What We're Reading -- March 23
Spread the word
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Good morning everyone! Happy Friday, and happy two year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act! A lot has happened in the last two years, but this morning we’re talking about the 20 million women who have received preventive care without a co-pay. Over 86 million people received preventive care without a co-pay, and that’s just the beginning. But as we all know around here, not everyone is as happy as we are when it comes to protecting health care and there are some groups, including the Catholic bishops, that are working to take these benefits away. Here’s what we’re reading this morning…
Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke takes a moment to celebrate the Affordable Care Act and acknowledge its critical role in protecting women’s health. “Thank You, Affordable Care Act!” – “This law, also known as health reform, will benefit over 45 million women in our country through increased access to preventive care services without copays and deductibles. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act's new requirements that private insurance and Medicare cover these services without cost-sharing, by the time the law is fully implemented in 2014, women will benefit from, among other services: mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, pre and post natal care, flu shots, regular well-baby, well-child and well-woman visits, domestic violence screening, and the full range of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives. If this seems too good to be true, think again. This is the product of women in action - this is what happens when women stand up for what they and their families need to be healthy and are finally heard by people at the highest ranks of our government. This is what it looks like when government works for us and prioritizes our health.”
As the Supreme Court gets ready for three days of oral arguments about the constitutionality of the law, it’s important to remember why we fought for it. “Editorial: As health law turns 2, the demonization continues” – “Supporters, including this page, think that the law is a big improvement over an unsustainable status quo. Opponents, including the Republican presidential contenders, would make repeal their first order of business next January if the GOP wins the White House and majorities in Congress…. Opponents have promised to ’repeal and replace' the law, but they're far better at explaining how they'd get rid of it than what they'd put in its place. In part that's because health reform was assembled largely with what used to be Republican ideas: Keep private insurance, private doctors and private hospitals — and don't replace them with single-payer government insurance, or even a ‘public option’ to compete with private insurers.”
The latest trend in anti-women’s health legislation extends beyond truth. “Old scare tactic a new weapon in abortion wars” – “New Hampshire House Bill 1659 is titled the ‘Women’s Right to Know Act,’ but a more accurate title would be the ‘Activists’ Right to Lie to Women Act.’ The measure, now moving through the Granite State Legislature, requires that at least 24 hours before undergoing a medical abortion, a woman must be informed ‘orally and in person’ of ‘the increased risk of breast cancer’ associated with abortion.… In 2003, [National Cancer Institute] convened more than 100 leading international experts to review all the available relevant studies. The conclusion, which you can find on its web site today: ‘Abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk.’ On the ‘strength of evidence’ scale, the cancer institute rates this finding as ‘well established.’”
