This is about ALL of us

BLUMENTHAL STATEMENT ON SCOTUS HOBBY LOBBY DECISION

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

“Today, the Supreme Court held for the first time that the religious rights of corporations trump the personal freedoms of American women. This decision undermines millions of American women's access to birth control. Religious liberty is about the right to practice your religion, not the right to impose your religion on your employees. Congress must act to restore workers' right to make their own health care decisions.”

Important (and Free) Mental Health Info Event April 30

Mental Health is part of Health.
There has been a lot of discussion "post-Newtown"  about mental health. (Quote marks are because there is some discussion about not tainting the place name and instead calling the event "December 14th" but I am unsure if this is a movement by realtors to preserve property values or actually a true sentiment of the victim's families.)

Anyway, on April 30th, to kick off Mental Health Month, The Milford Prevention Council and Cachement Area Council 6 (part of the CT Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services) are hosting an event at the Milford Public Library - and it is free. (also: Free parking behind the Library, bus stop nearby from Stratford and beyond and from New Haven - walking distance from Milford MetroNorth train station.)

Milford Library
57 New Haven Avenue
Tuesday, April 30
6:30 – 8 pm. 

To kick off May is Mental Health Month
The Region II Regional Mental Health Board CAC 6 and The Milford Prevention Council will sponsor an event “Celebrating Good Health, Wellness and Mental Health”
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Speakers include Michael Sernyak, M.D., CEO of the Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven, who will discuss the “health” crisis in mental health and how overall wellness can address it. 

Additional speakers will discuss community support systems for people with mental illness. 

Photographs by members of Bridges’ Young Adult Services program will be displayed, and handcrafted items such as jewelry and pillows from the Young Adult Services store, “Metamorphosis,” will be available for purchase. 

The discussion is open without charge to the public.  Refreshments served.

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The Milford Prevention Council is a coalition of community professionals working together to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth.  Community mental health and substance abuse treatment programs in Milford, West Haven and Orange comprise the Region II Regional Mental Health Board CAC 6. 

HUSKY Program at Risk

Return to Work at West River Healthcare

I've been around awhile. I have participated in many events, including

• a Be-In,
• a Sit-In,
• a Walk-Out (racist depictions in murals at George Washington High School, San Francisco, CA),

but never before have I had the good fortune to attend a Walk-In!

Unlike when a soul attaches itself  to a human host or quickie clinic visit for a splinter removal -  a Walk-In is a supportive action when those on strike are able to return to work.

As a few snowflakes fell, and a small crowd clutched take-out coffee cups, at 6:45 am on Sunday March 3, 2013, the proud workers of SEIU 1199 returned to work at West River Healthcare after a long and difficult strike.

It has been a hard time, even with all the court rulings against bad management and in favor of the employees rights to a fair contract. Off and on since December of 2011 the workers have been suffering, walking a line, camping out and rallying, and all along I kept hearing about their overarching concern for their patients. You can't fake that. It is the Care part of Healthcare.

Today there are three shifts returning to work.

Next two Walk-Ins are at 2:30 - 3pm today and then again at 10:30 - 11pm tonight.
See you there!

Our Pro-Choice Friends at Women for Himes

Jacquie Carlsen! I met her while we were organizing the "Unite Women!" Hartford Rally in the Spring. Then she volunteered with NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut for our Carnival this month, honoring Teresa Younger of PCSW.




And Click here for Patti Russo!

Compassionate Care for Rape Victims - McMahon would Turn back the Clock

Linda McMahon Would Block Timely Access to Care
for Rape Survivors

McMahon Called Out for Insensitive Statements

 

NEW HAVEN, CT— Christian Miron, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, condemned Linda McMahon for her disregard for certain survivors of rape.  In an interview with the Hartford Courant’s editorial board last week, McMahon said she would side with hospitals over women.  McMahon would allow hospitals that oppose emergency contraception to turn away a rape survivor for the care she requests. 

“It couldn’t make things more clear: Linda McMahon is bad for Connecticut women.  She thinks it okay to send rape survivors seeking emergency care to another hospital in the middle of the night rather than give them the prompt medical attention and compassion they deserve,” Miron said.

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In Case You Missed It

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In 2007, Connecticut passed legislation requiring licensed health-care facilities, like hospital emergency rooms, to provide emergency contraception (EC) to survivors of sexual assault upon request.  “This bill passed overwhelmingly with bi-partisan support and was signed into law by then-Gov. Jodi Rell,” Miron said.  “In Connecticut, there is widespread support for this law and the values it reflects. 

Studies show EC is 95 percent effective in preventing pregnancy when taken within the first 24 hours after an assault.  “Linda McMahon clearly doesn’t appreciate that time is of the essence and sending a woman to another hospital to obtain EC reduces the efficacy of the medication,” Miron said.

Miron noted this is the latest in a growing trend of anti-women positions articulated by Linda McMahon.

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NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut is the leading grassroots pro‑choice advocacy organization in Connecticut. NARAL Pro‑Choice Connecticut works to protect every woman’s right to access the full range of reproductive health options, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion.

Real Women - not Actresses

Women speak out about Linda McMayhem:


These are not actresses. For Reals.

Affordable Care Act - Learn More and Celebrate

Celebrate the 2^nd anniversary

of the Affordable Care Act

Thursday, March 22 -- 4:00 PM

La Paloma Sabanera Coffeehouse

405 Capitol Avenue, Hartford

Featured Speaker:

Richard Kirsch

Author of

Fighting For Our Health

The Epic Battle to Make Health Care a Right in the United States

Richard Kirsch, a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, spent three years on the front lines as head of the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, Health Care for America Now. He worked alongside other progressive organizations from across the country to defeat opposition from powerful insurance industry lobbies resulting in passage of the Affordable Care Act. 

Copies of Kirsch’s books will be available during a book signing scheduled to follow a brief program during which the author and other speakers will talk about the high-stakes this year for states like Connecticut, where powerful vested interests are trying to hijack state reform. Kirsch and others will also discuss the upcoming Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Care Act

 For more information on the event, contact John Murphy murphy@ccag.net or 860.995.3389

To get involved in the fight for health care reform, log on to http://www.universalhealthct.org/

Union-Busting in Milford - Thin Edge of the Wedge

HealthBridge Management, owners of the West River Health Center (aka "The Grinch") locked out workers in mid-December - after what appears to be contract negotiations that smell fishy at best. Click here for SEIU 1199 post on this issue.

According to the Connecticut Post "The company has offered employees a 12 percent raise over three years, but union officials said the proposal also reduces sick and vacation time and allows hiring of per-diem staff, which could reduce the number of employees eligible for benefits."
I have spoken to some of the healthcare workers from the site and they report that their jobs are being covered by $18/hr hires brought in from out of state. The $18/hr is probably what the employment agency is being paid, not what the substitute workers are being paid. Generally this would be closer to $10/hr without benefits.

Sunday evening there was a vigil on the Milford Green. Participants included State Senator Gayle Slossberg as well as Rich Smith, Chairman of the Milford Democratic Town Committee, both of whom vowed full support for 1199 and the locked out workers. Smith spoke about the anti-union and anti-middle class sentiments of management and Slossberg spoke about the clients these caretakers were locked out from helping.

A previous vigil, in late December, was attended by Senator Richard Blumenthal, who is also calling for more attention to the abuse of seniors on many levels.

The inside talk on this is whether the management will simultaneously lock out healthcare workers at the Danbury or Westport locations they own, or continue using Milford as a test case.



Walk the Line at 245 Orange Avenue Milford, CT 06460 in Solidarity with locked out healthcare workers and in Sympathy for the clients who need them.