• They will be able to raise your rates, as much as and as often as they want. You could face frequent rate hikes because you get sick and file a claim.
• They will take away your right to appeal. Right now, in most states, you have the right to appeal if health insurers refuse to pay your bill, but you won't with AHPs.
• They may not be there to pay your claims. You could get stuck with the bills, because AHPs won't have to keep enough money in the bank to cover your medical expenses.

• Increase US aid for health, education, clean water, and other basic needs - at a cost of just ONE percent of the federal budget;
• Cancel the poorest countries' debts and fight corruption;
• Reform unfair trade rules to let poor people compete on fair terms and lift themselves out of poverty.

• Increase aid to Africa by $25 billion, more than a doubling of 2004 levels;
• Increase global assistance by around $50 billion per year by 2010;
• Provide near-universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment drugs;
• Cancel the debt of some of the world's poorest nations; and
• Address trade reforms in the near future.

• As Deputy Solicitor General, Roberts argued in a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court (in a case that did not implicate Roe v. Wade) that "[w]e continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled…. [T]he Court's conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion… finds no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution."
• In Rust v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court considered whether Department of Health and Human Services regulations limiting the ability of Title X recipients to engage in abortion-related activities violated various constitutional provisions. Roberts, appearing on behalf of HHS as Deputy Solicitor General, argued that this domestic gag rule did not violate constitutional protections.
• Roberts, again as Deputy Solicitor General, filed a "friend of the court" brief for the United States supporting Operation Rescue and six other individuals who routinely blocked access to reproductive health care clinics, arguing that the protesters' behavior did not amount to discrimination against women even though only women could exercise the right to seek an abortion.
• The Court was so accustomed to the Solicitor General and the Deputy Solicitor General arguing for the overturn of Roe that during John Roberts' oral argument before the Supreme Court in Bray, a Justice Asked, "Mr. Roberts, in this case are you asking that Roe v. Wade be overruled?" He responded, "No, your honor, the issue doesn't even come up." To this the justice said, "Well, that hasn't prevented the Solicitor General from taking that position in prior cases."

That's right. Because of one loophole, some companies can do business in California and avoid paying taxes anywhere!

And did you know that by closing this loophole, the state would save enough to offer a refundable health insurance tax credit to California National Guard members returning home from overseas duty and their families?

These soldiers have left their lives and families behind to defend our country. It is time to make sure they are protected against the financial risk of sickness and injury when they return home.

Sign the petition below and tell Arnold Schwarzenegger to do the right thing: close the corporate tax loophole and provide health insurance for our Guard members.

Take Action]]> This bill could raise your health insurance rates, remove your right to appeal, and weaken critical health protections you depend on in your state.

This bill now goes to the Senate, where we've managed to stop it before. It is critical that your Senator hear from you before voting on AHP legislation.

AHPs are touted as a quick fix for the millions of American families without healthcare. But sadly, this bill is only designed to serve the desires of a few small business and insurance brokers rather than actually reduce the number of uninsured Americans.

If this bill becomes law, AHPs will be free to eliminate your right to appeal a denied claim, deny your access to trusted healthcare specialists like ObGyns and cardiologists, with little potential to expand healthcare coverage. What we do know is that if the Senate does pass this law, AHPs will be able to increase your premiums -- as much and as often as they choose.
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But we face a growing caregiver crisis. As many as 75% of these support positions turnover each year because of poor wages and high job demands, putting the quality of life for people with disabilities at risk once again.

Hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities are already waiting for services and the demand for support services will grow 62% by 2010 as Americans age. We need to act today.

Sign this petition to your representative in Congress asking him or her to make sure that people with disabilities get the quality supports and services they need and deserve by co-sponsoring H.R. 1264, The Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act of 2005.
Take Action]]> The Preservation of Antibiotics for Human Treatment Act (S. 2508) will phase out the routine feeding of medically important antibiotics to healthy livestock and poultry. The poultry and livestock industries have been major culprits in the overuse of antibiotics. The misuse of antibiotics is leading to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are causing increasing numbers of serious, difficult-to-treat illnesses in humans.

