Why we're fighting

Caption Washington - Arabstoday Watch TV news coverage. Read news stories in your morning paper. The War on Women is a war on reproductive rights. The evidence is clear. Since January 2010, there have been over 400 bills introduced in the US Congress and states attacking our reproductive rights. GOP presidential candidates are signing "Personhood" pledges and vowing to eliminate Planned Parenthood -- an organization that provides millions of low-income women primary healthcare. Talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and their enablers on cable news suggest (wink, wink, nod, nod) that birth control is only used by promiscuous women. To repeat: the War on Women is a war on reproductive rights. But sometimes the evidence only reveals a fraction of the truth. Reproductive rights are merely the tip of an ominous iceberg -- one that promises to inflict so much more damage to women. The Violence Against Women Act has been reauthorized by a bipartisan vote in every congressional session since 1994... until now. GOP members of the House and several in the Senate refuse to support VAWA because of provisions that cover lesbians and Native Americans. Apparently, they don't bruise or bleed the way the rest of us do. The Paycheck Fairness Act, blocked by a filibuster in the Senate, would end inequities in work compensation.., Women's work is not only "never done" -- it will never be equally compensated by this Congress. GOP presidential candidates want to eliminate Medicaid and turn it into state block grants. Who pays the price? Poor women and children. But after all, they're not "job creators," lobbyists, or major corporate donors. The 2013 GOP turns Medicare into a "coupon program" -- raising health insurance costs for seniors and the disabled and serving as a boon to private insurance companies. Women, on average, live 5-10 years longer than men. Do the math on which gender will pay the lioness' share of this fraudulent scam. Several states have passed or are considering legislation to abolish or sharply limit public employees' collective bargaining rights (affecting wages, benefits and working conditions). Again -- there's obviously a trend here -- women comprise the majority of government workers at all levels. State budget cuts in health, K-12 and higher education will disproportionately impact women -- the main recipients of public health programs, a majority of our teachers and an expanding majority of students enrolled in our colleges and universities. Of course, the ladies look so much more attractive when they're barefoot, pregnant and uneducated. And yes... this is 2012! Our media have either largely ignored or basically accepted these actions, reporting them as if it were commonplace to deny women their basic rights and freedoms. Mothers and grandmothers are angry to find they are fighting the battle over reproductive rights again. Our daughters wonder what happened to the post-feminist society in which they thought they were living. Grandfathers, fathers, husbands and boyfriends are outraged that a powerful minority in our country would treat their daughters, wives and mothers as if they were second-class citizens. The rights women have fought to win, maintain and eventually come to expect to have all our lives are being threatened and eliminated. Enough is enough! UniteWomen.org -- a dynamic new grassroots women's organization -- is mobilizing to end this pervasive war on women. We are a beautifully intergenerational wave of the women's movement that envisions a better future for our children and grandchildren. UniteWomen.org's first action calls for nationwide protests, marches and rallies on Saturday, April 28 in cities and states across the country to let elected officials and private interests know we will no longer remain silent in the face of these assaults. Our April 28 events are the beginning of our mission, working side-by-side with other organizations that share our vision of equality for all women. Our Goals:     To increase the participation of women in the political and legislative processes using our voices to inform and advocate for women's rights and employing tactics and tools such as Get Out The Vote.     To inform women and men as well as policy makers and media about issues from our life experiences as women.     To advance women's roles in politics and policy-making, so our concerns are addressed by women.     To nurture intergenerational networks of women so we can recognize and respond to the range of issues women experience across their life span and fulfill our full potential as women and as human beings in our society. Karen Teegarden founded UniteWomen.org on February 19, 2012 from her home in Michigan. She is also President of Karen Teegarden & Associates, a marketing and advertising sales firm.