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Dear Friends and Supporters,

The AFA has learned that Honda Manufacturing of Alabama has issued a request to its health insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, asking that they specifically “...exclude domestic partners (same-sex partners) from Assisted Reproductive Technology benefits including diagnostic services related to fertility/infertility that have a fertility or infertility diagnosis.”

The AFA is committed to fairness and equality for all people who desire to raise a family, and believe that the option to pursue medical treatment for infertility must be available to all those who need treatment, not only those with the resources to pay for the treatment out of pocket. Decisions made during infertility treatments must be strictly medical decisions, not financial ones.

We are dismayed that Honda Manufacturing of Alabama would take a stance that can only be described as discriminatory and anti-family, denying gay and lesbian couples ART benefits that they otherwise would have been able to access. As we said when we reached out to Honda nearly a month ago, asking for a meeting to discuss their policy, we stand ready to work with them to ensure fair and equal treatment for all their employees who desire to create a family. Honda has yet to respond to our requests.

Why are we taking on this issue? Because when it comes to reproductive choice, there is no “us” or “them”. We’re all in this together, and we need to stand with each other as a united front.

Please take a moment to make a contribution so that we can continue to advocate on behalf of all those who, more than anything, want to have a family.

We would also appreciate it if you would call Honda Manufacturing and send a letter to:

Honda of Alabama
Attn: Mark Morrison, Corporate Affairs Manager
Attn: Hiroshi Sasamoto, President
1800 Honda Dr
Lincoln, AL 35096
(205) 355-8000

Feel free to craft your own letter, or use something like this:

+++++++

Dear NAME,

We’re writing to ask you to end your discriminatory policy against same sex couples by denying them Assisted Reproductive Technology insurance benefits while providing those same benefits to opposite sex couples. This policy is unfair, unjust and ultimately, anti-family.

Thank you,

Your Name

+++++++

With our deep appreciation,

The Staff of the AFA

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STAND AGAINST THREATS TO YOUR RIGHTS TO ART

In states across the country, anti-abortion activists are attempting an end-run around Roe V. Wade by introducing legislation to confer full constitutional rights on fertilized eggs. Should these bills pass into law, the net effect would chill – or kill—the practice and use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies in those states. Such legislation would make fertility specialists and patients liable for the “welfare” of the embryos they create. You may not call Colorado, Georgia, or Louisana home, but it is important to add your voice to protest such legislation. Because next time, the state could be yours.

The November ballot in Colorado will carry a vote on a constitutional amendment that establishes personhood at the point of conception. The American Fertility Association is asking you to send emails to Colorado’s legislative bodies, newspapers and politicians stating your objection to such a constitutional amendment and that we will not tolerate measures that put us at risk for choosing to have families.

State House
SPEAKER
SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE
MAJORITY LEADER
MAJORITY CAUCUS CHAIRMAN
MAJORITY ASSISTANT CAUCUS CHAIR
MAJORITY DEPUTY WHIP
MAJORITY WHIP
MINORITY LEADER
MINORITY CAUCUS CHAIRMAN
ASSISTANT MINORITY LEADER
MINORITY WHIP
CHIEF CLERK
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS
REPRESENTATIVE

State Senate
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
MAJORITY LEADER
ASST MAJORITY LEADER
MAJORITY CAUCUS CHAIR
MINORITY LEADER
ASST MINORITY LEADER
ASST CAUCUS CHAIR
MINORITY CAUCUS CHAIR
PRESIDENT PRO TEM

Newspapers
• Major metro:
• Denver:Post and Denver City Guide
• Denver:Rocky Mountain News and Denver City Guide

• Daily:
• Aspen:News and Aspen City Guide
• Boulder:Camera and Boulder City Guide
• Breckenridge-Dillon:Summit News
• Colorado Springs:Gazette
• Craig:Press
• Durango:Herald
• Ft. Collins:Coloradoan
• Ft. Morgan:Times
• Grand Junction:Sentinel and Grand Junction City Guide
• Greeley:Tribune
• La Junta:Tribune-Democrat• Lamar:News
• Longmont:Times-Call
• Loveland:Reporter-Herald and Loveland City Guide
• Montrose:Press
• Pueblo:Chieftain
• Salida:Arkansas Valley Publishing newspapers
• Vail:Daily and Vail City Guide
• Denver Post
• Rocky Mountain News

