Proposition 4 Defeated!
For the third year in a row, we defeated a ballot measure in California that would have threatened the health, safety and rights of young women, with the most harmful impact on communities of color and immigrant communities. Prop 4 would have amended the California Constitution to ban abortions for minors until 48 hours after a physician notifies their parents. Check back soon for a full analysis of the impact of reproductive justice organizing on the 2008 election.
What’s Wrong with Prop 4?
-
Youth need health care, NOT laws that create barriers to health care.
-
Youth need sexual health education, NOT laws that take money away from schools and services.
-
Youth who are pregnant need support, NOT unrealistic laws that make it harder for them to get help from adults.
For more information, download ACRJ's Three Reasons to Vote No on Prop 4 flyer!
Download a voter guide on Prop 4 here and on Props 6 and 8 here.
| California
is facing two other ballot initiatives that take away support from
our families and communities:
Vote NO on Prop 6! Vote NO on Prop 8! Asian
Community Resources on Prop 8 |
And
that’s not all!
Prop 4 will have the greatest impact on low-income youth &
youth of color. Because youth from low-income communities and
communities of color are less likely to have health insurance, free
and confidential reproductive and sexual health services are often their
only way of getting health care. If these youth stop getting these services
because they’re afraid their parents might find out, they would
have no health care at all.
Prop
4 will affect families and communities.
Young women aren’t the only ones who will be affected if Prop
4 passes. The option of notifying an adult family member, rather than
a parent, requires doctors to report known or suspected child abuse
to the authorities. This will automatically trigger a child abuse investigation
of the parents, and information on the family will become part of the
public system. This will put families in a difficult situation, especially
for family members who are learning English or who are undocumented.
Prop
4 tries to divide our communities
Prop 4 is not about abortion – it’s about taking away support
from youth to be healthy and make informed decisions. But because people
have very different personal views on abortion, Prop 4 divides and weakens
our communities, and distracts people from what’s really at stake.
Ballot initiatives like Prop 4 are “wedge strategies” that
right wing groups use to build political power that is used against
our communities.
For more information, download ACRJ's Prop 4 Fact Sheet!
Here are some things you can do to help defeat Prop 4:
-
Educate yourself and others - ACRJ’s No on Prop 4: A Toolkit for Organizations and Activists is designed specifically for mobilizing communities of color to defeat Prop 4. Here, you will find lots of useful information on Prop 4, strategies for talking about Prop 4, a guide to mobilizing your community, and much more! Check back soon to download a copy of the toolkit!
-
Spread the word – Take every opportunity to talk about Prop 4 to your friends, family, neighbors or co-workers. You can even talk to people you don’t know!
-
Distribute ACRJ’s Three Reasons to Vote No on Prop 4 flyers at public events, libraries, schools, or community meetings.
-
Wear your No on 4 buttons on your clothes, put them on your bags so they are visible, and tell your friends to wear them too! To get your No on 4 buttons, contact ACRJ.
-
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper about why California voters should vote No on Prop 4. Let us know if you need support on what to write!
-
Go on to blogs, MySpace, and Facebook to spread the word about Prop 4 and why people should vote No.
-
Register voters in your community by going door-to-door or by setting up a table (ironing boards work too!) outside a grocery store, school, church, or at community events. You can find voter registration cards at any post office. You can also plug in to voter registration events with groups like League of Women Voters, the League of Young Voters and New Voters Project. For more information on registering to vote, click here. Remember: deadline to register is Monday October 20!
ACRJ is your resource for defeating Prop 4! Here’s how
we can work with you:
-
Have an informal discussion: Gather a group of friends, family, co-workers or neighbors, and have someone from ACRJ come and talk about how Prop 4 will impact your community. You can also invite ACRJ to a discussion in your classroom, community group or church group meeting.
-
Organize an educational forum: Have someone from ACRJ give a presentation and facilitate a discussion about Prop 4 at your school, organization or with community members.
-
Sign up for Get-Out-The-Vote activities: contact ACRJ to get plugged in to phone banking, precinct walking and other ways to Get Out The Vote!
-
Keep checking our website for activities we’re doing and how to get involved!
Events
September
25, 2008, 11:00 a.m.:
Community and Media Briefing on the November
Ballot Measures.