Healthy farm animals are routinely fed antibiotics to promote growth and compensate for unsanitary conditions, particularly at crowded factory farms. This "nontherapeutic" use of antibiotics in healthy pigs, poultry, and beef cattle constitutes an estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States.

S. 2508 will phase-out the nontherapeutic use of eight types of antibiotics in animal agriculture that are also used in human medicine, or are so closely related to human use drugs that they trigger cross-resistance. By targeting the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics, the bill properly allows sick animals to receive necessary treatment.

The act also bans the use in poultry of Cipro-like drugs called fluoroquinolones. In October 2000, the FDA proposed to ban poultry fluoroquinolones because their use undercuts the effectiveness of Cipro and related drugs in treating certain forms of severe food poisoning in humans.

The American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the World Health Organization and other leading health organizations are on record opposing both the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in animal agriculture.

Add your voice and press for fast action on this vital legislation. Send a letter now to your Senator and ask him or her to stand for public health and safety by cosponsoring and supporting S. 2508, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Human Treatment Act.
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This action is the first time that FDA has ever withdrawn an agricultural antibiotic from the market because of concerns about antibiotic resistance affecting human health. The ban was proposed in October 2000, but took nearly five years to finalize because of numerous procedural delays created by drug manufacturers.

According to the Keep Antibiotics Working coalition, the FDA has shown that use of Baytril in poultry reduces the effectiveness of Cipro in treating Campylobacter, one of the most common causes of severe bacterial food poisoning. The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that resistance to Cipro in Campylobacter in humans has risen to 21 percent as of 2002; when Cipro-like drugs were first approved for use in poultry in 1995, such resistance was negligible.

The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the U.S. - about 25 million pounds annually - are routinely fed to poultry, swine, and beef cattle not to treat illness but rather to promote slightly faster growth and to compensate for overcrowded and unhealthy conditions in concentrated animal feeding operations. More than half of these drugs are identical or similar to antibiotics that are important in human medicine. Use of antibiotic feed additives spurs the development and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in our food supply and the environment.
More...]]> These are needless, preventable and unacceptable deaths.

Women and children disproportionately bear the weight of extreme poverty around the world. In many countries, women are routinely denied access to resources and even the most basic education, making it virtually impossible for them to adequately provide for their children and themselves.

Five years ago, all 189 members of the United Nations agreed to eight Millennium Development Goals, which set 15-year targets for, among other things, eradicating extreme poverty, enrolling every child in primary school, empowering women, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. Meeting these goals, all nations agreed, requires a global partnership between countries both rich and poor.

On Sept. 14-16, the leaders of some 170 nations will gather in New York City for the World Summit, where they will take stock of their progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Time is running out. Many nations have made significant strides -- Tanzania now offers free primary education to all, Uganda reversed the spread of AIDS and Bangladesh narrowed the gender gap in school attendance. But without bold U.S. leadership to achieve the goals by the 2015 deadline, many countries will fall short of the targets.

Urge President Bush to demonstrate U.S. leadership by playing an active role at the Summit and reaffirming America's commitment to doing our part to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
Take Action]]> The Bush administration has broken its promise to make a decision on the morning-after pill by September 1.

American women have waited more than two years for the FDA to decide whether women can purchase the morning-after pill over the counter. The Bush administration explicitly promised the U.S. Senate that the FDA would stop dragging its feet and issue a decision by September 1. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA) secured this written promise last month as part of an agreement to lift their hold on the nomination of Lester Crawford to the post of FDA commissioner.

By constantly delaying the decision, Bush's FDA is allowing a small number of anti-birth control zealots to prescribe policy for women's birth control options.

Help us tell the FDA that Americans don't appreciate anti-choice politics getting in the way of sound science and women's access to birth control. Sign our petition to the FDA today!
Take Action]]> The Bush administration has broken its promise to make a decision on the morning-after pill by September 1.

