
unequal opportunity is glaringly evident. Note the shocking differences in the Birmingham area between the wealthy, mostly white districts and the lower-income, mostly African-American districts. Vestavia Hills City Schools' graduation rate was 90.3 percent, and Mountain Brook City Schools' was 95.3 percent. Fairfield City Schools' graduation rate was 39.2 percent, and Bessemer City Schools' was 37.7 percent. Soon, the state of Alabama will begin to publish data that reflects these kinds of graduation rates for schools and school districts, because the U.S. Government will require by 2012 that states use a method similar to that used by SEF. Accurate reporting and accountability will be enforced. These numbers will expose an old problem in Alabama: how lower levels of education limit Alabama's prosperity and sustain high rates of poverty. (In 2008, a report by the Children's Defense Fund ranked Alabama fifth highest in the nation for children living in poverty, and third in the nation in children living in extreme poverty.) SEF's report documents that Alabama's failure to graduate more students from high school and college is now the single biggest reason why the average Alabamian has $10,000 less in annual personal income than the average American. Alabama is caught in a vicious cycle, where low graduation rates increase poverty and, in turn, where poverty increases dropout rates. In 2006, for example, 93 percent of Alabama children whose parents had less than a high school diploma were low-income. These children are also most at risk of failing to graduate from high school and, in turn, becoming themselves low-income parents. Low graduation rates adversely affect everyone in Alabama. Those of us who are retired or elderly are impacted by high dropout rates, because the revenues needed for Social Security, Medicare and other public benefits come from taxes. As the number of high-earning workers declines, the quality of life for the elderly is jeopardized. And statistics show that dropouts have a higher infant mortality rate and a lower life expectancy. Additionally, eight of 10 in the prison population are high school dropouts. We pay directly for these educational failures. Thicket magazine, published in Birmingham, reported last year that we spend $625 million each year in Alabama in non-medical welfare costs. In 2007, Alabamians spent $300 million to care for those in the prison system. What if we began spending on the front end, investing in quality public education and programs for all our children? As individuals, we must raise our voices and demand action from our policymakers. The Alabama Select Commission on High School Graduation and Student Dropout will make some important recommendations for changes in state policies and practices by the end of this year, and its work will outline a good beginning for what the state can and should do. In the long term, we must develop public schools in every community that will provide students with a high-quality education. We must have schools with safe and welcoming learning environments, with each student valued and noticed. We must hire only the best teachers, pay them well, and allow them professional training throughout their careers. We must have quality, free public pre-K as a right of every 4-year-old in Alabama, where too many children start school behind and never catch up. (Alabama has one of the best pre-K programs in the nation, but from lack of funding it reaches only several thousand children.)
Students in low-income families must have state and
federal grant money to continue their education beyond
high school, and low-income adults will need support to
return to education for a better life. We also must take personal actions to help Alabama's children succeed. Volunteer at a school in a low-income neighborhood. Be a reading buddy. Be a mentor. Make both a personal and a policy difference in the lives of your community's students. Education is the primary way to realize individual dreams, and to move Alabama forward. Cheryl T. Sabel of Montgomery is a consultant for the Southern Education Foundation. ____________________________________
Previous Letters and Op-Eds can be found HERE. |
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