Take Action with EMILY’s List! Tell John Boehner that the GOP’s anti-woman agenda is unacceptable:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/boehnersamerica.org\/20110209aw\/<\/a><\/p>\n SENATE DEMOCRATS SPEAK OUT AGAINST REPUBLICAN EFFORTS TO RESTRICT WOMEN\u2019S ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE Take Action with EMILY’s List! Tell John Boehner that the GOP’s anti-woman agenda is unacceptable: http:\/\/boehnersamerica.org\/20110209aw\/ SENATE DEMOCRATS SPEAK OUT AGAINST REPUBLICAN EFFORTS TO RESTRICT WOMEN\u2019S ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE Instead of Creating Jobs, House Republicans Threaten Women\u2019s Health by … Continue reading
\nInstead of Creating Jobs, House Republicans Threaten Women\u2019s Health by Limiting Their Access to Affordable Health Care and Reproductive Health Services
\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 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\u2019s health by severely limiting their access to affordable health care and reproductive health services.
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\nU.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), 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.
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\nSenator Boxer said, \u201cWe are sending a clear message to House Republicans that their agenda on women\u2019s 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\u2019s health and, with a bipartisan effort, we will stop an agenda that would do them harm.\u201d
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\n\u201cIt\u2019s telling that this bill, one of the very first bills House Republicans have introduced, is not on jobs or our economic recovery, it\u2019s on sweeping cuts to insurance coverage for abortions,\u201d said Senator Murray. \u201cFor all their talk about the size of government, it\u2019s 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.\u201d
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\n\u201cThe 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,\u201d Senator Lautenberg said. \u201cOnce again, we are seeing a male-o-garchy trying to turn the clock back on women’s health.\u00a0 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.\u201d
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\n\u201cRepublicans claim that they want to keep government out of people\u2019s lives, but they insist on asserting their authority in the lives of women,\u201d Senator Gillibrand said. \u201cThey\u2019ve 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\u2019s 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\u2019s health care a top priority.\u201d
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\n\u201cI can\u2019t understand why some in Congress are focusing their energies on further restricting women\u2019s access to reproductive care \u2014 instead of working to create jobs,\u201d said Senator Franken. \u201cThe 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.\u00a0 This is simply unacceptable.\u201d\u00a0
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\n\u201cThis measure is an unprecedented assault on women\u2019s health,\u201d Senator Blumenthal said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d
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\nBelow are some of the extreme provisions in House Republicans\u2019 legislation that would endanger women\u2019s health and hurt American families:
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to the National Women\u2019s 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hospitals would no longer have to provide pregnant women who need urgent, emergency care with life-saving procedures. (H.R.358)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)
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\n\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"