Tag Archives: Living United for Change in Arizona

The People’s Agenda and the Next 100 Days

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The following guest post comes to us via Kelley Dupps, strategic relations officer for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.

I love the smell of democracy in the morning!

Monday, January 13, was Opening Day of the 2020 Arizona Legislative Session, and it reeked of (small ‘d’) democratic hopes and dreams. But right out of the gate, before the session even started, Republicans filed bills that are set on limiting the rights of everyone from teachers to asylum seekers, cutting funding to public schools, and essentially outlawing inclusive sex education.

Planned Parenthood gathered with civic leaders, organizations, and progressives from around the state to remind legislators they are here to get the People’s work done and not be distracted by personal politics.

Our agenda — the People’s Agenda — reflects the needs of everyone in Arizona:

  • Education is vital to the future of our state and our children, and our partners at Arizona Education Association are advocating on behalf of teachers and educators for more equitable and progressive funding of public schools — including teacher and support staff pay, facilities maintenance, and school counselor and nurse allocations.
  • When it comes to Reproductive Rights & Justice, Planned Parenthood Arizona (PPAZ) and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona (PPAA) are gladiators for bodily autonomy. PPAA aims to repeal a 1906 law that Arizona has on the books that criminalizes abortion providers by imprisonment of up to five years.
  • In terms of Equality, we heard from our partners at the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Arizona, who reminded us that LGBTQ people are still treated differently in Arizona and our vigilance is needed to protect the rights of all. Already this session, lawmakers are rumored to have introduced bills (like these already introduced in other states) that interfere with the delivery of health care to transgender youth. And sex “education” bills have been introduced that do not allow students to learn about the spectrum of identities, and others mandate schools teach abstinence to homosexuality.
  • Our partners at Teamsters 104 spoke on the need and the power of labor unions, highlighting the struggle of Tucson’s steelworkers, who have been on strike since October. Arizona needs an economy that is fair and works for all of us, and our partners at LUCHA are working to ensure the voter-passed minimum wage increases remain unhindered by the Legislature, while ensuring predatory loan companies are not a threat to Arizona families.
  • On the Environment; our friends at Chispa and the Sierra Club once again spoke truth to power, even if that power denies that truth. Climate change and the risk to communities’ air and water are real and happening now, and Chispa has been fighting the money and influence of Arizona Public Service Co. in the past few cycles.

The next 100 days are expected to be a roller coaster of emotions and parliamentary procedure. We’ll need your voice, your action, and, ultimately, your commitment to get us through 2020!

Please ensure you and everyone you care about is registered to vote, knows about the upcoming elections, and gets out the vote!

Meet Our Candidates: Gilbert Romero for State Representative, LD 21

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The time to fight back — and fight forward — for reproductive justice is fast approaching. The stakes are high in this year’s state election, with candidates for governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and other races on the ballot. The Arizona primary election will be held August 28, 2018, and voters need to be registered by July 30 to cast their ballots. Reproductive health has been under attack, both nationally and statewide, but Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed candidates who put our health and our rights first. Get to know them now in our series of “Meet Our Candidates” interviews, and make your voice heard in 2018!

[J]ust weeks before he announced his candidacy for state representative late last year, Gilbert Romero was hitting the pavement for another campaign — the nationwide push for the Medicare for All Act. Although he’s only in his mid-20s, Romero has ample experience as a canvasser and community organizer in the Phoenix metro area. In addition to Medicare expansion, he has been an advocate and activist for the rights of working families and immigrant communities.

“It’s a fundamental right for people to have autonomy over their bodies and lives.”

Romero also brings “deep Arizona roots” to his candidacy, as he puts it on his campaign website. His family has been in Phoenix’s West Valley for generations — and, lately, that’s where he’s been going door to door to talk to community members. Romero seeks to represent Legislative District 21, which includes the West Valley communities of Peoria, Surprise, El Mirage, Sun City, and Youngtown.

A recent incident in the first of those cities puts in sharp focus the need for candidates like Romero, who is also an ardent supporter of reproductive rights. Peoria made national headlines last month when a pharmacist there refused to fill a prescription for local first-grade teacher Nicole Arteaga. Arteaga had gone to the pharmacy after learning from her physician that her pregnancy would end in miscarriage, as the fetus she was carrying had no heartbeat. The pharmacist, though, cited ethical objections to providing medications that would safely end her pregnancy. He was protected by a 2012 “right to refuse” law that Democratic state legislators have been trying to repeal since it passed.

When it comes to reproductive rights, Romero doesn’t mince words. As he wrote on social media earlier this year, “Our campaign unapologetically supports a woman’s right to choose.” It was that commitment that earned Romero the endorsement of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona (PPAA). Romero generously took the time to tell PPAA more about his background, positions, and campaign on July 8, 2018.

Please tell us a little about your background.

I’m a third-generation Arizonan who’s lived in my district for my whole life. I earned my bachelor’s degree in women and gender studies in 2015 and then worked as a community organizer with Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) working on the Fight for $15 campaign, fighting for workers’ rights. I’ve also been arrested fighting for the immigrant community.

I was also appointed the Young Ambassador from the City of Peoria, to Newtownards, Northern Ireland, when I was 16, representing my city in a cultural exchange program. I’ve always had a passion for public service and community organizing. Continue reading →