American women have waited more than two years for the FDA to decide whether women can purchase the morning-after pill over the counter. The Bush administration explicitly promised the U.S. Senate that the FDA would stop dragging its feet and issue a decision by September 1. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA) secured this written promise last month as part of an agreement to lift their hold on the nomination of Lester Crawford to the post of FDA commissioner.

By constantly delaying the decision, Bush's FDA is allowing a small number of anti-birth control zealots to prescribe policy for women's birth control options.

Help us tell the FDA that Americans don't appreciate anti-choice politics getting in the way of sound science and women's access to birth control. Sign our petition to the FDA today!
Take Action]]> Mercury is a toxic contaminant that is showing up in dangerously high concentrations in the fish we eat. An EPA scientist estimated that one in six American women has enough mercury in her blood to pose neurological risks to her developing baby.

This means that hundreds of thousands of newborns could be handicapped by mercury from the very beginning of their lives.

Instead of encouraging the posting of signs at seafood counters and on tuna shelves, the FDA began working to prevent the state of California from using the state's right-to-know law to educate its citizens about mercury in seafood.

Sign our open letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford today and tell him that consumers need more information about the risks posed by mercury contamination in seafood, not less!
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Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called Crawford's resignation an opportunity for the agency to rebuild its credibility and move forward on a petition to make emergency contraception available to women over the counter.

For more than two years now, the FDA has repeatedly refused to decide whether women may purchase Plan B, an emergency contraceptive also known as the "morning-after" pill, without a prescription. Most recently, as the Senate considered Crawford’s nomination to serve as commissioner, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt made senators an explicit, written promise that the agency would make a decision on a pending over-the-counter application by September 1. The agency has failed to honor its promise.
More...]]> A recent court decision ruled that only natural ingredients should be allowed in foods labeled as "organic." This ruling reinforces our current organic labeling law by keeping chemically-derived synthetic substances from being used in foods labeled as "organic."

But industry groups are lobbying Congress to change the law so that artificial ingredients can be included in foods labeled "organic"! Specifically, food producers such as the Organic Trade Association, Kraft Foods and others seek to amend the Organic Foods Production Act (passed in 1990) so that synthetic substances can be used in food products labeled as "organic." They claim that consumers do not care about their use in "organic" food and are trying to slip this change into the law without any public input.

U.S. consumers clearly do care! The nonpartisan watchdog group Consumers Union (publisher of Consumer Reports) recently conducted a nationwide survey of 1,200 adults and found that 85% of respondents said they do not expect food labeled as "organic" to contain artificial or chemically-derived ingredients.

Tell Congress that you don't want to buy "organic" food made with artificial ingredients!
Take Action]]> In November's special election called by Governor Schwarzenegger, Californians will see a dangerous initiative on the ballot. Californians will have an opportunity to vote on a parental notification measure on a woman's access to abortion, which threatens the health and well being of young women in our state.

Real family communication begins at home, not at the ballot box. The best way to protect our daughters is to begin talking to them about responsible, appropriate sexual behavior when they're young and to continue to keep the lines of communication open as they get older. Our focus should be on prevention of unwanted pregnancies through comprehensive sex education, counseling and access to contraceptives.

This proposed amendment to California’s constitution, known as Proposition 73, would do nothing to reduce the number of unintended teen pregnancies - pregnancies that have in fact declined 40% in California over the past decade without government mandates like this one!

Join us in opposing Proposition 73, because parents and teens need real world solutions, not constitutional amendments.
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The lawmakers also noted that the agency's delay will hinder efforts to reduce abortions in the United States, and urged von Eschenbach to approve Plan B "without further delay."
More...]]> More and more women are being denied their doctor-prescribed birth control pills across the country.

As many as 20 states have laws on the books that put a pharmacist's personal views above a woman's right to safe and legal birth control – making it even easier for pharmacists to deny women access to prescription contraceptives. Birth control is basic health care for the vast majority of American women, and no third party should be able to stop a woman from taking responsibility for her reproductive health!

