The rally is over. Now what?

Don’t just wait for the next rally or march. Your own pressure campaign for democracy is waiting in your phone.

At the rally we asked you to contact your legislators every day. Here is our handout on HOW to program your phone to make it really fast to do, and WHY you need to call your own Democratic legislators as well.

The Power of 5:

We’ve “borrowed” this idea from a brilliant organizing campaign by the NAACP to encourage voting. We are adding an Indivisible-style spin by starting with a call campaign to the 5 legislators you have power over with your vote. (2 senators, 1 representative, 1 state senator and 1 state assemblymember).

Here’s the Sen. Duckworth video we reference in the first action below, so you don’t have to type in the youtube URL.

Here are the scripts on the backside of the phone list…

Scripts from the Back Side

ACTION: Tell your senators to vote “YES” on H.R. S.1975 – The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021, over and over again! (More info: tinyurl.com/Rebalance-the-Court)
- Sample script : I’m calling from [zip code]. I want to thank Sen. [___] for cosponsoring S.1975] – the “Women’s Health Protection Act” I agree with Sen. Tammy Duckworth that Senate Democrats should keep the focus on this issue by bringing this bill to the floor every single week. I also expect Sen. [___] to explore all options to overturning this miscarriage of settled law, including removing the filibuster. Not only would that protect the rights of all those affected by the reversal of Roe v. Wade, it would quickly fix other injustices, such as statehood for DC, voting rights, the Equality Act, Medicare-for-All, climate change protection bills and rescinding the Hyde Amendment. (Watch this video with Sen. Duckworth – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOI0esLpmMM&t=4s)
ACTION: Expand and rebalance this lawless Court with H.R. 2584/S.1141 – Judiciary Act of 2021. It no longer represents the American public. (More info: tinyurl.com/Rebalance-the-Court)
- Sample script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen./Rep. [___] to immediately cosponsor and support H.R. 2584/S.1141 – the “Judiciary Act of 2021“. We need to expand the court NOW to represent all 13 circuits and the needs of the American people.
ACTION: Don’t hand your reproductive privacy to authoritarians without a fight. Stop law enforcement and extremist access to our data. (More info: tinyurl.com/private-info)
- Sample email script to your representative: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep. [___] to cosponsor and pass H.R.6416 – Banning Surveillance Advertising Act of 2022, and H.R.2738 – The Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act to protect both our privacy and the integrity of our constitutional rights. Any bill passed should include restrictions on precision geo-fencing, not allowing companies to track people within a radius of 1850 feet, as in effect with the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”).
- Sample email script to both senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want the Senator to cosponsor and pass S.3520 – Banning Surveillance Advertising Act of 2022, and S.1265 – The Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act to protect both our privacy and the integrity of our constitutional rights. Any bill passed should include restrictions on precision demo-fencing, not allowing companies to track people within a radius of 1850 feet, as in effect with the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”).
ACTION: Is CA ready to be a reproductive care sanctuary? (Action post – tinyurl.com/CA-repro-sanctuary)
- Quick call to your assemblymember and state senator: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember/Senator[___] to vote “YES” on every one of the thirteen bills created together with the CA Future of Abortion Council. Email your assemblymember, state senator and Governor Newsom: Email scripts here. tinyurl.com/CA-repro-sanctuary

Power of 5 – united:

After you get the hang of this, reach out to 5 people you know, especially those marooned in red states or districts (Mike Garcia, for example). Explain that abortion is just one item on the GOP hitlist. With a corrupted Supreme Court, and a possible takeover of one or both houses of Congress at the midterms, the GOP will be empowered to destroy or weaken: birth control, LGBTQIA rights, marriage equality, healthcare, Social Securiy, Medicare, Medi-Cal, public education, state gun laws, sanctuary states, immigration/immigrant protections, voting rights, separation of church and state, protective regulations governing the environment, banking practices, and labor rights, and wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. We’d include affordable and accessible child care, humane family leave policies, livable minimum wage, and free higher education on the list of things we could lose, if, like real 1st-world countries, we ever had them.

Each issue has a constituency of voters who would place it first in importance to their lives. We need to join these constituencies together by agreeing to call and advocate for each other, knitting us together into the true majority that we are.

Build a foundational group:

Find 5 people who are willing to take action for 10 minutes a day. Find out which issues are most important to them.
Share how to program phones and scripts with them, along with a commitment to encouraging them to vote in this upcoming election. (Some scripts may need adjustment depending on their legislator’s party.)
Then, like a chain letter for political power instead of good luck and riches, ask that they too find 5 people and do the same, creating layer after layer of groups of 5.

Scripts

Here are some action call sites. You can repeat a single action everyday for a week, pick new ones as often as you want or commit to repeating urgent ones weekly.

Pick scripts that resonates with you and members of your group, and to help other constituencies out. Copy/paste and email or text them to your fab 5

You can make up your own as well.

The basic pattern is this:

“I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen./Rep./State Sen./Assm.[____] to vote [YES/NO] on [Bill# and name.]”
“I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen./Rep./State Sen./Assm.[____] to [PASS/VOTE AGAINST] legislation on [subject]”

This is all those answering the legislators phones needs to know. You don’t need to justify your opinion, or argue with them. Feel free to add any other comments you wish, as long as you’re polite. They already have a hard job.

DONATE!

“It could be a deluge. The dismantling (of Roe) would impact about 36 million Americans, most of whom are women of color and women without money.” – Nichole Ramirez, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood’s nine-office region in Orange and San Bernardino counties.

Planned Parenthood is hiring more staff and opening locations to deal with the anticipated need. They need donations and volunteers! Go here to learn more.

State Contacts

Governor Gavin Newsom: govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/, (916) 445-2841
State Senator Monique Limón (SD-19): sd19.senate.ca.gov/contact,
SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940
State Senator Henry Stern (SD-27): sd27.senate.ca.gov/contact
SAC (916) 651-2027, Calabasas (818) 876-3352
State Assemblymember Steve Bennett: (CA-37): https://a37.asmdc.org/contact,
SAC (916) 319-2037, SB (805) 564-1649, VTA (805) 641-370
State Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin: (CA-44): https://a44.asmdc.org,
SAC (916) 319-2044, CAM (805) 482-1904, OX (805) 483-4488
Not your people? Which assemblymember/state senator is mine?:
findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Federal Contacts

Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26): email, DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
or Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24): email. DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
Senator Feinstein: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
and Senator Padilla: email, DC (202) 224-3553, LA (310) 231-4494, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 981-9369, SD (619) 239-3884
Who is my representative/senator?: https://whoismyrepresentative.com

Read Up On Other Liberties At Risk

There are a lot of “unenumerated” constitutional liberties that are put at risk with this opinion. Regardless of whether you hold a legal degree, you can read up on what those liberties are and how they might be impacted in this very helpful paper from the Center for Reproductive Rights. tinyurl.com/Roe-timeline

Another pretty essential resource on reproductive rights is the Guttmacher Institute, which has a wealth of policy analysis. In particular, see https://www.guttmacher.org/abortion-rights-supreme-court