My name is Stefani
and I am a student at CCSF, as well as a bartender/server at a fast paced
restaurant. I am 25 years old, and I have been living on my own since I was
barely 18. I soon as I graduated high school, I was sent on my way (with a very
poor paying job) and continued receiving medical care until I was 19. In the
process of living on my own, I quickly discovered I knew very little about how
much medical care actually was after I was no longer covered by my parents
insurance. Not knowing even the first step to being able to set up medical
insurance on my own, and most certainly not being able to afford medical on my
own, or how to seek out affordable coverage,
I was forced on many occasions to wait out serious illnesses that needed
medical attention until I could save up enough money to visit a doctor. Since
the cost of doctors visits and medicine was so insanely expensive w/o insurance
and on a teenager’s income, I would ignore everything from sinus infections so
bad I was coughing up blood to bladder infections so painful I couldn’t stand
up straight and made me run high fevers. Going to the doctor literally meant
that I would have to give up necessities such as food and money towards
utilities.  When I saw a doctor for a
bladder infection so bad I was urinating blood, I was not able to pay for
utilities later on and because of this my electricity was shut off for two
days. There have been times I felt so lost and unable to do anything to get
well.

Then,
4 years later (at the age of 23), I received amazing news: my parent’s
insurance covered me until I was 26. Upon receiving this information, I
scheduled an appointment with a doctor for a physical I was long over due for.
Being on my parents insurance has saved me money I didn’t have when I needed to
see a doctor.

Now
with free contraception being proposed for women who need it, I feel that a
huge step is being made in the right direction. Unplanned pregnancies not only
can be worrisome for women and their partners, but unplanned pregnancy can be
detrimental to children born to unprepared parents. There is nothing to lose by
offering more support to family planning, but so much can be gained. I, too,
will benefit from easier access to contraception as a sexually active woman in
a long-term, monogamous relationship.

 Click here for Stefani O’Driscoll’s story

Amanda Selich: The Affordable Care Act Has Given Me My Life
Back

My story started in the weeks leading up to my 19^th birthday. During
that time I was undergoing several doctors’ visits and tests to uncover the
cause of my sudden and extreme abdominal pain. It was a slow process but I was
assured that progress was being made towards reaching a diagnosis.
Unfortunately, for me time shortly ran out and after I turned 19 I was
immediately kicked off my dad’s insurance policy. My 19^th birthday
was here but what I thought would be a memorable and amazing day actually
marked the beginning of a two year journey full of pain, despair, and
hopelessness. I was 19 had no insurance and was in desperate need of a doctor.
Not being able to afford hospital bills I was left to my own devices. I started
self-medicating, and now I was using the internet as my doctor. Taking any information
I could find and prescribing myself the herbs, vitamins, and over the counter
pain relievers that I thought would work. It was a dangerous game of hit or
miss and I took that risk without ever knowing what I was attempting to treat.

During those two years my health had rapidly deteriorated, I couldn’t go to school, I
was missing work, and slowly I became a prisoner to my home and of my body. It wouldn’t be until I was 22 that I would be able to step into a hospital again.

The Affordable Care Act gave me that privilege. It felt like a miracle. It was my
dream come true. And this time it didn’t take long for the doctors to come back
and tell me the heartbreaking news that I had endometriosis. After enduring my
first surgery my doctors again delivered upsetting news, they told me it’s everywhere,
my entire pelvic region was covered with adhesions and cysts they also made it
very clear that the possibility of me ever having the chance to become a mother
was extremely unlikely.  It was my
devastating reality that if only I was under doctor’s care for those 2 years my
endometriosis would have never evolved to this extent.

I am 24 now and today I am happy to say that my endometriosis is almost
completely symptom free but as the days pass on my overwhelming desire to start
a family grows stronger. Ironically my path to motherhood will depend almost
entirely on birth control. Currently this is the only treatment available to me
that stops my disease progression and preserves my fertility simultaneously. It’s
a great relief that this August I will no longer have the stress on my
shoulders of trying to afford this medicine and still be able to pay for necessities
every month. Thank you Leader Pelosi and everyone who made the Affordable Care Act
possible. It truly has given me my life back.

Click here to read Amanda Selich’s story

War Against Women Translates into Votes for DemocratsNew Polling in Battleground Senate States

 By EMILY’s List and Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Shows Birth Control Debate Helps Democratic Candidates; Hurts Candidates Who Join In War Against Women’s Health & Privacy

WASHINGTON D.C. – A new national poll of battleground Senate states shows that the assault on women’s access to birth control that Republicans have waged in congress and through their mouthpieces on the airwaves has provided a significant boost to Democratic candidates who support birth control access.

Foster Friess, the mega donor behind the pro-Rick Santorum Super PAC, dismissed questions about his patron’s controversial views on women in combat, contraception and gay marriage.

