Coalition Unites 50 Groups, Calling for Support of Immigrant Women’s Health

June 20 designated as Awareness Day on Immigrant Women’s Health; Marked with Twitter chat

WHAT:The National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights (NCIWR) will join with 50 other organizations to issue a letter urging the Senate to stand up for women immigrant’s health by voting down the Aderholt Amendment, a provision that adds unnecessary restrictions to detained women’s access to abortion care. To raise awareness about these threats to women immigrant’s health, NCWIR also will host a Twitter chat Wednesday with the hashtag #Health4ImmigrantWomen.

The Twitter chat will offer women immigrants and those advocating on behalf of this community an opportunity to discuss the affects of recent attacks on women immigrant’s health and provide journalists with sourcing and background materials.

WHY IT MATTERS: Harsh laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 and its copycats, brutal conditions in detention centers that separate mothers from their children and deny them medical care, and the stripped down Violence Against Women Act, are attacks on women immigrants health and rights. So is the so-called “PRENDA” legislation, which would have caused increased scrutiny on women of color seeking abortions, particularly Asian Americans, by requiring a doctor or nurse who suspects that a patient is seeking a sex-selective abortion to report the patient to authorities. This bill was defeated at the federal level, but was enacted into law in Arizona, a state with a large number of immigrants.

The most recent example, the Aderholt Amendment, passed this month by the House, denies vulnerable immigrants in ICE detention centers access to important reproductive care. This amendment is particularly harmful given the well-documented incidence of sexual assault in detention centers. The coalition will issue the letter to the Senate today.

WHEN: From 3 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, EST, June 20, 2012.

CONTACT To learn more about health care reform and its impact on immigrants, please visit www.ncwir.wordpress.com. To schedule an interview with NCIWR, please contact Erin White, erin@caminopr.com, 212-255-2575.