NJ Congressman Smith to attend Noble Prize Ceremony

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ4) and outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi have announced that they plan to attend the ceremony awarding the Nobel Prize to Chinese human rights activist/prisoner of conscience Liu Xiaobo.

Good op-ed piece on the DREAM Act

There is a good op-ed piece on the DREAM Act in the Times of Trenton: http://www.nj.com/opinion/times/oped/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1290840344228120.xml&coll=5. Amnesty supports this important piece of legislation to create a path to citizenship for immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors.

Congressman Rothman Supports IVAWA! Now Let’s Pass It!

Congressman Steve Rothman became a cosponsor of the International Violence Against Women, joining NJ Representatives Holt, Payne, Sires, and Lance, as well as Senators Lautenberg and Menendez!

If you’re Representative is already on board, call his office to thank him and ask him to help move the legislation ahead. If he isn’t onboard yet, please call and urge him to support IVAWA!

It would also help to let Lautenberg and Menendez know that it is important to pass IVAWA before Congress adjourns and the whole process has to start over.

Now is the time to pass IVAWA!

As you may know, Amnesty has been working hard to pass the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) in this congress and the one before it. We are very close, but not quite there! If Congress does not pass it before they adjourn in December, the whole process will have to start from scratch. Please call both of New Jersey’s Senators and your member of the House of Representatives and urge them to pass IVAWA before the end of this congress!

You can thank both Senators for cosponsoring IVAWA and urge them to make sure it gets passed—Senator Menendez is particularly important!

If you are a constituent of Sires, Payne, Holt, or Lance, thank them for cosponsoring IVAWA and urge them to work to get it passed. If you live in another district, urge your Representative to cosponsor the International Violence Against Women Act!

Women Around the World Need Sen. Menendez’s Help TOMORROW!

There is going to be a very important Senate committee meeting tomorrow at 2:15 on the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). Amnesty wants to make sure that this important legislation is not changed in any way that would water down its effectiveness or hinder its passage. Senator Menendez is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a cosponsor of the bill. We have heard, however, that he may have a scheduling conflict. Women around the world need him to help protect and advance this important piece of legislation. Please call his DC office at 202-224- 4744 and urge him to be there!

Larry Ladutke
NJ Legislative Coordinator, AIUSA

AI:Urge Your Rep. to Support the MOMS for the 21st Century Act

As you may know, women in the United States are more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than women in 40 other countries. The odds are even worse for women of color. Congresswoman Lucile Roybal-Allard has introduced legislation to address this problem, the Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services (MOMS) for the 21st Century Act (HR 5807). Please call your House Member today and urge him to cosponsor this bill!

You can find out the name and contact information for your Representative by entering your zipcode at www.house.gov.

4 NJ Reps onboard the Global Moms Act

HR 5268 is aimed at reducing the epidemic of maternal mortality around the world. NJ cosponsors now include Payne, Sires, Rothman, and Holt!

Now let's get the rest of them onboard!

Tell Congress to Support Mexican Women Assaulted by Police

In 2006, dozens of women were reportedly sexually abused by police after being detained in a protest in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico. The Mexican Supreme Court and the Mexican Human Rights Commission have called for those responsible to be brought to justice, and a report from a Mexican federal government office has identified 34 state security agents responsible for abusing these women. Nonetheless, the state government has not moved forward.

Representatives Tammy Baldwin and Keith Ellison are circulating a letter calling on the federal government in Mexico to take action to bring the police agents who abused these women to justice. Please call your representative and urge him to join them by signing this letter.
AIUSA

Let’s Pass the International Violence Against Women Act!

It looks like the House of Representatives is almost ready to move forward on the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA)! Amnesty International has been behind this legislation from the very start, along with a broad coalition of women’s groups, human rights organizations, humanitarian groups, and churches. It looks like the bill is going to be discussed and marked up later this month, and it is important that we get as many cosponsors onboard before that happens.

So far, New Jersey Congressmen Payne (District 10), Sires (District 13), and Holt (District 12) have signed on. Please thank them if you are one of their constituents.

If you live in another district, however, please call your representative’s office and urge him to cosponsor HR 4594, the International Violence Against Women Act. This legislation will coordinate our foreign policy efforts in the effort to end violence against women around the world, making them more efficient and effective.