“On this contraceptive thing, my Gosh it’s such [sic] inexpensive,” he added. “You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”

Host Andrea Mitchell interjected, “Excuse me, I’m just trying to catch my breath from that, Mr. Friess, frankly,” she said after a long pause. “Let’s change the subject.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/02/foster-friess-in-my-day-gals-put-aspirin-between-their-114730.html

You thought the contraception war was over.  On Friday the President announced a plan that would allow employees to be covered for contraception at no extra cost, but keep Catholic employers removed from the transaction.  The Catholic Hospital Association likes the plan.  Most Catholics like the plan, including 59% of Catholic women. 

Nope.  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are opposed, because they don’t think anyone should have access to or use contraception.

The Republicans are aligning with the Bishops on legislation to eliminate access to birth control, and otherwise target women’s health. Sen. Roy Blount’s (R-MO) pending amendment to a transportation bill would let any employer offer a health insurance plan that does not cover maternity care for unmarried women, claiming that such coverage violates the belief that sex and procreation are permissible only within the marital relationship. (Amendment No. 1520/HR 1179).

Any corporation’s CEO could eliminate coverage for contraception, or any other benefit, based on his “moral convictions,” possibly including concern for its cost. (S. 2092/H.R. 1179, Manchin-Rubio Bill)

The aim seems to be to inflame extremist voters while driving the rest of the electorate into an alienated apolitical stupor.  Alternatively, the Bishops and the GOP may have taken a turn from Woody Allen’s Bananas (“…all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check.”) and Monty Python’s “Every Sperm Is Sacred.”

Some Oklahoma legislators are treating these proposals in the proper spirit. On February 6, the Republican-dominated Oklahoma legislature introduced the “Personhood Bill” SB 1433 to proclaim fertilized human eggs the same as grown humans.  In response, Democratic State Senator Constance Johnson attached an amendment to the bill that would outlaw masturbation by men. All forms of sexual activity “in which a man ejaculates or otherwise deposits semen anywhere but in a woman’s vagina shall be interpreted and construed as an action against an unborn child.”  She later removed the measure stating that she wanted to emphasize the bill’s inherent absurdity as well as its sexist undertones.

What’s next? Perhaps a mandatory Trophy Wife bill: People who cannot procreate would be prohibited from intimate relations, including women who have passed the age of fertility and men with low sperm counts. In the event of any resulting marital rearrangements, men who intend to pursue such relations would be required to pay financial support to their former wives, and attract a fertile young replacement. 

Unfortunately, the Republican agenda is deadly serious and outrageous attacks on women’s health are going to keep coming at us unless we speak out and make it clear that bashing women’s health is not acceptable.   Click here to tell your Senators to reject all extreme legislation that would take away women’s access to birth control without a co-pay, and other needed health care.

It’s been a roller coaster month for women’s health, and it’s not over yet.

Congressional Republicans and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops vow to continue their attacks on coverage for birth control. Most of us use birth control, including most Catholics. Well over half of all women who use birth control use it to manage other conditions–like endometriosis or to prevent ovarian cancer. And more than one in three women has difficulty affording birth control today.

The Administration decided to require coverage for contraception without co-payments and deductibles after a year and a half of scientific review and public debate over women’s preventive health benefits. Churches were excluded from the requirement, but religiously-based hospitals, universities and charities were included, as they already are in 28 states.

Today the President announced that while the coverage requirement will stand, providing economic protections to millions, religious employers will be able to stand removed from providing the coverage. Instead, insurance companies will be required to provide contraception coverage at no additional cost, by contacting women directly. It remains to be seen whether the notoriously inefficient and miserly health insurance industry will succeed in making this a seamless experience for women employed at these institutions.

The Bishops’ attack and the Administration’s jiu-jitsu maneuver came a scant week after public outcry supporting Planned Parenthood after anti-choice leaders at the Komen Foundation threatened to cut funding for PP’s breast health care services.

How did this happen? More importantly, how can we stop it?

1. Recognize the real threat. The Bishops are organized and wealthy. They pushed out a virtually baseless but catchy campaign claiming that the contraception coverage rule violated religious freedom, and whipped up zealots in church services to generate 1200-1700 calls a day to vulnerable senators. They forged an alliance with the Catholic Health Association, both a large employer and a funder for many advocacy groups who might otherwise have spoken out. Extremist Republicans in Congress were and are only too happy to divert attention away from their own ineffectiveness on the economy. Next up: the so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” a bill so broad it would exempt any business owner in the country from having to provide coverage.

2. Get organized! Breast cancer patients are linked and organized, partly through networks devised by Komen itself and Planned Parenthood. When the challenge came, they were on the case.

3. Take on the issue. We can win on birth control and abortion. Avoiding reproductive health, rights and justice will not be an option in the 2012 election.

