It has been said that women, and their votes, will play a big role in the upcoming Presidential Election. This directly relates to each of the candidates plans regarding women’s health care. It is important to be an informed voter, so here is some information that will help you to know what Romney/Ryan will do, and what Obama/Biden will continue to do.
The Romney website has absolutely nothing to say about women’s health care. This is unfortunate, because it means that voters cannot go to the official Romney website and use it as a resource to learn about what Romney/Ryan intend to do in regards to women’s health care.
Instead, we can try and glean information from other sources. We know that Romney/Ryan are Republican. The official Republican plank says little about women’s health care, except for this: “Faithful to the “self evident” truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”
From this, it is clear that Romney/Ryan will not cover abortion in health insurance plans. What isn’t as obvious is that this plank is calling for a “personhood” amendment. This means that under Romney/Ryan, it is entirely possible that birth control (at least some forms of it) will not be covered by health insurance. It is possible that (at least some) forms of birth control will become entirely unavailable or illegal. A “personhood” amendment would overturn Roe v. Wade, and return this country to the days when women died after having botched abortions in back alleys.
Romney has also stated: “Planned Parenthood – we’re gonna get rid of that”. Planned Parenthood is where thousands of low-income women go for mammograms, cancer screenings, birth control, and other forms of women’s health care. Neither Romney nor his running mate Ryan have indicated how they are going to help women who are low-income to continue to have access to women’s health care.
The Barack Obama website has plenty of information about women’s health care. The Obama/Biden plan is called the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare”. There is more information about this plan at Healthcare.gov. Obama and Biden are Democrats, and have been fighting back against Republican efforts to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood.
Right now, health insurance companies are offering free preventative care including OB/GYN, birth control, maternity care, mammograms, and cancer screenings. This will continue under Obama/Biden. In 2014, health insurers will no longer be allowed to charge women more than a man for the same health plan.
Image by DonkeyHotey on Flickr