Television Stations
• ABC network
• Denver:KMGH (Ch. 7) and Denver City Guide
• Grand Junction:KJCT (Ch. 8) and Grand Junction City Guide

• CBS network:
• Colorado Springs:KKTV (Ch. 11)
• Denver:KCNC (Ch. 4) and Denver City Guide
• Durango:KREZ (Ch. 6)
• Grand Junction:KREX (Ch. 5) and Grand Junction City Guide

• Fox network:
• Colorado Springs:KXRM (Ch. 21)
• Denver:KDVR (Ch. 31) and Denver City Guide
• Independent:
• Denver:KCEC (Ch. 50) and Denver City Guide
• Englewood:KWHD (Ch. 53)

•Denver:KUSA (Ch. 9) and Denver City Guide
• Grand Junction:KKCO (Ch. 11) and Grand Junction City Guide
• Pueblo:KOAA (Ch. 5 & 30)

• PBS network:
• Denver:KBDI (Ch. 12) and Denver City Guide
• Denver:KRMA (Ch. 6) and Denver City Guide
• Grand Junction:KRMJ (Ch. 18) and Grand Junction City Guide
• Pueblo:KTSC (Ch. 8)

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GET REAL!

We’ve been all about getting medically accurate, culturally and age appropriate comprehensive sex education into the schools so that kids will know how to prevent sexually transmitted infections and diseases that compromise fertility, health and life. We urge you to contact your Federal Legislators in the Senate and the Senate to urge them to pass the REAL Act. The REAL Act will provide federal funding to states for meaningful education that includes information about both abstinence and contraception, from both a values and public health perspective. Currently, no federal funding exists for comprehensive sex education in public schools. However, three separate federal programs, totaling $176 million this year alone, support unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. This is true despite the fact that the majority of Americans (parents, teachers, medical health professionals, and registered voters) overwhelmingly support sex education that will help protect teens from unintended pregnancy and HIV/AIDS and, as important, protect and preserve fertility. Our goal is to reverse this trend – help us by encouraging your representatives to support the REAL Act.

Send this letter urging your federal representatives to support the Responsible Education About Life Act, asking them to support federal funding for medically accurate, age appropriate, culturally sensitive comprehensive sexuality education.

Dear

As a supporter of The American Fertility Association, I am writing to encourage you to support the REAL act because REAL sex ed saves lives and protects our children’s right to become parents if and when they choose.

Currently, no federal funding exists for comprehensive sex education in public schools. However, three separate federal programs, totaling $176 million this year alone, support unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. This is true despite the fact that the majority of Americans (parents, teachers, medical health professionals, and registered voters) overwhelmingly support sex education that will help protect teens from unintended pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.

Our goal is to reverse this trend – and we hope that REAL will provide a new structure for federal funding dedicated for sex education. I strongly encourage you to lend your support to this important piece of legislation.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

US Senate:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

US House of Representatives:
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

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SAFE TOYS FOR TOTS

The American Fertility Association has been writing in articles, in OpEds and in fact sheets about the hidden perils of pthalates, a chemical found in hundreds of everyday products, including plastics and personal health care . There’s enough gathered scientific evidence to establish BPA as an endocrine disruptor that is not only carcinogenic but also has a negative impact on fertility. Your fertility and that of the children you have or hope to have. Senator Diane FIenstein (D-Ca) has introduced an amendment to The Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act (CPSCA) to ban pthalates in the manufacture, sale and distribution of certain children’s products and child care articles. The AFA urges you to email, phone or write to your U.S. Senator expressing your support for the Feinstein Amendment – one that would allow the United States to join the European Union and 14 separate countries in requiring the safest toys for its children.

US Senate:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

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