Thanks to everyone who attended our event. Here are the links to most of the things we talked about today, plus some extra information. Read Global Women's Caucus Statement on the Right to an Abortion.

• Watch, like, and share the Reproductive Justice Get Out The Vote (GOTV) videos made by our members https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLci_3vugJA6jtxyBdQ8d5Pc0RyJSC0abr
• Make a GOTV video for the GWC Reproductive Justice Team https://www.democratsabroad.org/american_women_need_your_help_now
• Help with voter outreach - Phonebank for Democrats Abroad throughout 2022

• Contact your senator and tell them you want them to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act. It has already passed the house, and it is waiting for the Senate to enshrine the right to abortion without unnecessary restrictions into federal law

• Donate to abortion funds working on the front lines every day to ensure people who need abortions can access them no matter what
• Donate to Democrats Abroad
• Organize your families, friends, neighbors, coworkers, classmates - anyone you can. Remind them that this is about more than abortion and that we need all of our allies to get involved, vote, and demand our elected officials enact the policies we elected them to
• Share your story. If you need support, help, or inspiration, check out:

https://shoutyourabortion.com/

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/get-involved/share-your-story

• Join our DA State Teams https://www.democratsabroad.org/state_teams. You can write to [email protected]
• Share the links in this blog post with your social networks.

Letter from the Editor

This June, the Global Women’s Caucus celebrates 30 years of sisterhood, progress and growth. Starting at the country-level in France, the Women’s Caucus has grown into a global entity with a mission to mobilize voters and raise a strong unified voice on the issues that impact American women, both stateside and abroad. Our tenets: educate, build community, and promote activism, are the beacons that guide our leaders and members to continue to be active American citizens, regardless of where we live.

Join us June 18th, as we celebrate together from the place it all began. If you can’t join us in Paris, we welcome you to create your own event to discuss the issues and future of the Global Women’s Caucus.

A final note on the state of reproductive rights: We know you are angry. We are angry too. Our democracy and rights are being threatened by only a few, with the lone goal of oppression and control over a female’s right of choice. TAKE THAT ANGER TO THE MIDTERMS! As the GWC continues to grow, we need your help. Join our team for this very important midterm year. Consider volunteering with us, help friends and family register to vote, or donate! Make sure you’re registered to vote in 2022 here!

We hope you enjoy this edition, and we look forward to seeing you at our events!

Stayce Camparo, Communications Co-director, Global Women’s Caucus

 Join us

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Dear fellow DA members,

Today’s news concerning the Supreme Court’s expected decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade is absolutely chilling.

We’re devastated. But, as Democrats Abroad we need to recognize that this is not a threat exclusively against women. It is an attack on all of us.

This attack on reproductive rights rings a shrill warning bell. We need to be aware that all the hard won legal victories to preserve basic rights and freedoms and to protect marginalized  populations from racism, homophobia, sexual harassment are at risk. The 14th Amendment, the right to privacy, in our doctor’s office, our marriages, our homes, is weakened by this decision. 

What immediately springs to mind is the prescient warning by Martin Niemöller, World War II freedom fighter: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out- Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists...and then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me.” 

We, in the GWC leadership, understand that this issue has always been about more than controlling women. It’s  about authoritarian control of all aspects of society.  

The admitted goal of these authoritarians is to roll back generations of progress in civil rights for the many and to consolidate power among the few. 

If you are not a wealthy white cis male, they are coming for you next.

U.S. citizens living around the world have been eyewitnesses to authoritarian power-grabs like this over many decades.  There are many horrific examples of what a “forced birth” society looks like, especially for poor and marginalized communities.  If  Roe falls, America will join these repressive regimes. 

We have a six-month window to prevent the nightmare of an anti-democratic authoritarian takeover in November.

Republicans hold almost all the cards now, thanks to their skillful application of voter suppression, fear and disinformation tactics. However, we have the overwhelming number of Democratic votes abroad and at home. They know that the majority of Americans reject their patriarchal white supremacist doctrine and this Supreme Court opinion

We have a chance to save our democracy and our freedoms with an overwhelming turnout for the November midterms from Democrats Abroad.

They are betting that we won’t vote in large enough numbers to upset their plans and have done their best to prevent many from doing so which makes our job even more difficult. But we proved them wrong in 2020 and we can do it again. 

We can do what we have had to do for far too long and out of absolute necessity to ensure a better future. 

