Stabilize telehealth, not a hush money trial, Sister District, and more!
Contact all members of Congress:
- By phone: (202) 224-3121
- By email: democracy.io
- By US mail: Representatives / Senators
- By fax: Representatives / Senators
- By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
- STABILIZE TELEHEALTHDuring the pandemic, emergency regulations made telemedicine and telehealth easier. Receiving medical care in online video visits or phone calls can be convenient, especially for rural residents. Congress is now debating extending telehealth emergency regulations. It’s a complex issue but the uncertainty is disruptive. A New England Journal of Medicine commentary has a deeper dive. Let’s urge our representatives, particularly if they’re on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, to extend emergency regulations for telehealth beyond the end-of-year deadline and then work on permanent policies.
- NOT A HUSH MONEY TRIALOpening arguments began today in the first criminal trial of the former president. Media outlets everywhere are calling it a “hush money” trial when it really is much more. Using the term “hush money” confuses many on the right who are wondering why Clinton’s hush money payment is different from this. It is very different. The payment in the Clinton matter was public and legal, and the funds did not come from the government, nor did they amount to a campaign contribution. By comparison, the payment in Trump’s case was through a shell company and reimbursed by Trump, whose company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses in the final weeks of his 2016 presidential campaign. When we see/hear this misnomer, let’s tell the media “Dear Media, if you are going to continue calling it a “hush money trial”, please refer to it as a “hush money/election interference trial “, which it really is.
- SISTER DISTRICT PROJECTUnlike many other organizations, Sister District works to strengthen the Democratic presence in state legislatures. Their electoral strategy is the cornerstone of their mission: to build enduring progressive power in state legislatures and establish Democratic majorities. Their 2023 Impact Report is impressive. Let’s check out their 2024 strategy and see where we can help.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
- MA – FAIRNESS FOR FARMWORKERS
Massachusetts is one of 43 states where the people who grow our food are not protected by minimum wage laws. Advocates for farmworkers are striving to change that this session. The Fairness for Farmworkers Act (H. 2812/S. 1837) would end the exception and apply our state minimum wage to agriculture and farm work, along with providing overtime pay for farmworkers and allowing them to earn paid time off. Let’s contact our legislators and urge them to support this effort. We can do so directly or by using this template from the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition.
CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES
Unfortunately, there was an incorrect phone number in one of yesterday’s entries. It has been corrected below. Thanks to our readers for keeping us honest!
- PREGNANT WOMEN TURNED AWAY FROM EMERGENCY ROOMS
Once again, the warnings of reproductive rights advocates have been tragically prescient. As they long predicted, an Associated Press report revealed that complaints that pregnant women were turned away from emergency rooms spiked in the months after the Dobbs decision, contributing to miscarriages and the death of newborns. This comes despite the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requiring emergency rooms to treat, stabilize or provide a medical transfer to patients in active labor as long as they accept Medicare funding – a law dozens of hospitals are accused of breaking. While the threat of hefty fines and losing Medicare funding could sharply discourage hospitals from engaging in this sort of cruelty, it is unclear what if any penalties the Department of Health and Human Services has sought, weakening the deterrent, and many of these cases go under the radar entirely. This has to change. Let’s contact the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services, The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, or Toll-Free Call Center: 1-877-696-6775) and encourage them to put more resources and energy into aggressively and publicly cracking down on ERs that are illegally turning away pregnant women.
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