Contribute to this agenda at Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign

Read and comment on the Huffington Post

And sign statements by our partners urging Congress and the President to stand strong for women’s health: http://healthcareforamericanow.org/page/speakout/stand-up-for-women-s-health

http://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/congressbc/?akid=18.70592.-tbGqD&rd=1&t=3

Ok let’s get down to brass tacks.  We know the Republicans are mostly just playing politics with women’s health. If we stop them from bashing birth control they’ll find something else. But now that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the California ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, it seems appropriate to out the opponents of birth control. For being straight.
 
Most heterosexually active Americans, including most Catholics, use birth control, as do many others who use hormones to treat a medical condition.  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes birth control. The Catholic Church operates a large chunk of the nation’s hospitals and universities, and provides health insurance to its millions of employees, many of whom are not Catholic.  The Affordable Care Act proposes that these institutions will have to continue offering coverage for contraception without co-pays or deductibles, like any other employer, or start doing so, as of 2013. Actual churches are excluded from this requirement.  The Bishops are riled up about this. Congressional Republicans, and some in the “liberal” media, are echoing distress at the law’s incursion on the church’s right to impose its religious views on its employees and students.
 
So, do the critics walk the walk?  We’ll take the Bishops at their word that they don’t have kids. But members of Congress love to talk about their families.  So we should be able to tell whether or not members who say they don’t believe that contraception is an essential aspect of health care, especially for women, are likely users of contraception.
 
The websites for the 16 Republican members of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee describe all but two as having children.  The breakdown:
 
One child: 2 members: Leonard Lance, Tim Murphy (Rep. Murphy, from a hearing on this subject: “It is not our job as Catholics to tell God what he should do. It is our job to learn and follow his teachings.”)
 
Two children: 5 members: Mike Rogers, Marsha Blackburn, Bob Latta, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Fred Upton
 
Three children: 5 members: Joe Pitts, Michael Burgess, John Shimkus, Bill Cassidy, Brett Guthrie
 
Four children: 2 members: Phil Gingrey, Joe Barton

Their family size suggests that these right wing opponents of medical contraception are in fact ardent practitioners of what they want to deny to the rest of us.  There are other possible (though unlikely) explanations: Despite being married, among them for collectively more than a century, perhaps they rarely consummate their relationships.  This may explain their often public irritability.  Alternatively, these uncommonly blessed couples might have beaten the statistical odds for success with the rhythm method of birth control.
 
 Next time they decide to spout off about it in public, maybe we should ask them.

 *** Take Action: Sign at the White House petition website to save contraception coverage!

Online on Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-r-shaffer/republicans-contraception-birth-control_b_1263156.html

By Ellen Shaffer and Judy Norsigian

This week, we all learned a lot about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and Planned Parenthood, and breast cancer. Now that Komen has caved (sort of; Planned Parenthood’s response), we might start to learn what it will take to mobilize an outcry to really stop the attacks on women’s health.

 
The Hyde amendment banned spending federal funds on abortion and I didn’t speak out because I didn’t use MediCaid.
 
They restricted access to abortion for residents of D.C., but I didn’t speak out because I didn’t live in D.C.
 
The House voted to take away Title X funding for birth control and Pap smears from poor women, to redefine rape to exclude a woman who was drunk, drugged or underage, and authorized hospitals to let a women die rather than perform an abortion, and I didn’t speak out because it couldn’t happen to me.
 
They shot Dr. Tiller, and tried in several states (SD, NE, IA) to legalize killing doctors as justifiable homicide and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a doctor. And I was scared.
 
They tried to strip abortion coverage out of all insurance plans during health care reform, and I didn’t speak up because I thought I might lose “more important things.”

They tried to take away collective bargaining, Medicare, Social Security, teaching science in schools, our ability to save the climate, financial regulation, and reproductive rights.  And I knew it was time to speak out! 

– Sophia Yen and Ellen Shaffer, based on Martin Niemoller

 
Compared with men, women are more likely to be raising children on our own, to be segregated into lower wage jobs and to earn less money for the same work, and to lack health insurance. While our life expectancy has increased since the 1960s, our lives are restricted by our race, ethnicity and class, as well as by gender, sexual orientation, and age. The global economic downturn has fallen most heavily on women’s jobs and incomes, and in the U.S. the problem is compounded by the increasingly uneven distribution of wealth. The rate of unintended pregnancies among teens rose during the turn to abstinence-only education from 2001-8, and has since declined. Women, children and families are the 99%. – Our Bodies Ourselves

Join the National Online March for Trust Women Week It takes less than a minute – your contact info will not be added to any other lists! We will deliver your messages to Congress, governors and state legislators in key battleground states we know will be addressing reproductive health, rights and justice in 2012. We will call on policy-makers who are concerned about our lives and our health to fix the economy, and stop the attacks on women’s health.