**NEW ACTION ALERT** with Tuesday 4/23 Deadline!

Last year, Massachusetts passed critical legislation to guarantee free communication in prisons and jails, the most comprehensive such legislation passed in the country so far. With No Cost Calls in effect, the number of calls made from MA's prisons rose by more than 60% in January. But the larger work of keeping families connected is not done. We need to make sure that there is robust reporting to ensure full and effective implementation, and we need to build on the win of No Cost Calls by improving access to in-person visitation as well

Please contact your state representative by TOMORROW Tuesday (4/23) to urge them to co-sponsor the following amendments to the FY 2025 budget.

You can take easy action here!

Our Working Group, Medical Aid in Dying, has been working on the bill S.1331/H2246, An Act Relative to End of Life Options. This bill has now been assigned to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. If you are a constituent to any member of the committee or know anyone who is, please call in favor of support! If you are not a constituent to any members of the committee it is also helpful for you to contact your legislators and and them to urge leadership to move this forward positively out of this committee.  You can find your legislator here. 

This bill would legalize medical aid in dying which would allow a terminally ill, mentally capable adult with a prognosis of six months or less to live to request from their doctor a prescription for medication they can decide to self-ingest to die peacefully in their sleep. 

From Families for Justice as Healing; "We are Massachusetts constituents and community members and we are asking our elected officials to support passage of the Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium (S1979) again this session as soon as possible. We must pass the Prison Moratorium now so we can take the next five years to  invest in, develop, implement, and expand community-led care and solutions, not more incarceration."

Sign Now - Massachusetts Does Not Need New Jails

Free Her MA Action Toolkit

The MIRA Coalition is thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of the Massachusetts Welcomes Campaign on March 12th, 2024! The Massachusetts Welcomes Campaign is dedicated to creating a welcoming environment for every individual, regardless of their background or how they arrived here. We believe that our Commonwealth is stronger because of our rich history of welcoming immigrants who join our workforce, enrich our communities and strengthen our democracy. We believe in a Commonwealth where diversity is celebrated, and everyone has the opportunity to succeed.

We want to get the #MassachusettsWelcomes buzz coming from all of your organization, coalition and personal social media platforms. This is a crucial moment for our coalition members, partners, and supporters to come together and show our commitment to welcoming immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts.

Fill out this form to receive our toolkit and more details about how you can participate!

Check out the UU Mass Action action guide from this month’s action hour. Take action towards rent control, supporting human rights and visitation for people who are incarcerated, and more!

Come join UU Mass Action as we facilitate a space to come together as congregations, congregants, and community to take action for a ceasefire. If interested please email rev. jo at jmurphy@uumassaction.org and if we have enough interest we will schedule a meeting in March. We hope to host a space for break-out groups, sharing a congregational resource being created by a group of ministers, and to have space to be together, collaborate, and act.

Join us as we work to end this massacre, ensure the exchange of all hostages, and end the violence.

Whether or not you are able to join us, please use this resource from UU’s for Justice in the Middle East to take action

From our partners Families for Justice as Healing: On November 1, 2023, the Boston Police Department began enforcing the Wu administration’s ban on encampments. Although Mayor Wu claims no one has been arrested under this ban, the City themselves have shared that BPD has made 67 arrests in the area in November. Community members have been arrested for trespassing outside their assigned shelter and for open containers - charges that are included in the ordinance, and for public consumption, possession, or hand-to-hand transactions in the Mass and Cass area - which BPD began enforcing at the onset of the ban. Take Action!

BIJAN is seeking a variety of kinds of help and support in our network right now. If you can read/write Portuguese, can answer a phone and speak some Spanish, if you can offer winter coats to migrants or host folks in your home go to the action guide here!