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U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand released the following statement in response to the introduction of legislation by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and 29 of their Republican colleagues attacking women’s health by going beyond existing federal law that already prohibits federal funds from being used for abortions in the new health care law:
“When we should all be focused on creating jobs and growing our economy, Republicans are mounting an egregious, ideological effort to please their base and launch an all out assault on the rights of women, and the health services for millions of American families. Current law is clear: federal funds cannot be used to provide abortions. That has been the law of the land for 30 years. Their shameless attacks show a blatant disregard for women, who shoulder the worst of the health care costs.”
ahugestepback.com -- First, it was the health care battle. Then it was the budget battle. Now, anti-choice lawmakers are trying to deny women insurance for abortion and allow hospitals to let women die. Where does this lead? Where will it end?
The most aggressive anti-choice attack in years is underway in the U. S. House of Representatives with a series of bills that invade women’s private health decisions. These actions represent a huge step back for women and the most vicious attack on women's health and rights in several decades.
The Huge Step Back campaign is taking these threats head-on by:
Analyzing proposed bills for constitutional rights violations;
Meeting and educating lawmakers on Capitol Hill and advocating against attacks;
Providing supplemental testimony to hearings on anti-choice bills;
Arming you with tools to fight back against the anti-woman, anti-child, and anti-health attacks coming from Congress.
Let there be no confusion about these bills. Their main target is women, and their goal is to intrude on how women make decisions about their own medical care.
Today, MoveOn.org released a powerful new ad. "We Won't Go Back," with Lisa Edelstein, star of the hit TV show "House," is a hard-hitting portrayal of where the Republican war on women's health will lead if it's not stopped.
From a bill attempting to redefine rape to gutting access to reproductive health care, Republicans have made anti-woman and anti-choice legislation a top priority this year.
The new ad calls out the Republican efforts for what they are: an attempt to send women back to the back alley. But far too few people even know about their efforts. So to stop them, we've got to get this ad out far and wide, and make sure voters see just what Republicans are trying to do.
Women's rights leaders have warned that the Republican effort would be a radical, far-reaching rollback of women's rights. Rep. Carolyn Maloney called it "the deepest attack on a woman's right to choose in my lifetime." Expert Jessica Arons said it would "accomplish the unstated end of making abortion as difficult to obtain as possible without actually criminalizing it."
One bill would effectively prevent women from purchasing insurance that includes abortion coverage in the new insurance exchanges even if they're using their own money. Experts warn this type of restriction could lead to insurance companies dropping abortion coverage entirely. The same bill would also levy a tax on small businesses and individuals who purchase insurance coverage that includes abortion.
Another bill would, incredibly, allow hospitals to turn away a woman seeking an abortion, even if she'll die without it—a major change from current law.
Republicans have a real chance of passing these bills—unless we sound the alarm right away. Can you help MoveOn.org get this new ad on the air? Just click here to donate:
Instead of Creating Jobs, House Republicans Threaten Women’s Health by Limiting Their Access to Affordable Health Care and Reproductive Health Services
Senate Democrats -- including Senators Gillibrand, Boxer, Murray, Franken, Blumenthal & Lautenberg -- held a press conference today to call out the House GOP anti-choice agenda.
Senator Gillibrand's statement:
“Republicans claim that they want to keep government out of people’s lives, but they insist on asserting their authority in the lives of women,” Senator Gillibrand said. “They’ve been in power only a few weeks, yet the Republicans have already made depriving women of the medical care they need and deserve one of their primary goals. This agenda disregards women’s rights and restricts the ability of women to access affordable health care. Clearly, the Republican House is not focusing on creating jobs or growing our economy, but making the degradation of women’s health care a top priority.”
At a press conference today, Senate Democrats spoke out to express their opposition to legislation being pushed by House Republicans this week that would endanger women’s health by severely limiting their access to affordable health care and reproductive health services.
U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Al Franken (D-MN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on House Republicans to join in efforts to create jobs rather than pursuing an extreme agenda that would end a decades-long compromise on choice, raise taxes on women and businesses that have or want insurance that covers reproductive health care and restrict the ability of women to use their own personal funds to buy insurance that includes reproductive health services.