It is especially important for you to call your representative if you live in districts 4 (Smith), 7 (Lance), or 11 (Frelinghuysen)!

Don’t know which district you live in? Go to www.house.gov and enter your zip code to get the name of your House Member and his office numbers!

Support the Global MOMS Act

Thanks to everyone who has helped with Amnesty’s efforts to address the maternal mortality crisis in the United States!

Amnesty is also working on this issue in other countries. Rep. Lois Capps of California has recently introduced the Global MOMS Act to provide family planning, screening, access to health workers, and post partum care to prevent many of the hundreds of thousands of needless deaths that happen every year. Amnesty is supporting this bill. Please call your Representative and urge him to support the Global MOMS Act!

See http://capps.house.gov/2010/05/capps-introduces-global-moms-bill-to-improve-maternal-health.shtml for more information!

You can find out the name and contact information for your House member by entering your zip code at www.house.gov.

Update on Maternal Mortality—Support Letter by Congresswoman Lois Capps!

Members of Congress around the country are responding to activists’ demands that the United States government put more resources into solving the problem of maternal mortality. Congresswoman Lois Capps of California has begun circulating a sign-on letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about this important issue.

Please call your Representative in the House and urge him to add his signature! He can do so by contacting Adriane Casalotti in Congresswoman Capps’s office.

You can find out the name and contact information of your House Member by entering your zipcode at www.house.gov.

Tell Congress to Save Women’s Lives!

This week, activists around the country are meeting with their congressional offices to urge their elected officials to take action to reduce the unacceptable levels of women dying during childbirth here in the United States. These meetings will be even more effective if every member of Congress hears from his or her constituents by phone. Please call your Representative and both of New Jersey’s Senators and tell them

• Amnesty International urges Representatives and Senators to contact the Department of Health and Human Services to raise concerns exposed in Amnesty International‘s new report. The Department should take steps to stop women from dying from preventable pregnancy-related complications, including addressing issues of discrimination, systemic failures, and accountability.
• Amnesty International urges Representatives and Senators to support an increase in funding for the Federally Qualified Health Center program.
• Amnesty International urges Representatives and Senators to contact the health departments of their own states to improve maternal health data collection.

You can find out the name and contact information for your Representative by entering your zip code at www.house.gov.

You can call Senator Lautenberg’s office at (202) 224-3224. The number for Senator Menendez’s office is (202) 224-4744.

Larry Ladutke
NJ Legislative Coordinator, AIUSA

AI Report on Maternal Morality Available Online

Download Deadly Delivery

Time article on Amnesty's Deadly Delivery report on maternal morality in the US

You can do something about this by joining a delegation to lobby Congress and by taking part in the on-line action below!

www.amnestyusa.org\deadlydelivery

Too Many Women Dying in U.S. While Having Babies
By Jennifer Block Friday, Mar. 12, 2010



Daniel Allan / Photodisc / Getty Images
Print Email Digg Facebook Yahoo Buzz Twitter MORE
Add to my:
del.icio.us Technorati reddit Google Bookmarks Mixx StumbleUpon Blog this on:
TypePad LiveJournal Blogger MySpace

49
Share

Amnesty International may be best known to American audiences for bringing to light horror stories overseas such as the disappearance of political activists in Argentina or the abysmal conditions inside South African prisons under apartheid. But in a new report on pregnancy and childbirth care in the U.S., Amnesty details the maternal health care crisis in this country as part of a systemic violation of women's rights.

The report, titled "Deadly Delivery," notes that the likelihood of a woman dying in childbirth in the U.S. is five times greater than in Greece, four times greater than in Germany, and three times greater than in Spain. Every day in the U.S., more than two women die of pregnancy-related causes, with the maternal mortality ratio doubling from 6.6 deaths per 100,000 births in 1987 to 13.3 deaths per 100,000 births in 2006. (And as shocking as these figures are, Amnesty notes that the actual number of maternal deaths in the U.S. may be a lot higher since there are no federal requirements to report these outcomes and since data collection at the state and local levels needs to be improved.) "In the U.S., we spend more than any country on health care, yet American women are at greater risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes than in 40 other countries," says Nan Strauss, the report's co-author, who spent two years investigating the issue of maternal mortality worldwide. "We thought that was scandalous."
(See the most common hospital mishaps.)


