This is the current reality for many women in communities across the country: There are currently over two million women, right now, living in maternity care deserts -- counties, often in rural areas, where there are no hospitals or birthing centers that help with pregnancy, and there are no doctors who specialize in pregnancy care -- and 19 million women living in contraception deserts. This means that there are over 21 million women who have little to no access to doctors that could provide contraception, doctors who can answer questions about our health, provide information about abortion services, and are living without reasonable access to health centers that offer the full range of reproductive care methods. Receiving maternity care, prenatal and postnatal treatment, mental health services, contraception, and abortion-care are not just about showing up to the appointment. There’s so much more to consider here: traveling long distances to receive prenatal care or give birth, which increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery; childcare (finding and paying a babysitter); hotel lodging; taking time off work; and having all of this to consider even under emergency situations. The harsh impacts of limited access to maternity care, the closure of maternity wards, strict or prohibited abortion laws, racial and socioeconomic injustices, and the consequences on pregnant women and their babies collectively form a complex and nuanced crisis in our healthcare system that leaves vulnerable populations at high risk. Everyone deserves the right to accessible and high-quality maternity care regardless of their geographic location. We need Congress to address this immediately!

This is the current reality for many women in communities across the country: There are currently over two million women, right now, living in maternity care deserts -- counties, often in rural areas, where there are no hospitals or birthing centers that help with pregnancy, and there are no doctors who specialize in pregnancy care -- and 19 million women living in contraception deserts. This means that there are over 21 million women who have little to no access to doctors that could provide contraception, doctors who can answer questions about our health, provide information about abortion services, and are living without reasonable access to health centers that offer the full range of reproductive care methods. Receiving maternity care, prenatal and postnatal treatment, mental health services, contraception, and abortion-care are not just about showing up to the appointment. There’s so much more to consider here: traveling long distances to receive prenatal care or give birth, which increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery; childcare (finding and paying a babysitter); hotel lodging; taking time off work; and having all of this to consider even under emergency situations. The harsh impacts of limited access to maternity care, the closure of maternity wards, strict or prohibited abortion laws, racial and socioeconomic injustices, and the consequences on pregnant women and their babies collectively form a complex and nuanced crisis in our healthcare system that leaves vulnerable populations at high risk. Everyone deserves the right to accessible and high-quality maternity care regardless of their geographic location. We need Congress to address this immediately!

This is the current reality for many women in communities across the country: There are currently over two million women, right now, living in maternity care deserts -- counties, often in rural areas, where there are no hospitals or birthing centers that help with pregnancy, and there are no doctors who specialize in pregnancy care -- and 19 million women living in contraception deserts. This means that there are over 21 million women who have little to no access to doctors that could provide contraception, doctors who can answer questions about our health, provide information about abortion services, and are living without reasonable access to health centers that offer the full range of reproductive care methods. Receiving maternity care, prenatal and postnatal treatment, mental health services, contraception, and abortion-care are not just about showing up to the appointment. There’s so much more to consider here: traveling long distances to receive prenatal care or give birth, which increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery; childcare (finding and paying a babysitter); hotel lodging; taking time off work; and having all of this to consider even under emergency situations. The harsh impacts of limited access to maternity care, the closure of maternity wards, strict or prohibited abortion laws, racial and socioeconomic injustices, and the consequences on pregnant women and their babies collectively form a complex and nuanced crisis in our healthcare system that leaves vulnerable populations at high risk. Everyone deserves the right to accessible and high-quality maternity care regardless of their geographic location. We need Congress to address this immediately!

This is the current reality for many women in communities across the country: There are currently over two million women, right now, living in maternity care deserts -- counties, often in rural areas, where there are no hospitals or birthing centers that help with pregnancy, and there are no doctors who specialize in pregnancy care -- and 19 million women living in contraception deserts. This means that there are over 21 million women who have little to no access to doctors that could provide contraception, doctors who can answer questions about our health, provide information about abortion services, and are living without reasonable access to health centers that offer the full range of reproductive care methods. Receiving maternity care, prenatal and postnatal treatment, mental health services, contraception, and abortion-care are not just about showing up to the appointment. There’s so much more to consider here: traveling long distances to receive prenatal care or give birth, which increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery; childcare (finding and paying a babysitter); hotel lodging; taking time off work; and having all of this to consider even under emergency situations. The harsh impacts of limited access to maternity care, the closure of maternity wards, strict or prohibited abortion laws, racial and socioeconomic injustices, and the consequences on pregnant women and their babies collectively form a complex and nuanced crisis in our healthcare system that leaves vulnerable populations at high risk. Everyone deserves the right to accessible and high-quality maternity care regardless of their geographic location. We need Congress to address this immediately!

Right now, Congress is pushing us closer and closer to a fiscal cliff with cuts that would cause millions of families to lose access to child care. The dual forces of an already-crumbling child care system from chronic underfunding and a global pandemic have thrust child care further into a state of crisis. Congress took the bold and necessary steps to invest critical funds to stabilize the child care market which saved our system from total collapse during the height of the pandemic. But those funds expire this month - and without continued investment, child care providers, families, and our economy are headed toward a giant cliff. All told, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) stabilization dollars that saved the child care sector from collapse are expiring with projections that 3.2 million children could lose their child care as a result. But help is on the way! The Child Care Stabilization Act was introduced today to provide at least $16 billion per year in emergency child care dollars to address this, while laying the groundwork for the sustained and transformative funding needed to ensure high-quality, affordable child care is accessible for all families.

