For Immediate Release Media Contact: Sybil Miller
March 6, 2020 C: (585) 705-6477
O: (404) 505-7777
smiller@sisterlove.org
SisterLove and ACLU of Georgia Kick Off National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day with a Press Conference
SisterLove and ACLU of Georgia are holding a press conference on March 11th at 9:30am at the Capitol Building in Room 122 honoring National Women and Girls HIV/ AIDS Awareness Day. NWGHAAD is an annual, nationwide observance that sheds light on the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. Every year beginning on March 10, and throughout the month of March, federal, national, and community organizations come together to offer support and hope, reduce stigma, share information, and empower women and girls to learn the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment.
Today, about one in four people living with HIV in the United States are women 13 or older. Only about half of women living with HIV are getting care, and only four in 10 of them have the virus under control. Women face unique HIV risks and challenges that can prevent them from getting needed care and treatment. Addressing these issues remains critical to achieving an HIV/AIDS-free generation.
While there are many milestones in HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, it is important to recognize that the disease affects women all across the country. Some women are living with HIV while working and taking care of families. Other women are caregivers to family members or friends with HIV/AIDS. During National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we invite everyone to help reduce stigma.
For National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, SisterLove will be having a legislative advocacy day on March 11 focusing on legislation which we believe is necessary to our Reproductive Justice Mission. We will be discussing the bills we have highlighted as well as the need for support for women and girls who are living with or impacted by HIV/AIDS.
Speakers:
9:30-10:00 am
- Sequoia Ayala, Esq., MA- Director of Policy and Advocacy at SisterLove (Moderator)
- Natalie Hernandez., PhD, MPH- Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine
- Hope King- Private Citizen
These are the bills we will be discussing, highlighting and supporting that day:
HB746- Women’s Right to Immediate Access Act: A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 9A of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the "Woman's Right to Know Act," so as to authorize any female upon whom an abortion is to be performed to decide not to receive or review informational materials regarding an unborn child, certify that she received or reviewed such informational materials, view the fetal image, or hear the fetal heartbeat prior to obtaining an abortion; to provide for documentation of such decision; to provide for limited liability; to provide for related matters; to provide for a short title; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20192020/HB/746
HB745- Georgia Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act: A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 2A of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Department of Public Health, so as to enact the "Georgia Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act"; to provide for legislative findings and intent; to provide for definitions; to require perinatal facilities in this state to implement evidence based implicit bias programs for its health care professionals; to require certain components in such programs; to provide for initial and refresher training; to provide for the compilation and tracking of data on severe maternal morbidity and pregnancy related deaths; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
SB 279- Consent for Surgical or Medical Treatment: A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 9 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to consent for surgical or medical treatment, so as to prohibit pelvic examinations on an anesthetized or unconscious female patient without consent or a court order except in cases of emergency; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
HB719- Modernization of HIV Related Laws: A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 16 of the O.C.G.A., relating to crimes and offenses, so as to provide for the modernization of HIV related laws to align with science to ensure that laws and policies support current understanding of best public health practices for preventing and treating HIV, scientific evidence about routes of transmission, and the public health goals of promoting HIV prevention and treatment; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
HB133- Quality Basic Education Act: A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the "Quality Basic Education Act," so as to require that any course of study in sex education and HIV/AIDS prevention instruction is medically accurate; to provide for a definition; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
HB188- Positive Alternatives for Pregnancy and Parenting Grant Program: A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to health, so as to repeal Article 2 of Chapter 2A, relating to the Positive Alternatives for Pregnancy and Parenting Grant Program; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
SisterLove, Inc., is the oldest women-centered HIV and sexual & reproductive health organization in the Southeastern United States. It was founded in 1989 to address HIV-related education, prevention and research, and to support the rights of reproductive justice for all women and girls. SisterLove’s mission is to eradicate the impact of HIV and other sexual and reproductive oppressions on all women and their communities in the US and globally. SisterLove, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with a satellite office in Johannesburg, South Africa.