According to Amnesty, which gathered data from many sources including the CDC, approximately half of the pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are preventable, the result of systemic failures including barriers to accessing care; inadequate, neglectful, or discriminatory care; and overuse of risky interventions like inducing labor and delivering via cesarean section. "Women are not dying from complex, mysterious causes that we don't know how to treat," says Strauss. "Women are dying because it's a fragmented system, and they are not getting the comprehensive services that they need."

The report notes that black women in the U.S. are nearly four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, although they are no more likely to suffer certain complications like hemorrhage.
(See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2009.)


The Amnesty report comes on the heels of an investigation in California that found maternal deaths have tripled there in recent years as well as a maternal-mortality alert issued in January by the Joint Commission, a group that accredits hospitals and other medical organizations, which noted that common preventable errors included failure to control blood pressure in hypertensive women and failure to pay attention to vital signs following c-sections. And just this week, a panel of medical experts at a conference held by the National Institutes of Health recommended that physicians' organizations revisit policies that prevent women from having vaginal births after having had a cesarean. Such policies, designed in part to protect against litigation, have contributed to the U.S. cesarean rate rising to nearly 32% in 2007, the most recent year for which data is available.

The Amnesty report spotlights numerous barriers women face in accessing care, even among those who are insured or qualify for Medicaid. Poverty is a major factor, but all women are put at risk by overuse of obstetrical intervention and barriers in access to more woman-centered, physiologic care provided by family-practice physicians and midwives.

Amnesty is calling on Obama to create an Office of Maternal Health within the Department of Health and Human Services to improve outcomes and reduce disparities, among other recommendations. The report also calls on the government to address the shortage of maternal-care providers.

"Access is only one factor," cautions Maureen Corry, executive director of Childbirth Connection, a research and advocacy organziation that recently convened more than 100 stakeholders, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the NIH, in a large symposium on transforming maternity care. "We need to make sure that we reduce the overuse of interventions that are not always necessary, like C-sections, and increase access to the care that we know is good for mothers and babies, like labor support."



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1971633,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0hyL7H9Nw

Hoped-for drop in childbirth deaths not happening

As you may know, Amnesty's report on maternal mortality in the US is going to be released on March 23rd. We will have a week of lobbying around this issue starting March 29th!

---------


AP – This Oct. 2007 family photo provided by Clare Johnson shows Linda Coale holding her son Benjamin in Crownsville, … .By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard, Ap Medical Writer – Tue Mar 9, 3:04 am ET
WASHINGTON – Eleven days after her son Benjamin's birth by C-section, Linda Coale awoke in the middle of the night in pain, one leg badly swollen. Just as her doctor returned her phone call asking what to do, she dropped dead from a blood clot.

Pregnancy-related deaths like Coale's appear to have risen nationwide over the past decade, nearly tripling in the state with the most careful count — California. And while they're very rare — about 550 a year out of 4 million births nationally — they're nowhere near as rare as they should be. The maternal mortality rate is four times higher than a goal the federal government set for this year.

"It's unacceptable," says Dr. Mark Chassin of The Joint Commission, the agency that accredits U.S. hospitals and which recently issued an alert to hospitals to take steps to protect mothers-to-be. "Maybe as many as half of these are preventable."

Two years after Coale's death near Annapolis, Md., her sister says topping that list should be warning women about signs of an emergency, like the clot called deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, that can kill if it breaks out of the leg and moves to the lung.

"All she wanted to do was have her own family, and when she finally gets that privilege, she's no longer with us," says Clare Johnson, who says her sister's only risk was being pregnant at age 35.

Maternal mortality gets little public attention in the U.S., aside from last year's worry over the swine flu that killed at least 28 pregnant women. Among the leading preventable causes are hemorrhage, DVT-caused pulmonary emboli and uncontrolled blood pressure.

It's not clear what's fueling the overall increase, although better counting is playing some role. But there are some suspects: A jump in cesarean deliveries that now account for almost a third of births. One in five pregnant women is obese, spurring high blood pressure and diabetes. More women are having babies in their late 30s and beyond.

"It can be a death here, a death there," says Dr. Elliott Main of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, whose research is helping to uncover the rise. "Any one doctor or any one hospital hasn't really seen this change."

When he shows the statistics at medical meetings, "everybody sits up."

More startling, black women are at least three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women, and research is too limited to tell why.

