FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK—November 14, 2011—The Ms. Foundation for Women today announced $220,000 in grants to support state advocates working to ensure that women have access to essential reproductive health services under the new health care reform law.

In addition to financial support, the Ms. Foundation is offering strategic technical assistance to enable the cohort to build strong state platforms and increase collaborative efforts between other cross-movement social justice organizations working on health care reform implementation.

Six women’s rights, reproductive health and social justice organizations across five states will receive grants ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 to bolster the strength of their political influence and raise the visibility of women’s health as integral to general health care.

“For too long, women – particularly low-income women, women of color and immigrants – have been denied affordable access to health care,” said Ms. Foundation Program Officer Ellen Liu. “Health care reform presents a tremendous opportunity for states to institutionalize equity for marginalized communities, who often need care most. The Ms. Foundation is committed to helping overcome the discrimination inherent in our health care system through the leadership of our grantees.”

The grantees are Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, in Denver; Northwest Health Law Advocates, in Seattle; Oregon Foundation for Reproductive Health, in Portland, Ore.; Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, in Seattle; Raising Women’s Voices – New York, in New York; and West Virginia FREE, in Charleston, West Va.

With health care reform implementation already in progress, federal and state legislators have been chipping away at women’s health care by slashing funding for contraceptives, HIV testing, breast cancer screening and other essential services. Title X-supported health centers have found themselves under attack by anti-choice legislators, often leaving uninsured women with nowhere else to turn. The Ms. Foundation’s health care reform grants will help ensure that women’s perspectives are prioritized and represented in health care reform implementation.

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About the Ms. Foundation for Women
The Ms. Foundation for Women is the leading national social justice foundation committed to building women’s power to ignite change. Every day, it helps over 150 grassroots organizations across the US fight for changes like good paying jobs, reproductive health, ending violence against women and girls, and the inclusion of women at decision-making tables. By investing in social justice trailblazers—especially women from low-income communities and communities of color most affected by injustice—it works for a nation in which power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, class, or any other factor. The Ms. Foundation delivers funding, builds skills, develops leaders, connects activists with allies, and amplifies the voices of our grantees to create change that benefits women, families and communities. Since 1973, the Ms. Foundation has invested nearly $60 million in thousands of organizations and influenced other funders to support solutions from the ground up. ms.foundation.org.