Last month we asked women to send us their health care stories. That simple question hit a massive nerve. We received hundreds of e-mails from young, middle age, older, widowed, divorced, mothers, sisters, daughters, brothers and fathers — all who had a story of their ordeal with the health care industry.
A majority of the public has indicated that they do want any health care reform package to cover abortion. What’s more, the overwhelming majority of employer-sponsored health insurance plans do cover abortion; in essence, new, misguided restrictions to abortion represent not the status quo (mistakenly suggested by some of our allies in Congress), but a frightening rollback for women’s health.
Should surrogacy be viewed as a legitimate branch of assisted reproductive technology and receive more governmental regulation to protect intended parents and surrogates? Is surrogacy an exploitation of women’s bodies that should be stopped? Tell us what you think.
NOW is incensed that President Barack Obama agreed today to issue an executive order designed to appease a handful of anti-choice Democrats who have held up health care reform in an effort to restrict women’s access to abortion. Through this order, the president has announced he will lend the weight of his office and the entire executive branch to the anti-abortion measures included in the Senate bill, which the House is now prepared to pass.
As a longtime proponent of health care reform, I truly wish that the National Organization for Women could join in celebrating the historic passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It pains me to have to stand against what many see as a major achievement. But feminist, progressive principles are in direct conflict with many of the compromises built into and tacked onto this legislation.
No more redactions. No more cover-ups. No more protection for powerful abusers.
Help NOW take action today!