Then there are the near-misses. For every death, 50 additional women suffer serious complications of pregnancy or delivery, notes Dr. Jeffrey King of the University of Louisville, a spokesman for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

At issue are deaths directly related to pregnancy or childbirth, up to 42 days after delivery. In 2006, the latest year for which data were available, there were 13.3 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births. A decade ago, the rate hovered around 7 — and by this year, the U.S. government had hoped to lower it to 3.3 deaths. California in 2006 charted 16.9 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births, up from a rate of 5.6 in 1996.

How pregnancy-related deaths are coded and counted changed during that time period, but Main says only about 30 percent of the increase may be due to that.

At the request of California health officials, Main is finishing an in-depth study of maternal deaths that already has prompted a project to reduce hemorrhage in 30 of the state's hospitals.

"Jumping on it early is very important," says Main, who worries that hospitals can lose track of bleeding that happens a bit at a time until "before you know it, you've bled a lot."

Among other safety steps:

_Seek early prenatal care to control underlying disorders and check for DVT risk. Pregnancy makes everyone's blood clot more easily. At extra risk are women who've already had a clot or whose relatives have, who are obese or who have varicose veins, says Dr. Geno Merli of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. They may need blood-thinning medication.

C-sections, like any major surgery, also add to the risk.

Andrea Darling of Skillman, N.J., suffered a DVT in her first trimester in 2002 and endured months of treatment and anxiety before her son was born healthy. Darling already was being treated for a genetic clotting disorder but says patient education helped her take extra steps to avoid a C-section.

_Hospitals should consider using compression boots on C-section patients, says King. They help keep blood from settling in the lower legs.

_C-sections can be lifesaving but women should understand how to reduce their chances of needing one — because next pregnancies tend to end in C-section, too, and repeat C-sections increase hemorrhage risk. Coming to the hospital before you're properly dilated or seeking induction before the cervix is ready unnecessarily increases the C-section risk, Main says.

There often aren't clear explanations for these deaths, and Maryland's Clare Johnson tries not to wonder if anything could have saved her sister, because that's impossible to know.

Still, she urges better education about DVT as the family watches her nephew Benjamin, now 2, grow.

"He is truly our blessing in all this," Johnson says. "He's truly what gets us through."

___

EDITOR's NOTE — Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Thank You Congressman Payne!

New Jersey Congressman Donald Payne appears among the 25 original cosponsors of HR 4594, the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). Amnesty International greatly appreciates his leadership on this crucial piece of legislation!

Unfortunately, however, none of the other 12 House members from New Jersey appear on the list of original cosponsors. Please call their offices and urge them to become cosponsors! You can find the name and contact information for your Representative by entering your zipcode at www.house.gov.

Support the International Violence Against Women Act

The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) is going to be introduced in the House of Representatives on February 4th. This legislation would help ensure that U.S. foreign policy efforts are coordinated so that the best practices for addressing violence against women are incorporated in all areas of our government’s work with other nations. It is being introduced by Rep. Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Rep. Ted Poe, a Republican from Texas. It is very important that this bill continues to have bipartisan support.

Please call your Congressman and ask him to become an original cosponsor of the International Violence Against Women Act. He can contact Celia Richa in Rep. Delahunt’s office or Betsy Huffine on Rep. Poe’s staff.

Once again, you can find out the name and contact information for your Congressman by entering your zipcode at www.house.gov.

Call House to Oppose Anti-Gay Legislation in Uganda

As you have probably heard, the parliament in Uganda is considering legislation that would punish “any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex” with severe penalties, including death in some circumstances. It is therefore crucial that the Ugandan government understand that such action would be unacceptable to the international community.

House members Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank, and Jared Polis are organizing two letters for their colleagues to sign on this issue. The first asks U.S. President Obama to speak out publicly against this legislation and to bring further attention to the issue. The second urges Ugandan President Musevini to convince the leaders of parliament that this legislation is unwise and should be withdrawn from consideration immediately.

Please call your representative’s office and urge him to sign these letters. The contact people are Amber Shipley (Rep. Baldwin, 5-2906), Diego Sanchez (Rep. Frank, 5-3609), and Brian Branton (Rep. Polis, 5-2616).

You can find out the name and contact information for your Representative by entering your zipcode at www.house.gov.

So far, this action is only for the House of Representatives. We will let you know if there is a similar effort in the Senate.

