Womenstake

Educational Equity and Reproductive Justice: Latina Week of Action

by Micole Allekotte, Health Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

This post is the second in a series about the intersections between reproductive justice and other social justice movements.

This week is Latina Week of Action for Reproductive Justice, organized by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, and the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. The groups are coordinating their efforts to enhance the voice of the Latina reproductive justice movement.

The reproductive justice movement supports individuals' rights to have the children they want, raise the children they have, and plan their families through education and access to contraception and abortion. Reproductive justice can only be achieved when all people have the resources, as well as the economic, social, and political power to make decisions about their relationships, health, and reproduction, so fighting for reproductive justice requires fighting for social justice.

Rising to Protect Abortion Care for the Most Vulnerable Women

by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights, 
National Women's Law Center

Recently, we told you about how the Administration indicated the intention to apply an abortion coverage ban (or what is in effect the rejected Stupak Amendment) to the newly unveiled pre-existing condition health insurance plans. This ban would prevent women with serious pre-existing medical conditions from getting the abortion coverage they need to protect their health—and will not even allow women the ability to pay for such coverage with their own private premium dollars.

Over 5,000 NWLC supporters took action and called on the Administration to reconsider the decision to exclude the abortion coverage ban in the pre-existing condition health insurance plans. The strong reaction from women's advocates brought great attention to the issue, with prominent articles in national newspapers.

Thank you for your incredible participation and making sure the Administration knows how important including abortion care coverage is in health care reform. We will soon be asking you to send in your comments on the regulation.

In the meantime, NWLC will continue to work to keep you informed about the latest on health care reform that meets the needs of women and their families. And we will continue to work hard to ensure that all women have access to comprehensive reproductive health that includes abortion care.

Your New Healthcare: A Closer Look at Some Major Improvements

by Brigette Courtot, Policy Analyst,
and Zoe Bartholomay, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

Until now, access to basic, necessary care has been limited for too many women. However, the new health reform law provides a remedy with provisions that ensure that insurance plans cover the health services women need, without cost barriers.

Our new law provides a national standard for health benefits called the "essential health benefits package". All new individual and small group health plans must meet the standard, meaning they must cover several benefits that have often been been difficult or impossible for women to acquire (especially in individual health plans). These include maternity, mental health, and prescription drug coverage.

None of Your Business: Bus Driver Refuses to Bring Women to Planned Parenthood

by Micole Allekotte, Health Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

A bus driver in Texas is suing after a transportation company allegedly fired him for refusing to take women to a Planned Parenthood clinic. He claims that the employer must accommodate his religious beliefs against abortion by allowing him to refuse to do his job, which was to take people who live in rural areas to their destinations. Not to pass judgment on the moral acceptability of that destination and impede women's access to a public transportation service because he thinks they are being bad girls. It is none of a bus driver's business where his passengers are going or why. 

The bus company argues that accommodating the driver's refusal to pick up the women would have been an undue hardship on their business, the sole purpose of which is to deliver people to their destinations. While there are many unanswered questions about whether an accommodation would have been possible, the driver didn't give his employers much of a chance, having apparently stated his objection only after being assigned to pick up the passengers.

Tuesday's Referendum in Missouri Certainly Wasn't about Health Reform

by Lisa Codispoti, Senior Counsel,
National Women's Law Center

If you read some of the press accounts of Tuesday's primary election in Missouri, you might think actually that voters approved a referendum on the ballot to reject health reform, for example, the New York Times headline "Missouri Voters Reject Health Law". But that would be wrong. Missouri primary voters did approve a ballot measure concerning one singular aspect from the health reform law. Let's clarify a few things. 

First, the ballot measure was not about the health reform law. The MO measure purports to target one specific piece of the new law—the so-called individual mandate, which is the requirement effective in 2014 that people—unless exempt—take personal responsibility and have health insurance so that we all have lower premium costs. The new health law is so much more than that. So the referendum had nothing to do with any of the law's important requirements, such as the requirement that insurance companies provide free preventative care, or stop charging women higher premiums just because they're women, or dropping people’s coverage when they get sick, or rejecting people due to pre-existing conditions.

Second, a word about turnout and who voted. The referendum occurred during a primary race in Missouri—which was heavily skewed toward Republican races; they outnumbered Democratic primaries races by almost a third. Accordingly, turnout was expected to heavily skew Republican. Given that those who showed up on Tuesday were not representative of the voting public in Missouri, let alone the rest of the country, the results in Missouri have little if any predictive weight about how the few other ballot measures like this might go. 

Finally, the ballot measure was incredibly confusing—with the exact text of the measure as follows:

Shall the Missouri Statutes be amended to:

• Deny the government authority to penalize citizens for refusing to purchase private health insurance or infringe upon the right to offer or accept direct payment for lawful healthcare services?
• Modify laws regarding the liquidation of certain domestic insurance companies?

If you had to vote on this, would you have known what a yes or no vote meant?

Let's be clear. Passage of Referendum C in Missouri has little practical effect—the health reform law is very much alive. The courts will ultimately decide about the personal responsibility requirement that the Missouri ballot measure addressed. In the mean time, key provisions of the law we all are counting on continue...