We can fight back. We can persist. We can:

• Make a GOTV video for the GWC Reproductive Justice team https://www.democratsabroad.org/american_women_need_your_help_now
• Share our Reproductive Justice videos on social media https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLci_3vugJA6jtxyBdQ8d5Pc0RyJSC0abr
• Go to votefromabroad.org and make sure you are registered to vote
• Volunteer for a DA phonebanking campaign.
• Call on your legislators to immediately pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land, even if it requires ending the filibuster to get the job done.
• Contact everyone you know back in the States - your family, your old college buddies, even your right-leaning friends and relatives and help them to understand what’s really at stake - for them too.
• Donate to help us get out the vote.

Let us keep up this fight together in solidarity.

In unity,

Ann Hesse, Chair, GWC with Steering Committee members:

Connie Borde

Angela Fobbs

Naomi Ages

Stayce Camparo

Marnie Delaney

Brooke Scott

Sheila Malovany-Chevallier

Salli Swartz

Carol Moore

Christina Skovsgaard

Jamie McAfee

Shari Temple

Letter from the Editor

As we welcome yet another year, and hope that this new year brings more fortune, let’s not forget our strength and resolution as Democrats. We must not lose sight of the progress we’ve made, even in light of sideways, or even some backwards, steps. We are moving forward! -- and the Global Women’s Caucus is resolute on maintaining that movement. 

2022 is another important election year. As you read the GWC Newsletter, we hope you will be encouraged and encourage others to VOTE. Be sure to request your ballot at https://www.votefromabroad.org/. It's recommended to request your ballot every year. For those of you voting in Texas, the first primary is March 1st. Your vote matters.

The GWC is growing, and we need your help. Join our team for this very important midterm year. Consider volunteering with us, help friends and family register to vote, or donate! It’s the new year, so make sure you’re registered to vote here!

We hope you enjoy this edition, and we look forward to seeing you at our events!

Stayce Camparo, Communications Co-director, Global Women’s Caucus

Over 10,000 members and growing! Join us

Letter from the Editor

There is not a day that goes by that the Global Women’s Caucus is not aware of the immense threats to the rights of women and girls all over the world, however the ability to act on every development, or appreciate every advance, is difficult to do. Awareness doesn’t always involve an act, per se, but rather also a clear intention to be well informed. By gathering information from reputable sources and understanding how to express that information, we can all be warriors against mis and disinformation. As we celebrate holidays, once again in person with our loved ones, the GWC invites you to practice awareness as we both recognize the threats to women all over the world and discuss ways to alleviate these threats.

This GWC newsletter is taking on a different look to accommodate our growing caucus, but some elements still remain. Check out our Artist’s Corner and read ERA excerpts written by our members.

We hope you enjoy this edition, and we look forward to seeing you at our events!

Stayce Camparo, Communications Co-director, Global Women’s Caucus

Over 10,000 members and growing! Join us

Mike Lindell’s highly criticized symposium in August failed to validate his belief that Biden did not win the election, but it did showcase attendees’ reluctance to engage with facts. One speaker began his remarks with, “…the CNNs of this world, you guys need to stop fact checking this and start reporting it.” Journalists and news organizations have a professional obligation to fact check and it is right that they do so, but facts alone don’t necessarily help to refute conspiracy theories and lies. Using facts as the main tool to convince someone that Covid vaccinations protect rather than harm, for example, can push conspiracists further into their own belief.  

This is because human beings have a built-in confirmation bias; we tune out facts that don’t confirm our existing beliefs.  Even when we present a climate change denier with geological evidence that today’s climate change is driven by humans and not part of a natural cycle, it’s highly unlikely to change their minds. It’s not because deniers are too dumb to understand the science; rather, a fact that doesn’t confirm what someone already believes tends to be either disregarded or rationalized away. Often it is the more intelligent who are the best at rationalizing a fact to fit their belief. Our brains resist evidence that goes against an opinion we’ve already formed. 

It’s not just our minds that resist belief-opposing-facts, our hearts do too. Peer pressure isn’t just powerful on the playground or behind the gym, it has a big influence as adults on which opinions matter to us, and the opinions that matter determine the facts that matter.  Political bodies have even used social media, enabled by bots (automated software) to successfully persuade voters in elections. The good news is that who we see as the “cool kids” can be influenced and can change. 

