Happy Friday! Are you marching about gun safety tomorrow? Moms, dads, grandparents, family members and other caretakers couldn’t be more proud as we watch students across the nation rise up to fight for their own gun safety. And now, it’s time for the big event: March 4 Our Lives! Whether you’re marching in person or in spirit, join us to say "I stand with students" and we'll email you helpful resources including a downloadable sign! 

This week's #5Actions lineup also includes hot actions around breast pumps, healthcare, Facebook's Messenger Kids app, and more. Be sure to scroll to the end for a handy round-up of upcoming events, an inspiring video and photo, and the chance to pre-order the new Keep Marching book (proceeds go to MomsRising!). 

As always please share with friends and family, too! It's an all-hands-on-deck kinda year. Thank you! 

1. Tell Anthem to Support Breastfeeding Moms

BACKGROUND: Many breastfeeding moms depend on insurance to cover their breast pumps which is why we were shocked to learn that Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield will make it more difficult for moms to have access to breast pumps via insurance by reducing reimbursement rates for some of the most common types of electric breast pumps on the market. A lower reimbursement rate for common electric breast pumps could make it difficult, if not near impossible, for moms to have access to the breast pump most suited for their needs. Pumping itself is challenging enough, and we don’t need any more barriers for new moms! Sign our letter urging Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to support breastfeeding moms and reconsider their policy to lower reimbursement rates on electric breast pumps.

2. Pre-Order Keep Marching, Kristin's New Book, with all profits going to MomsRising!

Let’s use the book — and the information in it about how to make the most effective change possible — to fight for gun safety, for health care, for turning the tide on sexual assault, for fair pay, for ending mass incarceration, for affordable childcare, for paid family/medical leave, for protecting the economic safety net, for fair immigration policy, and more. Let’s change our lives and our nation for the better. To build our movement and this moment, we need to start getting in pre-orders ASAP (about 1,000 pre-orders to be specific!). Pre-orders are quite literally like the dynamite that launches the avalanche — and we're hoping for an avalanche of change as people use the book to help take high impact action at the local and national levels. Your pre-order gets things started! (Plus 100% of proceeds of the book go to MomsRising so it's pretty much a two-for-one — a donation AND a book!).

*Can you help light the dynamite — and support MomsRising as you do it?

Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

3. Stand with Students at #March4OurLives!

BACKGROUND: Whether you’re marching in person or in spirit, click here to say “I stand with students” at #March4OurLives, and we’ll email you resources, including a great downloadable #NoNRAMoney sign you can print out and march with, or display in your car or in your front window! There’s no time to waste. Our nation is losing over 33,000 lives a year due to guns with white victims often garnering the most media sympathy as the disproportionate impact of gun violence on people of color is too often overlooked, and mass shootings are becoming more deadly over time. Every day in America, approximately 19 children die or receive emergency treatment for a gunshot wound. On top of that, Black children are ten times more likely to be impacted by gun violence than white children. This is horrifying, unfair, and outrageous. This has to stop. We, the parents of America, have had enough. As adults, our role now is to help young people succeed where we have failed. That’s why we’ll be there with the students marching in Washington D.C. -- and also in many other cities around the country -- to show our strength, conviction, and resolve to support them as they take the lead on gun safety. *How about you?

4. Say NO to Discrimination in Health Care! 

BACKGROUND: When it comes to health care, the patient should always come first. But a harmful and discriminatory rule proposed by the Trump Administration is opening the door to widespread discrimination toward women and LGBTQ+ people. Not okay. This new proposed rule would allow providers (hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other individuals and institutions) to deny patients standard medical care based on the providers’ personal beliefs—not based on what is best for the patient. Truly a prescription for discrimination! Sign our open letter to the Trump Administration and Congress (and write a comment of your own!) to say: “Put patients first, not discriminatory beliefs!”

5. Tell Facebook: Pull the Plug on the Messenger Kids App!

BACKGROUND: Why is Facebook trying to lure young and younger kids onto its platform with its new Messenger Kids app, the first app that Facebook has specifically designed for kids under 14? Let’s be clear: Young kids aren’t ready to navigate online relationships. How many times have you as an adult seen or experienced something odd online? More than once, right? Kids don’t have the maturity level to manage online interactions, and/or understand what’s private or appropriate. Indeed research shows that social media use by teens is linked to significantly higher rates of depression, and adolescents who spend an hour a day chatting on social networks report less satisfaction with nearly every aspect of their lives. Eighth graders who use social media for 6-9 hours per week are 47% more likely to report they are unhappy than their peers who use social media less often. And a study of girls between the ages of 10 and 12 found the more they used social networking sites like Facebook, the more likely they were to idealize thinness, have concerns about their bodies, and to have dieted. Teen social media use is also linked to unhealthy sleep habits. Join us to tell Facebook to pull the plug on the Messenger Kids app!

BONUS: Check out these online and on-the-ground events, coming up this week! 

• March 24 | Washington, D.C. and Nationwide: March for Our Lives, Student survivors from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL are calling for a march to end mass shootings and other gun violence. RSVP here.
• March 24 | Tucson, AZ: Southern AZ #KeepMarching Meeting and March, 2PM MST, second #KeepMarching meeting for the Southern AZ group, taking place after the local March for Our Lives sister march at 11AM. RSVP here.
• March 26 | NJ: New Jersey Lobby Day for Equal Pay & Paid Sick Days, 8AM EST, advocating for equal pay and paid sick days with legislators, and a rally at the State House in Trenton. Food and crafts will be available. RSVP here.
• March 27 | Washington, D.C.: #PutPatientsFirst Comment Delivery Event, 12pm ET at DHHS. MomsRising is joining w/NWLC, National LGBTQ Task Force and others to deliver comments to DHHS about the religious refusals rule. RSVP here.
• March 30 | Online: #FoodFri Twitter Chat, 1PM EST, chat on food policy in the Trump administration with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Just follow #FoodFri on Twitter to join! 

Finally, two pieces of inspiration of the week! First, check out this incredible video by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt, created to honor and support student marchers this weekend! And second, check out MomsRising member Connie (and daughter) speaking about the Trump tax plan at a press conference with Pittsburgh Mayor Peduto last week!