HERvotes Blog Carnival: What Health-Care Reform Means to Women
By Cindy Pearson, co-founder of Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need For the tenth #HERvotes blog carnival, we’re celebrating the second anniversary of the new health-reform law, the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. Why are women so excited about the ACA? Well, for a start, the law has already started removing barriers...
Health Reform: Winning for Women
by Tara Mancini, co-chair of WIN’s Women’s Health Policy Network I think it is no coincidence that the 2nd anniversary of the ACA coincides with the celebration of Women’s History Month. Women have made numerous contributions to society that throughout the ages have received little attention, much like the important protections afforded to women through...
“Where Are the Women?”
by Ali Tweedt, FMF Intern Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney’s (D-NY) now-infamous words have gone viral paired with a picture of last Thursday’s all-male panel at the hearing on contraception coverage by religious institutions. The hearing, “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?” was...
Mandating Rape in Virginia
The new definition of rape, just approved by the FBI for the Uniform Crime Report is: “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” A bill passed by the Republican controlled Virginia...
Komen and the Dangers of Corporate-Funded Causes
By Mara Einstein Breast-cancer charity Susan G. Komen’s decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood–an organization that provides subsidized breast cancer exams for lower-income women–leaves me scratching my head. Komen claims to be withholding funds because of new criteria barring it from providing grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal...
One more time…
by Jill Morrison, National Women’s Law Center Abortion. [uh-bawr-shuhn] Contraception. [kon-truh-sep-shuhn] These are not the same. Yet I’ve repeatedly seen claims that the HHS decision on contraceptive coverage requires religious employers to cover “abortifacients.” Clearly, those opposed to the preventive services rule know they are on shaky ground when it comes to rallying their troops against...
VICTORY: Health & Human Services Decides in Favor of Women’s Health
This afternoon, US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Obama administration released their decision not to broaden the exemption for birth control without copay. In August, HHS ruled that a host of women’s preventive health care services – including all FDA approved contraceptive methods – will be covered under...
Obama’s Deeply Paternalistic Statement on Plan B Decision
by Jon Walker This post originally appeared on Firedoglake. This is a pure expression of male paternalism regarding women being able to make their own reproductive decisions. From USA Today: President Obama said today that “as the father of two daughters,” he supports his health secretary’s decision to block over-the-counter sales of the Plan B...
Conscience Clause: Preserving Morality or Creating Immorality?
by Elizabeth Beaulac, Outreach Intern, National Women’s Law Center August brought with it a victory for women’s health. It was announced that all new health insurance plans would be required to coverage preventive services such as contraceptive coverage. However, in not so great news, the mandate included language that would allow religious employers to deny...
Let(ting) Her Die is NOT an Option
“I was pregnant, I was miscarrying, I was bleeding. If I had to go from one hospital to the next trying to find one emergency room that would take me in, who knows if I would even be here today. What my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to do is...
The Affordable Care Act and Women
By Desiree Hoffman YWCA USA Director of Advocacy and Policy March 23, 2011, marked the first anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Yet polls show that less than 47% of Americans know how it affects them.1 Lack of understanding was highest among low-income households and the uninsured. When asked, “Do you feel you have...
No Copay for Birth Control? A Great First Step Towards Truly Universal Access
by Kelly Blanchard, Ibis Reproductive Health Contraception is a critical preventive health care tool for women and families. Contraception allows women (and their partners) to plan their pregnancies and avoid pregnancy when they don’t want to have a baby, and planned pregnancies are healthier for women and children. Women with planned pregnancies are more likely...