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Reminder: "Fixing Medicare Part D" on October 26th |
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The Jewish Social Policy Action Network presents two town hall meetings on October 26th
 Fixing
Medicare
Part D
with
Tom Snedden, Director, PACE & PACENT program
&
Bruce Sigman, R.Ph., former President, PA Pharmacists Association will be at the Congregation Adath Jeshurun program.
- 11 AM at The Philadelphian (2401 Pennsylvania Ave, Philadelphia)
- 8 PM at Congregation Adath Jeshurun (7763 Old York Road, Elkins Park)
Contact JSPAN (215) 635-2554, jspan@jspan.org
Come with questions, leave with answers
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The CARE Act -- Current Developments |
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JSPAN supports the goal of providing rape victims with emergency
contraceptives. Two bills, introduced into the Pennsylvania Legislature,
would require hospitals to both inform rape victims of this concentrated
dose of contraceptives and provide it.
The Pennsylvania Senate amended the CARE Act to exempt "religiously affiliated health
care facilities" from informing rape victims of the emergency contraceptive
if it conflicts with their religious views.
The National Council of Jewish Women, Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania
Advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union withdrew their support for
the Bill. JSPAN agrees.
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Bruce Ackerman: Talk of 'war' is misleading and dangerous |
 Donald Rumsfeld was right. Only a year ago, he urged President Bush to reject the "war on terror" as a misleading metaphor. But the president has ignored his secretary's advice, leaving it to the rest of us to heed Rumsfeld's warning.
Terror is merely a technique: the intentional attack on innocent civilians. But war isn't a technical matter: it is a life-and-death struggle against a particular enemy. We made war against Japan, not its kamikaze pilots.
Once we allow ourselves to declare war on a technique, we open up a dangerous path, authorizing the president to lash out at amorphous threats without the need to define them...
Whoever wins in November, both parties must build a bipartisan coalition behind statutes that put powerful checks on recent excesses.
Terrorism is a grave threat, and it may well require recalibration of the balance between security and freedom. But this should be done through democratic deliberation and debate, not by presidential war-making against fellow citizens.
[read more]
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Attacks on Voluntary School Integration Reach Supreme Court |
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The Supreme Court will hear two challenges to voluntary school integration
programs later this year. In both cases, white students challenged school
board integration plans that assigned them to schools not of their choice.
Louisville, Kentucky operated under a court ordered integration plan for 25
years. When the court plan ended, in order to preserve integration the
school board adopted a guideline that all schools shall have between 15% and
50% black students. The plaintiff is a white student seeking to attend the
elementary school nearest to his home; however, he is currently required to go elsewhere because
of the guideline.
Seattle has no history of official segregation, but in order to maintain a
racially integrated system, the school board declined to give a large number
of mostly white students their first choice of high school. Both cases
argue that the racial balance plans discriminate and deprive the students of
equal protection under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
The American Bar Association Journal (October 2006, page 12) states that the
most recent case near point is Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's 2003 ruling
that colleges and universities have a compelling interest in maintaining
racial diversity, and therefore may consider a student's race as a factor in
admissions. But the vote on this decision was 5 to 4, with Justices Scalia,
Kennedy and Thomas in dissent. With the addition of Justices Alito and
Roberts and the departure of O'Connor, the two new cases could end quite
differently.
For more information:
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Senators Urge Swift Action in Darfur |
 Late last month, a bipartisan group of Senators came together in support of pushing forward the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act. This legislation calls for the U.S. to seek passage of a United Nations resolution that would place sanctions on the government of Sudan until such time that the government:
- Allows humanitarian organizations full access in the Darfur region;
- Cooperates fully in bringing to justice those individuals responsible for the genocide;
- Ensures the safety of displaced persons to their homes.
Senators Feingold, Brownback, Obama, DeWine and Coburn held a press conference in late September, calling on Congress to pass the bill and address the growing problem. Two years ago the United States labeled the crisis in Darfur a genocide. Approximately 200,000 people have died in the past three years.
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Absentee Ballot Deadline Approaching |
 With Election Day only 25 days away, JSPAN would like to remind everyone that if you foresee being unable to vote on November 7th to apply for an absentee ballot. Applications for absentee ballots must be received by October 31st. Your absentee ballot must be received by November 3rd to count toward state and local elections - ballots received after 11/3 may be eligible to be counted for Federal elections.
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Want to Join?
To become a voting JSPAN member, please go to www.JSPAN.org. On the right side of your screen you will be able to start a secure transaction and become a voting member.
Make all checks payable to:
JSPAN
2033 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
JSPAN Officers
Jeffrey Pasek
President
Kenneth Fox
Vice President
Kenneth Myers
Vice President
Joel Beaver
Treasurer
Stewart Weintraub
Secretary & General Counsel
Directors:
Susan Myers, Chair
Irwin Aronson
Connie Beresin
Deanne Comer
Hon. Ruth Damsker
Alisa Field
Helen Fox
Brian Gocial
Nancy Gordon
Brian Gralnick
Jerome Kaplan
Lazar Kleit
Eve Klothen
Barry Kramer
Ruth Laibson
Judah Labovitz
Theodore Mann
Sidney Margulies
Norm Newberg
Joshua Pasek
Ruth Perry
Ruth Schultz
Burt Siegel
Jared Solomon
Rabbi David Straus
Barry Ungar
Rabbi Avi Winokur
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