Washington, D.C. – 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
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.
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,” Senator Lautenberg said. “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.”
“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.”
“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)
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