“Republicans claim that they want to keep government out of people’s lives, but they insist on asserting their authority in the lives of women,”Senator Gillibrand said. “They’ve been in power only a few weeks, yet the Republicans have already made depriving women of the medical care they need and deserve one of their primary goals. This agenda disregards women’s rights and restricts the ability of women to access affordable health care. Clearly, the Republican House is not focusing on creating jobs or growing our economy, but making the degradation of women’s health care a top priority.”
Senator Boxer said, “We are sending a clear message to House Republicans that their agenda on women’s health is extreme, it breaks faith with a decades-long bipartisan compromise and it risks the health and lives of women. It also punishes women and businesses with a tax hike if they wish to keep or buy insurance that covers a full range of reproductive health care. We want the women and families of America to know that we will continue to defend women’s health and, with a bipartisan effort, we will stop an agenda that would do them harm.”
“It’s telling that this bill, one of the very first bills House Republicans have introduced, is not on jobs or our economic recovery, it’s on sweeping cuts to insurance coverage for abortions,”said Senator Murray. “For all their talk about the size of government, it’s still very clear that they want government to come between women and their personal health care choices. I am looking forward to standing up to this extreme legislation should it make its way to the Senate.”
“The Republican-led House has launched an outrageous assault on women's rights and wants to take away the rights of our sisters, daughters and granddaughters to make their own health care decisions,” SenatorLautenbergsaid. “Once again, we are seeing a male-o-garchy trying to turn the clock back on women's health. I remain committed to ensuring that American women always have the right to choose what's best for their own lives and their own bodies.”
“I can’t understand why some in Congress are focusing their energies on further restricting women’s access to reproductive care — instead of working to create jobs,” said Senator Franken. “The proposed legislation would end the decades-long compromise on choice, stopping women from using their own funds to buy health insurance that covers reproductive care. This is simply unacceptable.”
“This measure is an unprecedented assault on women’s health,”Senator Blumenthal said. “It creates reprehensible risks for the health of countless women across the country, puts them in jeopardy of losing vital health services, and it imperils not just them, but their families.”
Below are some of the extreme provisions in House Republicans’ legislation that would endanger women’s health and hurt American families:
Women would be restricted from using their own personal funds to purchase insurance that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3, H.R.358)
Families would be barred from using their Flexible Spending Accounts or Health Savings Accounts to pay for a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
Small businesses that receive a tax credit to buy health insurance for their employees would lose their tax credit if they choose a plan that covers reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
People who have lost their jobs because of trade with foreign countries would no longer be able to use their Health Coverage Tax Credit to buy any insurance plan that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
According to the National Women’s Law Center, for the first time in decades, there would no longer be a requirement that states provide abortions to poor women who are victims of rape or incest, or need the procedure to save their life. (H.R.3)
Hospitals would no longer have to provide pregnant women who need urgent, emergency care with life-saving procedures. (H.R.358)
Due to restrictions on the Title X family planning program, millions of women would lose access to mammograms, other cancer screenings, and essential health services. (H.R.217)
The self-employed who deduct health care costs from their taxes would no longer be able to do so if they have a plan that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R. 3)
Those who pay health insurance premiums with pre-tax dollars would not be able to buy or keep insurance plans that cover a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
The District of Columbia would no longer be allowed to spend its own tax dollars on providing women in D.C. a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
The legislation, as originally proposed, would have redefined rape and incest for purposes of federal funding to take away access to the full range of reproductive health care for some victims of rape and incest. (H.R.3, H.R.358)
Ford says one thing about his position on abortion and his voting record in Congress says another
In anticipation of Harold Ford Jr.'s appearance in the Capital Region this evening, Sunday, February 14, 2010, Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York urges the former Tennessee Congressman to stop proclaiming himself prochoice.
Below is the official statement from M. Tracey Brooks, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York:
"A prochoice representative supports a women's right to access safe, legal, comprehensive reproductive health care without government interference."
"Ford's voting record and recent public statements prove that he does not trust women to make their own decisions. He cannot claim to be supportive of our issues when, as a Tennessee Congressman, he demonstrated that he is clearly not prochoice."
"Planned Parenthood Action Fund did not endorse Ford in his elections for Congress in 2000 or 2004, nor for his Senate bid in 2006."
"New Yorkers demand that 100 percent pro-choice champions represent them in the U.S. Senate. If Ford wants to understand the true definition of a pro-choice individual, he need only look at the voting records of New York's U.S. Senators and compare them with his own."
