Page 40 - California Woman with daisy cover

There were 19 in-person and nine on Zoom when the Conference reconvened on Saturday.

First up was Amanda Owen, filmmaker and Executive Director of Jus-
tice Bell Foundation, on Zoom. She showed a short film on the Justice
Bell, which was used in 1915 in Pennsylvania to help pass the women’s
suffrage bill. For five months they crisscrossed the State with the bell.
The vote was unsuccessful, but after the 19th Amendment was ratified,
the bell was rung 48 times in cele-
bration. The bell essentially got lost,
but Owen found it and helped to tell
its story. After Owen’s presentation
there was a discussion of possible
Amanda Owen,
Focus Issues for the State, Districts
Justice Bell Foundation
and Clubs for the next two years.
Three will be recommended to CFBPW Annual Conference in May.
Attendees also revised and added to the Public Policy Statement for recommendation to the

CFBPW Annual Conference.
The morning speaker was Fabiola Carrion of the National Health Law Center where she is the
Director, Reproductive and Sexual Health. She pointed out that one in four
women in the U.S. will have an abortion during their lifetime. In 1973 the
Roe v. Wade decision allowed abortion until the viability of the fetus. Con-
gressmember Henry Hyde was opposed to abortion. In 1978 he was able
to get the Hyde Amendment passed which prohibited the usage of federal
funds for abortions. Most women who have abortions are mothers and
most have abortions for economic reasons. Since 2000 and even before
the Dobbs decision there have been 500 State restrictions on abortions –
e.g. requiring mothers to look at ultrasounds of the fetus before an abor-
tion. Thirty-three States require minors to get parental approval before
abortions. She went on to give other infor-
mation and statistics including cases before the
Supreme Court. In 2021 Governor Newsom cre- Fabiola Carrion
ated the Future of Abortion Council. They came
forward with 45 recommendations including putting the right to
abortion in the California Constitution. This became Proposition 1
which the voters of California passed a couple years ago. She then
reviewed a couple of bills in Congress pertaining to abortion, which
she thinks could be passed in the next ten years. She said there is
no protection in the Constitution for women and girls. As she had
worked in Latin America on abortion access, she updated us on their
progress – e.g. Columbia, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico have
Fabiola Carrion with made abortion legal. All of Latin America has ratified CEDAW.
Public Policy Co-Chair
Rosemary
After Fabiola’s presentation Linda Wil-
son updated the Conference on the Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA). Wilson then introduced Aria-Vue Daugherty, who is
with the Young Feminist Party (formerly called Generation Rati-
fy). She is a Senior at Santa Ynez Valley High School and will be
attending Harvard in the fall. She said that the Young Feminist
Party had twice blocked Constitution Avenue in Washington,
D.C. to get Congress to pass the ERA. They are also working on
LGBTQ rights. She pointed out that women’s rights should not
be a partisan issue. As a gift for her speaking and telling
about the Young Feminist Party, CFBPW gave her a Student On left: Rosemary,
membership in NFBPWC and BPW International. on right: Aria-Vue Daughtery,
in the middle: Aria-Vue’s mother