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Press Releases

Reproductive Justice is a Worker’s Right: APALA Condemns U.S. Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v Wade

6/24/2022

 

For Immediate Release: June 24th, 2022

Contact: Katie Moy Mostris, katie@apala.org

Reproductive Justice is a Worker’s Right: APALA Condemns U.S. Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v Wade

Washington, DC - Today, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling on Dobbs v Jackson’s Women Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision which established a constitutional right to abortion. Effective today,  nearly 40 million women, girls, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people in 26 states will lose access to to abortion, a vital form of healthcare. APALA, as the first and only national organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander workers, condemns this decision and stands ready to join the fight for reproductive justice.

The resulting abortion ban disproportionately impacts AAPI access to abortion. Sixty-six percent of Asian Americans and 30 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders speak a language other than English at home and experience difficulties in accessing health care due to language barriers. In addition, a third of AAPI pregnancies end in abortion, underlining the necessity of this care in our community. In 2019, APALA passed a resolution on bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health that reaffirms our belief that “every that individual have a fundamental right to make personal reproductive health decisions free from coercion, discrimination, and stigma.”

The violence of patriarchy obscures the root cause of this issue which is to control the bodily autonomy and family making decisions of working people. Bodily autonomy is essential to our freedom and is a working a class issue. APALA will continue to stand in solidarity with people of color and other marginalized groups fighting for this freedom. As the Movement for Black Lives wrote in their statement, “Black women, girls, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people have been subjected to a long history of reproductive control rooted in the brutal legacy of enslavement—and denying access to safe, legal abortion and gender-affirming health services is a continuation of that troubling history.” APALA stands in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives and recognizes the disproportionate impact this decision has on our black and brown siblings. 

Jessica Tang, APALA National Treasurer and President of the Boston Teachers Union Local 66, said: “This ruling removes access to vital healthcare services, putting the health of women across the country at risk. In my journey to building my family, I was devastated to face choices that no expecting pregnant person wants to make. Due to a rare fetal anomoly that took a turn for the worse in my third trimester and medical complications resulting from this, I had to travel thousands of miles out of state to get a late term abortion. Access is already very limited, and I was lucky to have the ability and access to safe healthcare treatment, but under this ruling, many millions of families will be cut off from the treatment they need and it will become even more difficult for those who find themselves in situations like this. It is an economic justice issue and it is a health care issue, and our country has now gone backwards.”

Alvina Yeh, APALA Executive Director, said: “As a mother and someone who had an ectopic pregnancy that put my life in danger, I am grateful that I was given safe, legal options to terminate the pregnancy. Abortion access shouldn’t depend on how much you money you have or where you live. Yet, for too many, abortion is already too difficult to access. The Supreme Court’s opinion confirms our worst fears: the control of our bodies at the hands of the state. Reproductive justice is a worker’s right issue.”
​

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Founded in 1992, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, is the first and only national organization of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers, most of whom are union members and our allies, building power for AAPI workers and communities.

​APALA Responds to Last Presidential Debate

10/20/2016

 
Washington, DC - The presidential candidates met face to face in the last debate in Las Vegas before the November 8 election. The following is a statement issued by the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) in response to last night's debate: 

APALA National President Johanna Puno Hester stated: "Though last night's debate did focus more on important policy issues, one thing remained clear: one candidate had no substantive grasp on the issues or any plans to back up words, while one candidate is prepared to do so. We, at APALA, stand behind candidates up and down the ballot who not only understand the issues important to the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community but also stand up for all working families, immigrants, and women."

"I'm glad that the debate included discussion on important issues like immigration and abortion. However, what was lacking was any discussion of how to address police violence in our communities and how their plans would stand with the movement for Black Lives," added APALA Executive Director Gregory A. Cendana. "Communities of color will have a powerful influence on the leadership of this country, and candidates need to include our voices, especially with regards to issues that affect us so close to home."

Hester ended: "We're doing everything we can to stop the threat that is Donald Trump, who has built a campaign spewing the most un-American things of racism, xenophobia, and misogyny. If we elect the GOP candidate on Nov. 8th, the lives of our children and families will indelibly be changed for the worse."
###

APALA Launches the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge

8/1/2016

 
Washington, D.C. - Over the last couple of months, we have witnessed some of the worst forms of violence in recent history. More importantly, it has become evident that the ongoing violence that has ensued continues to disproportionately target marginalized communities.
 
We witnessed the ongoing impact of homophobia and transphobia in the wake of the #PulseShooting on June 12, 2016 when the lives 49 of our queer and trans brothers and sisters, many who were Latinx, were swiftly taken away.
 
We witnessed the ongoing impact of Islamophobia in the aftermath of the shooting in Orlando as our Muslim brothers and sisters were scapegoated to fuel anti-Muslim bigotry as an opportunity to advance gun reform policies that would heighten discrimination and profiling.
 
We witnessed the ongoing impact of xenophobia in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-4 non-decision in the case known as Texas v. United States that continues to deny administrative relief from deportation to millions of immigrant families across the country.
 
We witnessed the ongoing impact of police brutality in the killings of Delrawn Small, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile as well as the hundreds of other Black lives taken as a result of police violence.
 
We witnessed the ongoing culpability of our criminal justice system with the non-indictment of police officers involved in the killings of 12-year old Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Jamar Clark, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin.
 
We witnessed the ongoing criminalization of a woman’s right to abortion and basic reproductive health services in cases like that of Purvi Patel who will continue to serve time in prison despite being wrongly convicted of feticide and criminal neglect of a minor.
 
Unfortunately, these are only some examples of ways state and systemic violence have continued to prevent efforts towards achieving progressive changes within our communities. However, as a result of the model minority myth, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) continue to be used as a racial wedge to divide people of color, and we are demanding an end to the positioning of AAPIs as tools of white supremacy that support systems of whiteness and propagate anti-Blackness.

“APALA has always utilized an intersectional framework in all the work that we do. I am incredibly excited for the launch of the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge because it reinforces important intersections that exist across all marginalized communities,” said National President Johanna Puno Hester. “I am taking the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge because as a mother, I am forced to think about how the injustices of this world not only impact me but more importantly, my daughter. I refuse to be a bystander because I want to envision a future where my daughter and future generations after her can live in a country that is just and free.”   
 
The #NotYourModelMinority Pledge is a call to action for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community as well as our co-conspirators to help shift the narrative and culture associated with the broader AAPI community. By taking the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge we are committing ourselves to a future where Black lives; people of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals; differently-abled people; Indigenous communities; people of various spiritual beliefs; working-class and immigrant communities; and women are freed from state sponsored and institutionalized forms of discrimination, racism, and violence.
 
In our current political moment, we have been given a choice to stand on the side of freedom and justice.
 
Now we ask: What side will you stand on?
 
Take the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge now: http://bit.ly/NYMM-Pledge
For information on the full campaign: www.notyourmodelminority.org
Interested in becoming an organizational partner? Click here: http://bit.ly/NYMM-CoConspirator
​

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Founded in 1992, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, is the first and only national organization of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers, most of whom are union members and our allies, building power for AAPI workers and communities.
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