Procedural Ruling in Virginia Doesn't Change the Fact that Health Care Reform Benefits Women

by Kelli Garcia, Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

Yesterday, a federal district court in Virginia issued a procedural decision that will allow a law suit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) filed by Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to proceed. This decision was merely procedural and says nothing about the merits of the Virginia Attorney General's claim that the requirement that individuals purchase insurance or pay a fine beginning in 2014 is unconstitutional. Judge Hudson simply found that the court will hear further arguments.

As this lawsuit proceeds, it is important to remember the real lives that will be improved by the ACA. Right now, insurance companies can refuse to sell insurance to adults that have diseases such as breast or ovarian cancer, or who had a disease or medical procedure in the past, such as having had a c-section or even for having been raped. Even when people with pre-existing conditions can find insurance, the rates are often unaffordable. Women in particular will be helped by the ACA's ban on pre-existing condition exclusions and guaranteed issue requirement (e.g. a requirement that insurance companies sell health insurance to anyone who applies), because women are more likely than men to suffer from chronic conditions. 

We Commemorate the 45th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid

by Natalie Koski-Karell, Intern,
and Grace Lesser, Program Assistant,
National Women's Law Center

Ever wonder what a birthday party is like at the Capitol? Last week, the typical stoicism of behind-closed-doors politics gave way to birthday cake, red, white, and blue balloons, and—yes!—members of Congress singing Happy Birthday! The President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare was joined by a handful of former and current elected representatives, local union members and health care advocates to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid.

On July 30th 45 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid programs into law. At that time in 1965, 50 percent of America's seniors were uninsured, and many young people were going without the medical care they needed on a regular basis. As we look back now upon the last 45 years, it is easy to see the impressive impact that these programs have had on the lives of everyday Americans.

Friday Night Lights: The Discussion Continues

by Stephanie Drahan, Outreach Associate
National Women's Law Center

Last week, I blogged about the incredible Friday Night Lights episode depicting a teenage girl’s decision to have an abortion, and I expressed my concern that this storyline might disappear. Well, this week's FNL put this concern to rest.

In last week's episode, Tami Taylor, the football coach's wife and principal of the high school featured in FNL, counseled Becky, a pregnant sophomore at a neighboring high school. This week, FNL did not duck away, but instead, took the debate head on again.

In this episode, Luke's mother demands Tami be fired for "instructing" Becky to have an abortion. As a result, Tami faces an investigation by the school board. Tami's response to the accusation throughout the episode is that she counseled according to protocol and district policy. Although the school board ultimately sides with Tami (with a 5-1 vote), through this episode viewers witness how the anti-choice movement portrays abortion.

What Health Reform Means for Access to Abortion

by Micole Allekotte, Health Fellow,
and and Zoe Bartholomay, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

Under the new health reform law, the Affordable Care Act, it will become more difficult, and in some cases impossible, to obtain insurance that covers abortion. 

Under the Affordable Care Act, private insurance companies are allowed to cover abortion. However, if a company covers abortions beyond the Hyde Amendment, which allows federal funding for abortions to save the woman's life or where the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, the company must not only segregate government funds from private premiums, it must also collect two payments from individual consumers and segregate the private premium money into two accounts. The effect? Higher administrative costs for insurance companies that want to cover abortion (even if they only want to cover abortions to protect the woman's health) and higher costs for consumers. This additional administrative hurdle is a disincentive put in place to discourage abortion coverage from being offered.

Census Data Paints a Bleak Picture of Insurance Rates in U.S. Counties

by Danielle Garrett, Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

This Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released county level health insurance estimates for 2007. While many of us are familiar with the figure of 46 million—the total number of uninsured in the U.S.—this data allows us to dig deeper, looking at the number of uninsured in individual counties and even breaking that data down by race, age, and income.

Policy nerds like myself love data, so I was anxious to go on the Census Bureau's website and start playing with the maps and interactive tables. My excitement over the data subsided as the reality of the numbers set in. In Travis County Texas, where I spent time as a graduate student at the University of Texas-Austin, more than 25 percent of women aged 18-64 are uninsured. Austin had seemed to me a fun and carefree city filled with college students, high-tech businesses, and talented musicians. I lived there for two years and had no idea that 1 in 4 women were uninsured. Sadly, a closer look revealed that Travis County wasn't anywhere near the worst in the state. In some Texas counties more than 45 percent of women lack health insurance! Surely, I figured, I could count on my native Virginia for good news, but 15.4 percent of Virginia women lack health insurance. While this number is below the national average, it is still too high for my liking.

I encourage you to go to the Census' website and take a look yourself. How many women in your home state or college town lack health insurance? If you're like me, you will be surprised and disappointed by the answer. Thankfully though, help is on the way. Thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Americans who hadn't been able to obtain health insurance due to preexisting conditions can now sign up for a new Preexisting Conditions Insurance Plan. By 2014, all states will expand their Medicaid programs to cover 16 million more people across the country. Once all of the components of health reform are implemented, 32 million more Americans will be insured, meaning that the numbers won't look nearly as bleak in the coming years.