South Dakota Planned Parenthood Advocate

The Fiscal Cliff and Women’s Health

As we still await Congress to come to a solution for the impending fiscal cliff, do you know how the fiscal cliff and the impending sequestration could affect women’s health?

Specifics of what would be getting cut from programs aren’t clear, but the Title X family Planning program could be facing cuts.

Title X funding provides affordable preventive health care to more than 5 million people a year.

Title X isn’t the only program that could be facing cuts that affects women’s health either.  The Affordable Care Act is also at risk for funding cuts.

This would mean that some of the features of ACA that women are expecting to go into effect with thenew year could be delayed.

Even if a deal is met between Congress and the White House, cuts are still likely to happen, but won’t be across the board.

So what can you do to help fight to protect women’s health on the fiscal cliff? Make sure that your Senators and Congresswoman know what the priorities should be.

Women’s health is a priority. And they need to know that.

Americans Agree, Women Deserve Affordable Access to Birth Control

According to a new survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy 70% of adults believe that insurance should be required to cover birth control.

The survey also found that 81% of the people surveyed felt that using birth control is taking personal responsibility.

These findings show that Americans understand the importance of birth control coverage and availability in order to prevent unplanned pregnancies.

 

SCOTUS Upholds the Affordable Care Act: What this Means for Women

In a tremendous victory for all Americans, the Supreme Court upheld the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), an act that extends health care coverage and seeks to eliminate the barriers to receiving affordable medical care.  While this ruling will impact the lives of all Americans, it has an especially powerful effect on women’s health care.

Under the current health care system, women can be denied coverage for having had a C-Section, breast cancer, or even for having been sexually assaulted.  The ACA changes this and ensures that insurance companies cannot deny coverage based upon a pre-existing condition. 

Additionally, the ACA ends the practice of charging women more for insurance simply because they are women.  This widespread practice, currently present in 90% of top insurance providers, costs women more than $1 billion dollars annually, with some companies charging women 85% more than their male counterparts.

The Team Roe Times March Issue!

We are excited to present to you the third issue of The Team Roe Times in 2012, a joint project between Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and NARAL Pro Choice South Dakota!

Packed inside this fabulous issue is a book review of "Any Mother's Daughter" about the HPV vaccine, a summary of the South Dakota Legislature, the Blunt Amendment vote, the debut of "Women Vote 2012", an introduction to our new intern, AND SO MUCH MORE! Please enjoy and share widely.

Download The Team Roe Times Vol 2 Issue 3

A High-Five, a Shout-Out, or a Thank You

By: Cecile Richards, President Planned Parenthood Federation of America

  Last week, the Senate rejected the Blunt amendment, a measure that would have allowed any employer to deny women who work for them insurance coverage for any essential health benefit, including birth control, for any moral or religious reason. After weeks of debate and an enormous outcry from Planned Parenthood supporters nationwide, the message is clear: birth control is basic health care, and your medical decisions should be between you and your doctor.

This is a huge victory for women's health, and I’m pleased to say that Senator Johnson voted to defend access to affordable birth control. Please take a moment to thank Senator Johnson for voting to protect women’s health and ask them to keep up the fight.

U.S. Senate Defeats Blunt Amendment 51-48

In an important victory, the U.S. Senate stood up today for women’s health and basic health care by defeating an extreme proposal sponsored by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) that would have allowed any corporation or health plan to refuse to cover any health care service they object to, such as cancer screenings, maternity care, HIV/AIDS treatments and others.  

It’s up to us, ladies!

According to AP article, Obama gains with women: Jobs, social issues help, “It's looking like President Barack Obama may be back in the good graces of women.”

For Obama, there is no more crucial constituency than women. They make up a majority of voters in presidential elections, and a bit more of them identify with his party. He would not be president today without topping Republican John McCain in that group in 2008. ‘Women are used to making decisions and running their lives,’ said Linda Young, president of the National Women's Political Caucus, which favors abortion rights. ‘To hear their right to contraception questioned in 2012 is shocking, and it's gotten a lot of people's attention.’

This all ties into the Blunt Amendment that would allow health plans to deny coverage for any service that violates the employer’s beliefs, which could include HIV/ AIDS treatment, maternity care for unmarried women, or contraception.  Read the full article here.

~Carmen, Planned Parenthood Advocate

Rally for Birth Control!

Thank you to everyone who braved the snow in support of birth control for ALL women this afternoon in Sioux Falls! Our supporters are the BEST!

Congress is expected to vote as soon as next week on a measure introduced by Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) that would not only overturn the birth control coverage benefit, it would undermine the entire notion of health insurance.

In short, the Blunt proposal says that employers and insurance companies do not have to provide coverage for ANY essential health service that they object to on the basis of personal religious belief or moral convictions.

That means employers and insurance companies can not only deny access to birth control, they can deny access to any essential health care service, including maternity care, HIV/AIDS treatment, mammograms, cancer screenings: you name it.

The Blunt proposal is designed to eviscerate critical protections included in the Affordable Care Act and to completely undermine a fundamental principle of the health care law—that everyone in this country deserves a basic standard of health insurance coverage.  

~ Carmen, Planned Parenthood Advocate

NOT "Just a Few Dollars"

Politicians like Rick Santorum say that this birth control issue isn't a big deal because it "costs just few dollars." REALITY CHECK! Enter your age and contraceptive of choice and find out how much you could expect to pay for birth control through the average age of menopause.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, most health insurance plans will cover women’s preventive services, including contraception, without charging a co-pay or deductible. 

Unfortunately, this fight continues in Congress. One bill, the Rubio-Manchin bill, would allow any business or corporation, on the basis of personal religious belief or moral conviction, to take away birth control coverage from their employees. Another bill, sponsored by Senator Blunt (R-MO), would drastically undermine women’s health and allow any employer or health plan to refuse to cover any health care service they object to on religious or moral grounds.

Planned Parenthood will continue to remain vigilant in protecting women’s access to health care at the state and federal levels.

The Team Roe Times February Issue!

We are excited to present to you the second issue of The Team Roe Times in 2012, a joint project between Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and NARAL Pro Choice South Dakota!

 

Packed inside this fabulous issue is a book review of one of the most interesting books I’ve read on adoption, “The Baby Thief”, updates on the South Dakota Legislature, the birth control employer refusal, and two new choice words AND SO MUCH MORE! Please enjoy and share widely.

Download The Team Roe Times Vol 2 Issue 2