On Thursday, Jan. 26, the Washington State House health committee passed the Reproductive Parity Act, which will ensure a level playing field for women’s pregnancy options as health care reform moves forward.
Rep. Eileen Cody, pictured to the left, is the sponsor of the bill in the House. Her outstanding leadership played a part in the passing of the bill out of the House.
We look forward to a decision from the Senate health committee soon.
The Anchorage Daily News posted this excellent Compass piece by Clover Simon, the Alaska Team Lead for PPVNW. Here is the text in full:
I am deeply disappointed that the Anchorage Daily News would endorse a Denali KidCare compromise that ignores the health of uninsured pregnant mothers. While I agree that this stalemate over the passage of Denali KidCare is unacceptable, we cannot ignore the fact that without a healthy pregnancy we cannot have healthy kids.
A program that excludes pregnant women’s coverage between 175 percent and 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) means these women will not get needed prenatal care, increasing the risk of children being born with preventable health problems. This sets bad public health precedent and will increase the overall cost of Denali KidCare.
It is criminal to deny them coverage while expanding it for children after they have been born on the basis of a compromise so that our governor can get his way. Our governor was elected to uphold all the laws of Alaska, not just the ones he agrees with.
Regarding the funding for medically necessary abortions, all women deserve access to medically necessary care, regardless of their economic situation, including abortion. One in three women will have an abortion by the time they are 45 in the U.S., making it the third most common medical procedure for women, behind tooth extraction and cataract surgery.
Preventing unintended pregnancy is the only thing that will reduce abortions in Alaska. Providing a more robust family planning program that includes birth control and other contraception would prevent far more abortions than limiting coverage under Denali KidCare. In fact, the governor could immediately change the scope of our current Medicaid program to establish family planning-only coverage for women up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level if he also increased Denali KidCare to 200 percent. Estimates show that an investment in family planning of $650,000 would save $7.7 million in Medicaid costs and prevent approximately 430 abortions.
This is a win-win for all. We provide needed health coverage to kids and pregnant women and prevent unintended pregnancies with a very small investment. It is time for Gov. Parnell to represent us all and protect he most vulnerable in our communities.
Rev. Elizabeth Patrick speaks at the Reproductive Parity Act press conference on January 8. Photo by Carl Bergstrom
As a safeguard for women’s reproductive health, the Reproductive Parity Act has been introduced in the Washington Legislature during this 2012 session. The Act guarantees that all women, regardless of income, have access to comprehensive reproductive health care. This means that all pregnancy options must be covered. If insurance companies provide coverage for pregnancy and maternal care, they must also provide coverage for women who choose abortion.
This legislation is critical right now because the federal government placed restrictions on women’s health care when they passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and Washington States wants to ensure our current coverage of abortion care is protected as the ACA becomes law . In support of protecting a woman’s right to choose, the Rev. Elizabeth Patrick, an ordained American Baptist minister, provided testimony for the press conference announcing the bill’s introduction, and her testimony was also read at the House and Seante health committee hearings in Olympia. Rev. Patrick is a strong supporter of women’s reproductive justice and has worked for many years helping women in counseling and in her passionate activism for women’s health and reproductive rights.
As part of her testimony, Patrick said, “It is because of my religious beliefs that I support abortion. Unintended and unplanned pregnancies lead to poverty, homelessness and worse. It is my moral obligation as a religious counselor and as a minister to help women make the serious moral decision of whether or not to have an abortion, and to help create a world where no woman is coerced by her inability to pay for an abortion to carry a pregnancy to term.
“When a woman finds out she is pregnant, she turns to her doctor, her family and her faith for guidance. Whether she chooses to proceed with a pregnancy or to have an abortion, she should not have limited options. If her insurance covers her pregnancy, it is equitable and fair that it also covers her abortion. “
The bill will need to be passed by both committees before moving forward to a hearing on the House and Senate floors.
As the legislative session begins in Washington, women are standing up for their reproductive rights by posting photos of why abortion access and family planning funding matters to them.
Check out their pics on our tumblr here, and please add your own! Instructions are listed at the top.
Exciting news!
Today we’re announcing a bill to guarantee that all health insurance policies sold in Washington cover abortion, just as they cover maternity care.
This bill is about fairness, equity and choice. With everyone being required to buy insurance as the federal health care reform law takes effect, we want to make sure all insurance policies provide abortion coverage.
Anti-choice politicians in Congress tried to undermine the health care reform law, or the Affordable Care Act, by inserting a provision to roll back the reproductive health care protections that states like Washington value. But since Washington voters have repeatedly affirmed a woman’s right to choose, this legislation will ensure the federal government provision does not take that right away.
It’s simple, really. If an insurance plan covers maternity care as a pregnancy option, it should also cover abortion care.
(Please direct any press inquiries to Alison Mondi with NARAL Pro-Choice Washington at 206.624.1990 and Sara Kiesler at 206.861.7514)
This month, we’ve witnessed an extreme swing to the right regarding women’s health as the Iowa caucus neared, with four Republican presidential candidates signing Personhood pledges–in essence, vowing to declare a zygote a person, and making in vitro fertilization, IUDs and some forms of birth control potentially punishable as murder.
Now that Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. Rick Santorum have moved to the front of the pack, it’s time to take a look at their stances on abortion, women’s health, birth control and other rights.
Abortion:
Though Romney used to be pro-choice, he is now saying he is pushing for federal abortion restrictions and has said that he believes life begins at conception.
Santorum is as far right as one can be on abortion, vowing to make it illegal even in cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother. However, he does seem to have shifted a little after the Iowa caucus, saying that he may not support abortion in the case of rape or incest but he will not overturn it.