That's why a bipartisan group of pro-choice members of Congress - Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), and others have introduced a bill to ensure that women can get their birth control prescriptions filled - without intimidation, inconvenience, or delay. Under the Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (ALPhA), pharmacies would be responsible for filling women's birth control prescriptions even if a pharmacist refuses for personal reasons.

Please send a letter to your federal lawmakers urging them to support this bill. Help us put a stop to the far-right's anti-birth control agenda by taking action today!
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“The real losers today are America’s organic consumers who do not expect food labeled as "organic" to contain artificial (or synthetic) ingredients. Consumers Union will be mounting a widespread public education campaign to help consumers look for additional, meaningful labels on organic food products, such as ‘no-synthetics used’ or ‘100% grassfed’, so that they get the most value for the premium price they are willing to pay,” says Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Senior Scientist and Policy Analyst at Consumers Union.

The amendment added by the Agricultural Appropriations Conference Committee was aggressively pushed by the Organic Trade Association. The amendment overturned Harvey vs. Johanns, a recent court decision that upheld the organic law by barring the use of synthetic ingredients in the non-organic portion of food labeled “organic.” These are food products that must be made with at least 95% organic material but can have 5% non-organic ingredients.

“While consumers don’t get to vote in the halls of Congress, they do get to vote in the marketplace where the success of “organic” is ultimately dependent on consumer confidence in the integrity of the label. We’ll be doing everything in our power to educate consumers on which organic product lines deserve this trust—and which ones don’t,” adds Rangan.
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The measure, Proposition 73, included a parental involvement mandate and other anti-choice provisions.

The leaders of both the national group and the state chapter said voters’ rejection of Prop 73 demonstrated that anti-choice rhetoric won't persuade voters to support measures that would endanger teens' health.

"Californians reaffirmed their commitment to a woman’s right to choose and rejected a ballot initiative that would have jeopardized the safety and health of our state’s teens. All of us want parents to be involved in their teens’ lives, but California voters understood that Prop 73 was more about anti-choice groups pushing an agenda and not about the health and safety of their kids," said Amy Everitt, state director of NARAL Pro-Choice California. "It’s was a tough fight – and we were proud to work alongside our coalition partners, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, ACLU California, and the California Family Health Clinics in successfully communicating why Prop. 73 was wrong for California’s families."

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, commended Californians for protecting their teens by voting down Prop. 73.

"A ballot initiative cannot mandate healthy family communication," Keenan said. "Yesterday’s vote is a sign that Californians want Governor Schwarzenegger and other elected officials to focus on ways to prevent unintended pregnancy. Fortunately, California has made honest, medically accurate sex education a priority, so let’s hope the state will devote more resources to these efforts, now that voters have said no to anti-choice proposals like Prop. 73."
More...]]> The situation is even more dire for 16 million of these children who have lost both their parents, the vast majority of whom had their lives taken by AIDS.

America has taken the first step in proving international leadership to highlight the suffering of children and bring hope to the world's future generations by passing the Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act. But there is still much to do - the law needs to be backed up by $340 million in funding.

By acting now, Congress can ensure orphans and vulnerable children assistance to support basic care and increased educational opportunities.

Ask Congress to end the suffering of millions of orphan children by fully funding this legislation.

Take Action]]> Congress will vote next week on a bill that would gut state food safety and labeling laws, endangering the food you eat. H.R. 4167, the "National Uniformity for Food Act," lowers the bar on food safety by overturning state food safety laws that are not "identical" to federal law. Hundreds of state laws and regulations are at risk, including those governing the safety of milk and shellfish.

Local and state officials are now responsible for 80% of the nation's food safety enforcement. These officials regularly improve training, sanitation and labeling standards to address new food borne diseases and other dangers to our food supply whether natural or man made. H.R. 4167 puts a straitjacket on these front-line workers, who are most familiar with local needs.

Industry-sponsored H.R. 4167 is gaining momentum and must be stopped! Act now! Protect yourself and others from unsafe food by writing your Representative and urging them to vote NO on H.R. 4167.