321ACTION: August 19, 2024
I'll cut to the chase: Without Congressional action, victim service providers nationwide will soon face catastrophic cuts — which is why the focus of 321 this week is on the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act, which we need your help getting passed.
Once you've contacted your members of Congress, settle into two investigative stories: One, a harrowing example of the consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade, the other a tale of transformative justice taking shape in rural Tennessee.
Ready to make a difference?
Here are three ways to get started:
3. Fund crime victim services
Victim service grants provided by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) are the primary source of federal funding used to help victims of all types of crimes — and were cut by 40% this fiscal year.
Without urgent action, these grants face even more cuts going forward, jeopardizing survivor support and victim services nationwide. At present, the Crime Victims Fund has only 10% of the amount needed to fully fund victim services in the coming year.
Click here to urge your members of Congress to cosponsor the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act and to share a letter from the faith community supporting this critical bill.\
You can also learn more about the situation in this recording from the Director of the Office for Victims of Crime.
2. American hospitals are endangering pregnant women
After the Supreme Court’s disastrous ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade in 1973, states across the nation have passed laws restricting or entirely outlawing abortion.
While federal law requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing care to all patients, many pregnant women in restrictive states are being denied emergency abortion care, putting their lives, health, and fertility in danger.
"More than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or negligently treated since 2022," according to an investigation by the Associated Press.
1. How one rural county transformed their justice system for domestic violence survivors
Federal law (and many state laws) prohibit adjudicated domestic abusers from possessing firearms.
However, enforcement of these laws is inconsistent, particularly when an abusive partner already has access to firearms. In some communities, judges will refuse to issue a protective order specifically to maintain an abuser’s access to firearms, particularly in communities with strong gun culture.
One rural county in Tennessee decided that the system wasn’t good enough — and completely overhauled the way domestic violence cases are handled.
+ In case you missed it...
Almost 14% of American women and 6% of American men experience gun threats by an intimate partner in their lifetimes.
Most women who are murdered in the US are killed by a male abusive partner, and most of these homicides are committed using firearms.
A male abusive partner’s access to a firearm increases the risk of intimate partner femicide five-fold.
Join the Jewish Gun Violence Prevention Roundtable and expert panelists on Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET for an online conversation about the role of firearms in domestic violence, legal remedies, and what you can do to help change the law.