Take Action: Keep the promise of birth control coverage without a co-pay for all women

While we’re focused on what’s going on here in Virginia, we can’t forget about the attacks on reproductive choice and health that are continuing to take place in Congress and at the federal level.

From our colleagues at NARAL Pro-Choice America, we hear about the latest attempt by anti-choice groups to chip away at advances in women’s reproductive healthcare:

When the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) followed medical experts’ advice and announced that newly issued insurance plans must cover all FDA-approved birth-control methods without a copay, it marked one of the greatest improvements to women’s health in a generation.

Unfortunately, anti-contraception forces are trying to chip away at this achievement.

Led by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, these forces have launched a massive campaign to allow employers who oppose contraception to deny their employees a health plan that covers contraception.

Providing insurance coverage that includes birth control without an additional copay is an important preventative and cost-saving way to protect women’s reproductive health and enable them to make personal choices about whether and when to have children.

Ninety-eight percent of American women, of all faiths and backgrounds, will use birth control at some point in their lives. As we know, hormonal birth control can be essential medication not only for enabling women to plan the timing and spacing of their children (which helps improve maternal and child health outcomes), but also for helping women manage other aspects of their reproductive and overall health.

So what if these anti-birth control advocates win? Some women could be denied the benefits of this advance in contraception coverage just because of where they work.

You can help call on the White House today to stand strong with the women of America and make sure birth control coverage without co-pays is available to every woman, regardless of her employer. Take action on the NARAL Pro-Choice America website.

You can also call the White House comment line and give them your input over the phone! Call (202) 456-1111 and say something along the lines of: “I am calling regarding the new policy requiring health-insurance plans to cover birth control without a copay. I am concerned that religious employers may be allowed to opt out of this coverage requirement. I urge the president to ensure that all women have access to contraceptive coverage, regardless of where they work. “

Thank you for taking action!

Headline of the Week: Private Insurance to FULLY Cover Birth Control, Well-Woman Doctors Visits, and More!

By Brooke

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced their new guidelines for women’s health care coverage. There will be many changes, the most notable being full coverage of birth control pills under all private insurance plans.

As of August 1^st, 2012, private insurance companies must cover preventative services for women without co-pay. According to White House advisor Stephanie Cutter, “We know that half of women, according to studies, forego or delay preventive care because they can’t afford it and under the affordable care act that all changes.” Hopefully this situation will change for the better as of August 2012.

Other services that will be covered include diabetes screenings, well-woman doctor’s visits, domestic violence screenings and the morning-after pill.

This decision comes in the wake of a well-publicized, sexist rant from commentator Bill O’Reilly. O’Reilly spoke out against access to no-cost birth control, saying that “Many women who get pregnant are blasted out of their minds when they have sex, and they’re not going to use birth control anyway.” Luckily, common sense overcame such negative and derogatory rhetoric.

These new guidelines are a big step toward accessible healthcare for all women in the US. We join NARAL Pro-Choice America in applauding the Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for looking past stereotypes and misinformation about contraception and making improvement of women’s healthcare a top priority.

As Ms. Cutter noted, “Today is about keeping women healthy.”

The War Against Women: Coming to a Town Near You

By Brooke

Yesterday, Amanda Iacone of Virginia Statehouse News published an article documenting the war on women that is occurring locally as well as on a national level.

Several states have pursued “copycat” legislation with the overall goal of limiting women’s access to reproductive healthcare. (Copycat laws are just that – laws passed in one state to further restrict women’s health that another state copies.)

Virginia is no exception.

Banning abortion coverage through private insurance exchanges is just one example of such legislation across the country and in Virginia.

Virginia women have also been subjected to TRAP (Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers) laws that passed in the last session of the General Assembly; a type of legislation that Virginia Statehouse News calls “one of the most common methods lawmakers use to curb the number of abortions by limiting women’s access or shutting down the providers.”

President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, Nancy Keenan, was featured in the article, calling out politicians who came into office with big promises of job creation and economic relief, but have thus far only delivered attacks on women’s rights. Keenan stated: “In (the) next 18 months, I think you’re going to see a backlash of the public. First they thought this was about jobs and the economy — it really has been more about outlawing abortion care in this country.”