Storytelling, centered around facts and truth, based on deep commonalities is a very effective way to help people want to hang out with the science nerds rather than the kid with the biggest car.  You can show your uncle the figures proving cats kill more birds than windmills, or you can concede that windmills do kill some birds. Good, truthfulf storytelling can affect who we feel close to, and in turn whose opinions and what facts matter to us. It can dampen the flames of conspiracy theories and help seeds of consensus sprout in fresh ground.

Letter from the Editor

Books, pages, stone walls, and now tablets have the ability to convey thought across minds, cultures, and oceans. Humans have always used the written word to fantasize, persuade, and pose questions about our environment and way of life. It is how we connect, and this month we are practicing prose in action. As we organize ourselves to protect our reproductive rights from right-wing politicians or unite in recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we will honor the female authors who shook the writing world with a month-long literary festival. So join us in exercising our own creative and persuasive prose.

This October issue has important updates on the difficult work our action teams are doing in spite of unprecedented push-backs on reproductive rights. Don’t forget to check out our Artist’s Corner and take our September Newsletter quiz! Lastly, we love hearing from you and want your continued participation in our #MyStoryGWC campaign; this month we are asking you to share your October 2nd Reproductive Rights March stories, including from our #GWCMarch campaign.

We hope you enjoy this edition, and we look forward to seeing you at our events!

Stayce Camparo, Communications Co-director, Global Women’s Caucus

Over 10,000 members and growing! Join us

Mike Lindell’s highly criticized symposium in August failed to validate his belief that Biden did not win the election, but it did showcase attendees’ reluctance to engage with facts. One speaker began his remarks with, “…the CNNs of this world, you guys need to stop fact checking this and start reporting it.” Journalists and news organizations have a professional obligation to fact check and it is right that they do so, but facts alone don’t necessarily help to refute conspiracy theories and lies. Using facts as the main tool to convince someone that Covid vaccinations protect rather than harm, for example, can push conspiracists further into their own belief.  

This is because human beings have a built-in confirmation bias; we tune out facts that don’t confirm our existing beliefs.  Even when we present a climate change denier with geological evidence that today’s climate change is driven by humans and not part of a natural cycle, it’s highly unlikely to change their minds. It’s not because deniers are too dumb to understand the science; rather, a fact that doesn’t confirm what someone already believes tends to be either disregarded or rationalized away. Often it is the more intelligent who are the best at rationalizing a fact to fit their belief. Our brains resist evidence that goes against an opinion we’ve already formed. 

It’s not just our minds that resist belief-opposing-facts, our hearts do too. Peer pressure isn’t just powerful on the playground or behind the gym, it has a big influence as adults on which opinions matter to us, and the opinions that matter determine the facts that matter.  Political bodies have even used social media, enabled by bots (automated software) to successfully persuade voters in elections. The good news is that who we see as the “cool kids” can be influenced and can change. 

Storytelling, centered around facts and truth, based on deep commonalities is a very effective way to help people want to hang out with the science nerds rather than the kid with the biggest car.  You can show your uncle the figures proving cats kill more birds than windmills, or you can concede that windmills do kill some birds. Good, truthfulf storytelling can affect who we feel close to, and in turn whose opinions and what facts matter to us. It can dampen the flames of conspiracy theories and help seeds of consensus sprout in fresh ground.

Letter from the Editor

After a short summer holiday, the Global Women’s Caucus is back, and ready to continue the hard and necessary work to ensure a safe and equitable future for generations to come. In some ways, the current situation feels as though many of our hard won battles are once again rearing their ugly heads. Many States are making it nearly impossible for women to choose when and how they can have a family, and the use of the Filibuster is hindering any fair voting law. We are also all watching with keen attention to what’s unfolding in Afghanistan in respect to the fate of women and girls. We hope your batteries have been charged as well, and that you are ready to join us at this crucial moment as we resume raising awareness on the issues that affect women and girls, and begin to focus on the midterm elections.

This issue has important updates on the research our caucus is doing as well as articles and commentaries on current events. Don’t forget to check out our Artist’s Corner and take our July Newsletter quiz! Lastly, we love hearing from you and want your continued participation in our #MyStoryGWC campaign, where you can connect with other members through shared stories to highlight the issues most important to us.

We hope you enjoy this edition, and we look forward to seeing you at our events!

Stayce Camparo, Communications Co-director, Global Women’s Caucus

Over 10,000 members and growing! Join us