Book are being banned and challenged in schools across the nation. What books are being pulled? Plain and simple, age-appropriate books about diverse communities, history, and LGBTQ+ families and communities. Books like Black Boy Joy, When Aiden Became a Brother, and the Diary of Anne Frank. Yes. You read those titles right. In fact, according to PEN America, between July and December 2022, instances of individual book bans occurred in 66 school districts in 21 states with Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina experiencing the most bans. These coordinated attacks are NOT okay. Well-funded far-right politicians are becoming a censorship machine actively working to ban age-appropriate books, erase honest and accurate American history, and attack students and teachers simply for who they love.

Right now, Congress is pushing us closer and closer to a fiscal cliff with cuts that would cause millions of families to lose access to child care. The dual forces of an already-crumbling child care system from chronic underfunding and a global pandemic have thrust child care further into a state of crisis. Congress took the bold and necessary steps to invest critical funds to stabilize the child care market which saved our system from total collapse during the height of the pandemic. But those funds expire this month - and without continued investment, child care providers, families, and our economy are headed toward a giant cliff. All told, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) stabilization dollars that saved the child care sector from collapse are expiring with projections that 3.2 million children could lose their child care as a result. But help is on the way! The Child Care Stabilization Act was introduced today to provide at least $16 billion per year in emergency child care dollars to address this, while laying the groundwork for the sustained and transformative funding needed to ensure high-quality, affordable child care is accessible for all families.

-Guns are the number one cause of death for children and teens, surpassing car accidents. [1] -In 2021, more than 48,000 people lost their lives to gun-related injuries, more than in any other year on record. [2] -The number of mass shootings per year has almost doubled over the past five years, from 348 mass shootings in 2017 to 646 in 2022. [3] -AR-15s have been used in ten of the 17 deadliest mass killings in the US that have taken place since 2012. [4] -In 2022, about 20 million AR-15-style rifles were in circulation in the US, up from 8.5 million since a federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. [5] [1] https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/ [2] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/ [3] https://www.gunviolencearchive.org [4] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65242244 [5] https://news.wttw.com/2021/03/31/northwestern-study-says-1994-2004-federal-assault-weapons-ban-worked

-Guns are the number one cause of death for children and teens, surpassing car accidents. [1] -In 2021, more than 48,000 people lost their lives to gun-related injuries, more than in any other year on record. [2] -The number of mass shootings per year has almost doubled over the past five years, from 348 mass shootings in 2017 to 646 in 2022. [3] -AR-15s have been used in ten of the 17 deadliest mass killings in the US that have taken place since 2012. [4] -In 2022, about 20 million AR-15-style rifles were in circulation in the US, up from 8.5 million since a federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. [5] [1] https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/ [2] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/ [3] https://www.gunviolencearchive.org [4] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65242244 [5] https://news.wttw.com/2021/03/31/northwestern-study-says-1994-2004-federal-assault-weapons-ban-worked

-Guns are the number one cause of death for children and teens, surpassing car accidents. [1] -In 2021, more than 48,000 people lost their lives to gun-related injuries, more than in any other year on record. [2] -The number of mass shootings per year has almost doubled over the past five years, from 348 mass shootings in 2017 to 646 in 2022. [3] -AR-15s have been used in ten of the 17 deadliest mass killings in the US that have taken place since 2012. [4] -In 2022, about 20 million AR-15-style rifles were in circulation in the US, up from 8.5 million since a federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. [5] [1] https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/ [2] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/ [3] https://www.gunviolencearchive.org [4] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65242244 [5] https://news.wttw.com/2021/03/31/northwestern-study-says-1994-2004-federal-assault-weapons-ban-worked

Book are being banned and challenged in schools across the nation. What books are being pulled? Plain and simple, age-appropriate books about diverse communities, history, and LGBTQ+ families and communities. Books like Black Boy Joy, When Aiden Became a Brother, and the Diary of Anne Frank. Yes. You read those titles right. In fact, according to PEN America, between July and December 2022, instances of individual book bans occurred in 66 school districts in 21 states with Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina experiencing the most bans. These coordinated attacks are NOT okay. Well-funded far-right politicians are becoming a censorship machine actively working to ban age-appropriate books, erase honest and accurate American history, and attack students and teachers simply for who they love.

-Guns are the number one cause of death for children and teens, surpassing car accidents. [1] -In 2021, more than 48,000 people lost their lives to gun-related injuries, more than in any other year on record. [2] -The number of mass shootings per year has almost doubled over the past five years, from 348 mass shootings in 2017 to 646 in 2022. [3] -AR-15s have been used in ten of the 17 deadliest mass killings in the US that have taken place since 2012. [4] -In 2022, about 20 million AR-15-style rifles were in circulation in the US, up from 8.5 million since a federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. [5] [1] https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/ [2] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/ [3] https://www.gunviolencearchive.org [4] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65242244 [5] https://news.wttw.com/2021/03/31/northwestern-study-says-1994-2004-federal-assault-weapons-ban-worked