Location: Chinese for Affirmative Action, CAA Community Room, 17 Walter
U. Lum Place, San Francisco, CA 94108
October
4, 2008: Youth + Power = Change Youth
Organizing Conference, Love Youth, Respect Youth, VOTE 4 Youth, Oakland
Come to this conference in Preservation Park (Downtown Oakland) to
meet other young people who are taking action together this election
season! For more information email Amanda - Amanda [at] reproductivejustice
[dot] org or click here.
October
11, 2008, 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: PLAN
Regional Parent Action Forum, Oakland
Join PLAN in collaboration with Californians for Justice, LIFETIME,
Urban Habitat, and others, for a Regional Parent Action Forum on Voter
Education and G.O.T.V. (Breakfast, child care, election resources,
and translation provided!) For more information click here.
Location: First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th Street, Oakland,
CA 94612.
October
15, 2008, 6:00-8:00 p.m.:Community
Forum sponsored by Access: Women's Health Rights Coalition, Asian
Communities for Reproductive Justice and Bay Area Immigrant Rights
Coalition, Oakland
Location: Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th Street, Oakland.
Download flyer here.
October 20, 2008: Deadline to register to vote!
October
31, 2008: Trick or Vote
ACRJ is joining the nation wide Trick or Vote day of action on Halloween
2008 to educate voters on Proposition 4, the Parental Notification Initiative,
and other ballot initiatives that affect reproductive justice and that
young people care about. ACRJ’s Youth Organizer and Election Team
will mobilize youth organizations from the Bay Area to use Trick or
Vote as a way to inform their neighborhoods and communities. Although
most youth can not yet vote themselves, this event will demonstrate
how they can still make a difference in the November elections by mobilizing
those who can vote against ballot initiatives that negatively affect
their lives. This event is a fun, engaging, and creative way for youth
to plug into get-out-the-vote work. For more information click here.
To get involved please contact Amanda Wake at amanda [at] reproductivejustice
[dot] org or 510-434-7900 x302.
November 4, 2008: VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 4!
Learn More!
ACRJ
Materials
· No on Prop 4 Flyer: English,
Chinese,
Vietnamese,
Korean,
and Khmer.
· Youth Toolkit to Defeat Prop 4 download
the PDF
· Reproductive Justice Initiative Analysis Tool download
the PDF
·
ACRJ Prop 4 Adult Toolkit download
the PDF
Campaign
for Teen Safety Materials
· http://www.noonprop4.org/
Additional
Information on Prop 4 & Parental Notification
· Adolescents & parental notification for abortion - What
CA can learn from other states download
the PDF
· Involving parents in reproductive health decisions (CAHC) download
the PDF
· Adolescents & parental notification for abortion –
What CA can learn from health care professionals (CAHL) download
the PDF
· Official Title & Summary download
the PDF
Newspaper
Articles
· Are you young? You Need to Attend this Conference (Oakland
Tribune) download
the PDF
· California's Deceptive Prop 4 (LA Times) download
the PDF
· Vote No on Prop 4 (Bakersfield Californian) download
the PDF
· Anti-abortion Ballot Measure Still Bad Idea (Mercury News)
download
the PDF
· California Prop 4 Would Undermine Abortion Rights (SF Chronicle)
download
the PDF
· Election 2008: Proposition 4 (Mercury News) download
the PDF
· Editorial: No on Prop 4 (LA Times) download
the PDF
·
Editorial: No on Prop 4 (Contra Costa Times) download
the PDF
· Bay Area Youth Rally Against State Propositions (Asian Week)
download
the PDF
·
As We See It: Vote No on Prop 4 (Santa Cruz Sentinel) download
the PDF
· Measure to tell parents of abortion holds lead (San Francisco
Chronicle) download
the PDF
Asian Language Articles on Prop 4
· Ming Pao News Editorial Board (September
26, 2008)
Coverage from September 25th Elections Press Conference
· China Press (September
26, 2008)
· International Daily News (September
26, 2008)
· Ming Pao News (September
26, 2008)
· World Journal (September
26, 2008)
Additional
Resources:
· The SAFIRE girls share our analysis and stories about Prop
4 on a radio
show produced by The National Radio Project.
· California's
Proposition 4: Implications of Mandated Parental Notification Laws
(Center for Research on Adolescent Health and Development)