The fear for Virginia women and families now lies in the potential for other copycat legislation. Virginia’s anti-choice elected officials put Virginia at risk of anti-choice legislation that has been seen in other areas of the country such as the defunding of Planned Parenthood, requirements that women wait up to 72 hours before abortions, or even criminalization of doctors who perform abortions.

To see the damage that has been done by anti-choice officials in the General Assembly and Governor McDonnell’s administration regarding this war against women, check out our “The McDonnell Administration’s War on Women’s Health: By the Numbers” video. Don’t forget to see how you state legislator stacks up on women’s health issues by reviewing our 2011 Legislative Scorecard.

The McDonnell Administration’s War on Virginia Women’s Health: By the Numbers

By Marissa

The McDonnell administration recently released  a video entitled “The McDonnell Administration: By the Numbers,” which shows what the governor wants Virginians to know he has been up to since his inauguration.

But he failed to mention his success in also stripping women of their access to reproductive healthcare.

The governor’s office would have you believe his sole focus during his first year in office was roads, rest stops and reducing taxes.

Unfortunately, the past two General Assembly sessions show us one of the governor’s biggest priorities – to undercut the health of Virginia women and their families.

Since 2010, McDonnell has overridden doctors’ diagnoses and blocked low-income women’s access to abortion care when their health is at grave risk.

McDonnell has banned Virginia women from using their own money to purchase private insurance coverage for abortion care even in tragic health-threatening and fetal abnormality cases.

McDonnell has approved new, unwarranted regulations to single out first-trimester abortion providers from other doctors’ office and turn them  into hospitals, essentially shutting them down and banning access to safe, affordable reproductive healthcare to a majority of Virginia women.

And, McDonnell restored nearly $900,000 in funding for failed, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in our public schools that deny real information to our youth so they can make healthy, responsible decisions.

Governor McDonnell’s policies and priorities are bad news for Virginia women and their families.

Here is our video response, outlining the ways the McDonnell Administration continues to attack the health of Virginia women and their families.

Contact Governor McDonnell today, and ask him to stop his War on Women

The McDonnell Administration’s War on Virginia Women’s Health: By the Numbers

4 – Pieces of anti-choice legislation signed into law by Governor McDonnell since his inauguration in 2010[1]

1 – Type of doctor’s office singled out for new hospital-style regulation under recent legislation (SB 924): First-trimester abortion providers

80 – Percentage of abortion providers forced to close in Texas after similar legislation was enacted in 1997[2]

86 – Percent of counties in Virginia currently without a dedicated abortion provider

0 –Private insurance providers allowed to cover a woman’s unfettered right to choose under the governor’s amendment to a health exchange bill (HB 2434)

39 – Virginia’s nationwide ranking from NARAL Pro-Choice America’s Who Decides? reproductive report card during McDonnell’s time in office[3]

2 –States that applied solely for unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage program funding in 2010: Minnesota and Virginia[4]

$898,000 – Money McDonnell restored to failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs while eliminating a similar amount from programs to help families in need

$400,000 – Approximate cost to Virginians in order to fund ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs[5]

$2.5 million – Federal funding for comprehensive sex education programs Virginia lost due to McDonnell’s political agenda[6]

$0 – State money required for said comprehensive sexual education, which McDonnell rejected in favor of taxpayer-funded, ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs

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[1] HB 1500 Item 297; HB 1500 § 4-5.04(j)

[2] http://www.prochoicetexas.org/news/headlines/200601244.shtml

[3] http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/government-and-you/who-decides/who-decides-2011.pdf

[4] http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Feature.showFeature&featureID=1940

[5] http://hamptonroads.com/2010/08/mcdonnell-seeks-abstinenceonly-education-funds

[6] http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2010-ACF-ACYF-PREP-0125

Gov. McDonnell Continues Attempt to Erode Women’s Health Care

This week, we have seen just how far Governor McDonnell is willing to go on his single-minded, ideological mission to further erode women’s access to necessary health care.

The governor quietly signed a bill into law requiring new, unwarranted regulations on abortion providers into law this past weekend with no notice or media attention. So now, the “emergency regulatory” process begins—a process which severely curtails public comment. But, the governor was not quite finished with his attempt to undercut women’s health.

At the very last minute possible, the governor recommended an amendment to another bill that has nothing to do with abortion. HB 2434 simply established the state’s health benefits exchange as a result of federal health care reform. McDonnell seized the opportunity to further his crusade against women’s health and safety.