Birth control:
Romney believes birth control should be funded by the federal government, and does not find this stance inconsistent with his opinions of abortion because he says “it prevents conception”. This has led to a slamming by Rachel Maddow, who got out a fallopian tube diagram to explain how birth control works.
Santorum says that states should be allowed to outlaw birth control. ‘Nuf said.
Health Care Reform:
Though health care reform offers numerous benefits for women, including birth control without co-pays and a clause to prevent discrimination if one has a pre-existing condition, Romney says he will repeal it entirely. He claimed repealing the Affordable Care Act would save the country $95 billion, which the non-partisan fact checker Politifact found completely inaccurate, saying that repealing the ACA actually dives us further into debt.
Santorum said that Great Britain’s universal health care caused the end of the British Empire. We wish we were making this up.
Gay Rights:
Romney says he favors LGBT rights such as protecting people from discrimination in the workforce, but he does not support gay marriage. However, it seems that supporting non-discrimination and then supporting discriminating laws such as the Defense of Marriage Act make him quite contradictory.
Santorum claims gay relationships destabilize society, and as ThinkProgress quotes, has often compared same-sex relationships to inanimate objects like trees, basketballs, and bears. Along with allowing states to outlaw birth control, he would allow states to outlaw anal sex as well. And finally, he disagrees with Obama’s decision–and the military’s support of–ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Also, just take a look at the issues on each of their websites. Jobs, health care and foreign policy are the only issue links on Romney’s, with no mention of women’s rights at all. Santorum does have a section called “Faith and Family” where the anti-choice legislation he has sponsored such as the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act,” which sets a dangerous precedent giving a fetus separate, legal status.
The 2012 Reproduc
tive Health and Rights Lobby Day is just around the corner, and we would love for you to join hundreds of women from all across Washington State on the steps of the Capitol in Olympia.
In 2011, you made it possible to prevent devastating cuts to family planning in Washington State and kept some of our most vulnerable women and men safe. But 2012 is another year–we face the worst budget crisis in history as well as a major election. This is the year to be bold and aggressive to protect women’s access to reproductive rights.
Please join hundreds of pro-choice and pro-family planning volunteers from across the state to meet with your legislators face-to-face at the Capitol on Monday, January 30, 2012 for Reproductive Health and Rights Lobby Day. Join us to tell them why funding and access for basic reproductive health care services is so important. We need each of you to represent Washington’s pro-choice majority and defend reproductive health care for women and families throughout the state.
There are many competing interests this legislative session, and we cannot let women’s health care become white noise in Olympia. About $1.8 million in cuts to family planning has already been proposed by Governor Chris Gregoire at a time when more women than ever need access to essential health care services.
There is no experience necessary to come to Lobby Day. We provide the training you need to be an effective citizen lobbyist. We also offer transportation, food, and of course, the great company of like-minded friends. Just click here to RSVP for Lobby Day 2012 on January 30 now.
For information about Lobby Day in Idaho, go here to the Idaho news page, and for Alaska, go here.
P.S. We highly recommend you attend a training session prior to Lobby Day. When you RSVP, we’ll give you directions and a date so you know when and how!
If you live in Alaska, join us for Lobby Day on Feb. 14, and if you’re in Idaho, join us on Feb. 20!
It’s stressful enough that we have to worry about so many things in this world–work, bills, doctor appointments–we shouldn’t have to worry about how our cleaners are harming our health. That’s why we’ve created a wonderful toolkit for you to download in order to help protect you and your family from the dangerous chemicals that are in our everyday lives.
Some of the highlights from the toolkit:
Planned Parenthood has an important role to play in educating people about ways to reduce their exposures to environmental contaminants while working to promote public policy that helps make our environment a safer and healthier place for everyone. If you want to learn more about ways to get involved–and read about legislation we’re working on to promote healthy a environment for kids–please sign up here with Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest.
It’s a shame to think that something as innocent as a child’s toy could cause cancer, but the truth is that in today’s world, there are chemicals in so many products that it can be overwhelming. That’s why we’re working as a member of the Washington Toxics Coalition (WTC) to encourage our legislators to support the Toxic-Free Kids Act.
The Toxic-Free Kids Act will get cancer-causing Tris Flame Retardants out of baby products and encourage companies to switch to safer chemicals that won’t harm health, the environment, or their bottom line. Tris flame retardants are especially concerning because they can cause cancer. One was even removed from kids pajamas in the 70s because of health concerns. But, now it’s back, and we need to get it out of our homes and away from our kids.
We will be introducing the legislation in January, and we are expecting a tough opposition from the chemical industry and other big companies. But we’re confident that good health and protecting our families will prevail over greed and profits!
If you would like to join us or hear more about the coalition, please sign up here with WTC
Can you imagine being turned away from a pharmacy counter simply because you’re seeking contraception? Or because you’re seeking needles for your diabetes and you have a lot of tattoos?
It sounds outrageous, but in Washington State this has really happened. Despite a ruling that passed in 2007 by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy which requires pharmacies provide medications to clients on site and on time, some pharmacists still choose not to grant patients access to their health care.
We’ve been working on this issue of access to medications for a long, long time, but we’re excited that at long last on Monday, November 28, the trial in Stormans v. Salecky will begin at the federal courthouse in Tacoma. Pharmacies cannot refuse to serve a patient (or refer them elsewhere) simply because a pharmacist has a personal objection to the medication.
Planned Parenthood has supported this rule from the very beginning. Our supporters wrote letters, attended Board of Pharmacy Meetings, and lobbied in Olympia. And, when some pharmacists challenged the rule because of their personal objection to dispensing contraception, our lawyers joined the lawsuit to help defend the rule.
As the trial moves forward, we promise to keep you updated on your rights as patients to access your health care without delay or denial, and with dignity and respect.
For more information, please check out the website of our friends at Legal Voice.