Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice

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Guidelines / Contacts for Writing Letters to the Editor
Letters to Editors (by Women's Voices Members)

Current Advocacy Efforts

Gun Solutions
Health Care
Streamlined Sales Tax
Predatory Lending

Action Alerts

Action Alerts are a way our members can join together to advocate on a current issue. Those who enroll in the Alert program receive an email which provides the information needed to take action. Included in the email will be sample phone scripts and/or sample letters you can send to legislators or newspapers. Our Alerts concern:

issues on which we have position papers
issues that have been presented to our members at monthly meetings
issues related to current advocacy projects
issues of particular interest to preserving the rights of women and children.

Over the last year our members have:

asked Missouri legislators to support legislation reforming the payday loan industry
called on Attorney General Rich Koster not to join in lawsuits opposing the implementation of provisions of the Affordable Care Act
asked legislative committee members to introduce legislation bringing Missouri into compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement
urged the Missouri budget conference committee to keep funding for three programs that help our neediest citizens
called Governor Jay Nixon, urging him to veto legislation which would implement voter ID legislation
written letters to newspapers urging support for health insurance exchanges
contacted state representatives and asked them to stand against voter suppression and voter photo ID legislation
called State Senators Brown and Schaefer, asking them to not cut money from child care assistance programs
contacted Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, asking him to veto a bill that would deny insurance coverage to women for contraceptive services if their employer had a religious objection to contraception

If you would like to be on our Action Alert list send a message to with "Sign Me Up" in the subject line.

Action Alert Results ... Mary Clemons

A recent Women's Voices action alert called on us to write letters to the editor to papers across the state. We were asked to let the readers of these papers know that the senate committee conducting hearings on the creation of health insurance exchanges was ignoring and not calling on the citizens who came to speak. They were only hearing the testimony of the insurance industry executives.

The alert provided background information and a number of sample letters to copy and paste or to modify. A link to a list of papers made sending the letter easy.

It took me about 30 minutes to send my letters to 23 Missouri newspapers. The result amazed me. The Kansas City Star, the Independence/Blue Springs Examiner and the Springfield News Leader published my letters. I even received a telephone call from a former legislator in Texas County (Ft. Leonard Wood area) who was thrilled that readers in the conservative Springfield area could see how our state legislators conduct business and how private citizens were not heard. And I was most touched by a letter from Marianne Shouse, the mother of our beloved Melanie who died of breast cancer while advocating for affordable, quality health care for all. Marianne read the letter in the Kansas City Star, sent me a paper copy, and says she thinks of us often and how proud Melanie was to be a member.

Will my letters change how our legislators behave? Probably not. Will the readers take action? Maybe, maybe not. Will the letters make a more informed public? Let's hope so!

Mary's letter published in the Independence Examiner September 7, regarding health exchanges
Mary's letter published in the Post Dispatch September 1, concerning the need for legislators to meet with their constituents.

If you are interested in becoming involved in any of our advocacy efforts, email us at .