Governor McDonnell’s amendment bans abortion coverage for all women participating in the new health care insurance exchange. This is dangerous for women. No woman ever plans on having an abortion. But, pregnancy can be extremely precarious and women need the assurance of health coverage especially in those tragic situations. A woman should have the option whether to include abortion coverage in her health plan without government interference.

Furthermore, the amendment prohibits women from using their own private dollars to purchase abortion coverage. It also prohibits private insurance companies from offering coverage! This flies in the face of the governor’s own conservative principles—free markets, limited government and individual rights and liberty. Not to mention, privacy!

We saw just what can happen with a mixed-choice Senate with the recent tie vote on new abortion regulations (broken by anti-choice Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling). We have to tell our senators NOW to vote against the Governor’s amendment on HB 2434 and protect women’s ability to choose what their health insurance covers!

Let’s be clear, the governor and his allies are pursuing a political agenda that will severely limit access to vital reproductive health care for women of the Commonwealth.

We cannot allow this to happen!

The House and Senate will vote on this amendment next Wednesday. Please help by contacting your senator today and ask them to reject the Governor’s amendment to HB 2434 and protect women’s health and safety!

This week, we have seen just how far GoGovernor McDonnell is willing to go on his single-minded, ideological mission to further erode women’s access to necessary health care.

 

The governor quietly signed a bill into law requiring new, unwarranted regulations on abortion providers into law this past weekend with no notice or media attention. So now, the “emergency regulatory” process begins—a process which severely curtails public comment. But, the governor was not quite finished with his attempt to undercut women’s health.

 

At the very last minute possible, the governor recommended an amendment to another bill that has nothing to do with abortion.HB 2434simply established the state’s health benefits exchange as a result of federal health care reform. McDonnell seized the opportunity to further his crusade against women’s health and safety.

 

Governor McDonnell’s amendmentbans abortion coverage for all women participating in the new health care insurance exchange.This is dangerous for women. No woman ever plans on having an abortion. But, pregnancy can be extremely precarious and women need the assurance of health coverage especially in those tragic situations. A woman should have the option whether to include abortion coverage in her health plan without government interference.

 

Furthermore, the amendment prohibits women from using their own private dollars to purchase abortion coverage. It also prohibits private insurance companies from offering coverage! This flies in the face of conservative principles – free markets, limited government and individual rights and liberty. Not to mention, privacy!

 

We saw just what can happen with a mixed-choice Senate with the recent tie vote on new abortion regulations (broken by anti-choice Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling). We have to tell our senators NOW to vote against the Governor’s amendment on HB 2434 and protect women’s ability to choose what their health insurance covers!

 

Let’s be clear, the governor and his allies are pursuing a political agenda that will severely limit access to vital reproductive health care for women of the Commonwealth.

We cannot allow this to happen!

 

The House and Senate will vote on this amendment next Wednesday. Please help by contacting your senator today and ask them to reject the Governor’s amendment to HB 2434 and protect women’s health and safety!

 

 

 

 

Urgent: Tell Your Legislator Not To Ban Vital Abortion Coverage! [Action Alert]

Some out-of-touch lawmakers seek to ban necessary health benefits for women!

That’s right. The House of Delegates Commerce & Labor Committee is set to hear HB 2147 tomorrow afternoon! If your delegate is a member of the committee, please contact them today and ask them to vote NO on this bill! (See the committee members here and find your delegate here.)

This bill, patroned by Delegate Benjamin Cline (R-24), would prohibit private insurance participating in the new health-care exchanges from covering abortion, even for cases of absolutely vital abortion care, including when a woman’s health or life is at risk! Even in cases of rape and incest! This bill could affect thousands of Virginia women in the years ahead!

This bill could affect YOU.

Right now, most health insurance companies include coverage for abortion care in their health plans. This bill not only tells private insurance companies that they cannot offer a benefit, it takes away coverage many Virginia women already have! It also puts the health and well-being of Virginia women in jeopardy.

Please, be sure to contact your delegate today and urge them to vote against this dangerous bill. Tell them it is not their place to limit what goes in YOUR private insurance plan.

Please feel free to email us for more information.

P.S. You can find the full text of the bill here.