Cville Dems

The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

Report: 6/27 Executive Committee Meeting

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cartoon people sitting around a meeting tableErin Monaghan presented the recommendations of the Bylaws Committee, chaired by Dave Chapman, which proposed numerous reforms (the bylaws hadn’t been looked at for 11 years!), including:
  • adding language to promote inclusiveness
  • giving the Full Committee flexibility in setting dues
  • establishing renewable 10-year terms for ex-officio members (instead of the existing lifetime term)
  • codifying that online meetings have the same official status as in-person meetings
  • enabling the Executive Committee to call an emergency meeting of the Full Committee to pass a resolution on a subject of pressing importance. Note: There was some disagreement about this issue at the meeting, with some members pressing for the ability of the Executive Committee to issue statements on its own behalf to maximize ability to respond.
Unfortunately, because there was no quorum for an official meeting, no vote could be taken on the bylaws, which meant we also couldn’t vote on issuing a statement condemning the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe (or any other matter). Reminder– it’s important to come out to the Full Committee meetings whenever possible!

Support Local Abortion Access with a Donation

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photo of dozens of protesters holding banner We Won't Go Back

Here are some of the leading organizations who have been and are continuing to do the very hard work of ensuring abortion access in our area:

Blue Ridge Abortion Fund: The regional fund is part of a national network of abortion funds that provides assistance to people seeking abortions — from money to help cover the procedure to transportation costs. Last month the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund was already recieving calls for assistance from people out-of-state. The fund provides financial assistance on a first come, first serve basis. They estimate that abortion providers and assisting funds in Virginia will face a continued uptick.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia (PPAV): The state chapter of the national organization provides health services like birth control, pregnancy-related care, general health care, and transgender hormone therapy, as well as abortions. [Note– this is a 501(c)4 political organization.

Whole Women’s Health of Charlottesville: This is a local clinic and abortion provider that is part of a national organization. The organization also provides counseling, pap smears, STD testing and birth control. It can also mail abortion pills to clients.

[Above excerpted from Charlottesville Tomorrow, another good organization to support]

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT): This is the nonprofit health care provider that operates theCharlottesville Health Center (and 13 other locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia).

Rally to Protest the Overturning of Roe v. Wade

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We’re  holding a rally at this morning (Saturday 6/25) at 11am at the Free Speech Wall to protest the outrageous (Republican-engineered) Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, throwing out decades of legal precedent and going against the will of the American people.

If you’re still feeling this outrage, please join us for an hour to share your feelings with other community members and show your commitment to reversing this injustice.

We’re still lining up speakers for this last-minute event, but confirmed speakers included:

  • our State Sen. Creigh Deeds
  • Charlottesville City Council member Michael Payne
  • a representative from Blue Ridge Abortion Fund
  • a representative from the UVA Dems
  • a recent high school graduate

In addition to these and other in-person speakers, we will be reading excerpts from the statements of some key local leaders and groups.

Abortion Rights and Access in a Post-Roe Charlottesville (RESCHEDULED)

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June 23, 2022 Abortion Access webinar poster

Anticipating the Supreme Court overturning abortion rights, the Cville Dems and the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund are sponsoring a Zoom webinar on Thursday June 23, 7:00-8:30pm, to help our community understand and prepare for the local challenges of the post-Roe abortion access landscape.

Pre-register here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ssI39I46QEuznYVZsy0_YQ

Virginia is a “receiving” state for abortion seekers; if abortion is banned in other states there’ll be a huge impact on abortion access here.
The webinar, produced by the Fund, will share “in the trenches” perspectives from a variety of Southern abortion funds:
  • how we got here
  • why the potential overturning of Roe isn’t just about abortion
  • how to talk about abortion access as a moral and community good
  • how community members can support abortion access today.
Please attend if you can (pre-registration required), and please share this invitation widely with friends, family, and anyone who wants/needs to understand this challenging new abortion landscape.
RESCHEDULED for 6/23 (originally 6/16), time and webinar link are still the same.

Josh Throneburg Campaign News (6/17/22)

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Photo of Josh TrentTrent Fisher, a VCU grad from Greene County, has just come on board as the Campaign’s point person for Charlottesville and Albemarle: canvassing, phone banking, text banking (coming very soon!), meet & greets, etc. Come meet him in person at next Saturday’s Fish Fry (you do have your tickets, right!?) or reach him by email trent@joshforvirginia.com .
Dudley Doane reports that Josh’s June 4th Leadership Summit (6/4) went really well, an all-around great day. Turnout was good (and diverse), and Dudley was particularly struck by a major turnout of trained up and motivated people from the former Spanberger districts and from the Lynchburg/Amherst area. Del. Sam Rasoul, Sen. Jennifer McClellan, DPVA’s Gaylene Kanoyton, 5th District Chair Patricia Harper-Tunley, and Rural GroundGame’s Jennifer Kitchen provided valuable training.
Josh Throneburg yard sign
Reminder: if you live at a high-visibility property, help raise Josh Throneburg’s visibility by hosting one of his yard signs! Dudley or Jane Boatner will be happy to deliver one to you, just contact him: jlbd1013@gmail.com