AI Urgent Action on El Salvador

This is not a legislative action. As many of you know, however, I have particular interest in the human rights situation in El Salvador.

Larry


URGENT ACTION
TWO ACTIVISTS KILLED, OTHERS THREATENED
Local radio station staff have received death threats, days after anti-mining activists were killed.
Radio Victoria staff received death threats in email and mobile phone text messages on 23 and 24 December. The 23 December email threat, sent to 16 Radio Victoria staff, said: "Well, we already sent two to the pit, the question is who will be the third…it's not a bad idea to carry on with one of the big mouths from Radio Victoria…the deaths will continue and nobody can stop the revenge already begun, we prefer that the third of the dead should be a presenter, or a correspondent, or anybody else from that damn radio station, the safest target is a presenter, be careful, we’re not playing around this is the new wave of warnings that we’re beginning after killing Ramiro."

Another threat was sent by email the next day, to eight of the 16 people who had received the previous threat. It read, "we've already chosen the next one to die, it's one of the best-known presenters at that radio station, this will be a real blow for all of them at the radio station, today we're not going to make mistakes saying any names we’re just saying that this presenter is better known and that sooner or later this will hurt you we’re going to kill you"

The threats followed the killings of two anti-mining activists in Cabañas department: Gustavo Marcelo Rivera in June and Ramiro Rivera on 20 December. Ramiro Rivera was the legal representative of the NGO Cabañas Environment Committee (Comité Ambiental de Cabañas), and had survived an August attack in which he was shot eight times.

On 26 December, another member of the Cabañas Environment Committee was killed. Dora Alicia Recinos Sorto, who was eight months pregnant, was shot dead, and her two-year-old child was wounded. Her husband, José Santos Rodríguez, is the Cabañas Environment Committee spokesperson.

The day after Dora Alicia Recinos was killed, six armed men on motorbikes were seen arriving at the home of the head of Radio Victoria's news team, Isabel Gámez. She was out at the time, but the men went into her garden and shone flashlights through the windows: they left when they saw no one inside.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Spanish or your own language:
 Urging the authorities to order a prompt, full and independent investigation into the threats against Radio Victoria staff, and the recent killing of Ramiro Rivera and Dora Alicia Recinos Sorto environmental activists in Cabañas department in 2009, and to bring those responsible to justice;
 Urging them to ensure that full protection is provided to all Radio Victoria staff, and to members of the Cabañas Environment Committee and their relatives who have received threats, in accordance with their own wishes.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 15 FEBRUARY 2010 TO:

President
Mauricio Funes
Casa Presidencial
Alameda Dr. Manuel Enrique Araujo, No. 5500
San Salvador
EL SALVADOR
Fax: +503 22 43 99 47
Salutation: Dear President / Estimado Sr. Presidente

Attorney General
Fiscal General
Fiscalía General de la República
Final 4ª Calle Oriente y 19ª Avenida Sur, Residencial Primavera,
Santa Tecla, La Libertad, San Salvador, Salvador
Fax : +503 2523-7402
Salutation: Dear Attorney General / Estimado Sr. Fiscal General

And copies to:
Human Rights Organization
La Fundación de Estudios para la Aplicación de Derecho
25 Calle Poniente No. 1332,
Col Layco
San Salvador, El Salvador
Fax: +503 2236 1833

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA 223/09. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR29/001/2009/en

URGENT ACTION
TWO ACTIVISTS KILLED, OTHERS THREATENED
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A number of organizations in the Cabañas department campaigned against fraud they alleged had taken place in local elections in January 2009, and have also been campaigning against preparations for gold-mining in the area. Activists have said they began experiencing threats, attacks and intimidation as early as May 2008, when campaigning against mining exploration in the area began. This has intensified since January 2009, when activists reported irregularities in the elections.

Radio Victoria is a community radio station, committed to social and human rights reporting. Broadcasters at Radio Victoria have reported on corruption issues and anti-mining campaigns, and have called for those responsible for the abduction and killing of Gustavo Marcelo Rivera to be brought to justice.

The Cabañas Environment Committee is a grass-roots organization of approximately 140 members, representing 26 communities in Cabañas Department. It was established in 2005 to campaign on local environmental issues and has spoken out against a proposed mining project in the area.

Further information on UA: 223/09 Index: AMR 29//001/2010 Issue Date: 4 January 2010