It’s the end of August, friends, and I’m happy to report that this month you’ve helped make some very healthy MOMentum!
The August passage of the Inflation Reduction Act is a solid and hard-fought healthcare win – the legislation’s lower prescription drug prices and more affordable healthcare coverage will help so many of us get the health care we need and deserve.
The MomsRising community celebrated National Breastfeeding Month and Black Breastfeeding Week with important conversations and actions to help move our nation forward. We also celebrated a late-breaking win, which many of you helped make happen, that will help ease the student loan crisis.
And WOW KANSAS!
Scroll on to see the MOMentum and change you made possible with your generosity. We can’t thank you enough for your ongoing support.
You’re the best!
Peace,
Kerri and everyone at MomsRising.org
Free school meals for all children are ending next month! Sign our letter calling on Congress to help struggling families feed their children and pass the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act.
Donors, your generosity powers up this campaign. Thank you!
A GOOD DAY FOR MOMS, FAMILIES AND COUNTRY
On Aug. 16, the Inflation Reduction Act became law. It will make significant, overdue progress to reduce the cost of health coverage and prescription drugs for some and help address the climate emergency, paid for by finally starting to make mega corporations pay a fairer share of taxes. In particular, moms applaud the provisions that:
- Prevent more than 3 million people from becoming uninsured next year by making health plans purchased through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace more affordable
- Rein in some of Big Pharma’s price gouging on medications
- Reduce the cost of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries
- Cap the cost of prescription drugs for seniors with Medicare Part D
We are very proud of the work that you and other MomsRising members did to help this bill become law. It will make a lifesaving difference to so many families in America.
READ OUR FULL STATEMENT: A Good Day for Moms, Families, and the Country as the Inflation Reduction Act Becomes Law, But There’s Much More for Lawmakers to Do
SUPPORT & ACTIVATION FOR BREASTFEEDING FAMILIES
With your support, the MomsRising community recognized and celebrated August as National Breastfeeding Month – as we also continued to build momentum for everyone to be able to have the choice of breastfeeding:
Getting the word out about the importance of addressing breastfeeding rights with author and lactation consultant Nasheeda Pollard, IBCLC, in an Instagram live discussion of her beautiful book Magical Milk
Shifting the national narrative around breastfeeding by joining a Twitter chat about breastfeeding with the USDA and National WIC Association, answering common questions families have about infant nutrition resources
Centering breastfeeding rights and supporting parents by creating a fun new breastfeeding Spotify playlist expressing the love and strength it takes to nourish a tiny growing person: Paso a Paso: P'alante Amamantando
Find links to these resources, actions, and more in our blog post: National Breastfeeding Month 2022: Together We Do Great Things
BRIGHT SPOTS
In other MOMentum, MomsRising brought super mom energy to the Women’s Convention 2022 in Houston – where we had three different panels and a Swag, Sweets, Selfies, and Actions gathering. This was a conference of 1,500 women and allies who gathered from all over the country to build a nation that works for all of us. The MomsRising team, pictured left to right: Diarra Aida Diouf, Xochitl Oseguera, Jeannina Perez, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Donna Norton, Felicia Burnett and Gloria Pan. (The Houston Chronicle covered the Women’s March Women’s Convention and showcased photos from one of our organizing and outreach panels.)
We’ve been on the move ever since! A week later, we also co-led a highly-attended organizing and engagement panel at Netroots Nation in Pittsburg, too.
CELEBRATIONS
Members like you have been standing up for our rights in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade…and together we got a HUGE WIN in the first week of August!
Advocates (including MomsRising members!), abortion providers, youth activists, faith leaders, democracy supporters, and members of the Kansans for Constitutional Freedom coalition joined forces to turn out an extraordinary number of voters in Kansas who voted to protect abortion access. Read our celebration of this remarkable reproductive justice victory and what we need to do to have more victories like this one in states across the country.
And we took action for healthcare again and again – including for the reauthorization of CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program, a federal/state partnership program that helps insure kids in all fifty states), which we wished a Happy 25th Anniversary.
MOMSRISING IN THE NEWS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Will abortion be on more state ballots after Kansas vote?
“Three things in Kansas are really important to note: One, the depth of the victory; two, the amount of increased voter turnout, and three, that it happened in an off-year midterm election.” — MomsRising Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
MSNBC: MomsRising Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner discussed the Kansas election results and what’s ahead for women voters.
“Winning by a landslide, and across party lines, in Kansas is just the beginning. Time to double down on standing up. Together we WILL win.” — MomsRising Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
MS. MAGAZINE: Black and Brown Moms Urge Breastfeeding Support
“In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that both the rate of women dying in pregnancy and the disparities in who is affected, are growing.” — MomsRising Maternal Justice Senior Campaign Director Tina Sherman
ROMPER: New Survey Shows 74% Of Women Would Drain Their Savings On Maternity Leave
“Nobody should have to deplete her savings, raid her retirement account, or fall into poverty because she becomes a mom.” — MomsRising Chief Workplace Justice Officer Ruth Martin
KAGS (NBC Texas): Good news on jobs overshadowed for millions of Americans by soaring inflation
“The economy right now is making me choose between medicine, food and bills…[it’s] really suffocating me slowly. It feels like no one cares.” — MomsRising member Angelina Scott
UNIVISION: Several activists and two organizations sued the data company LexisNexis for the alleged sale of immigrant information to ICE to facilitate their location and deportation.
[Spanish] MomsRising Immigration Campaign Director Claudia Tristán is quoted at 01:04.
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