CRR Calls on House Members to Vote NO on Repeal of Healthcare Law
(PRESS RELEASE) Today, the Center for
Reproductive Rights called on members of the House of Representatives to vote
no on repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The healthcare reform law
includes several measures that are important to women, including those
that provide significant consumer protections, affordability, and increased
coverage for reproductive health services. President of the Center for
Reproductive Rights Nancy Northup issued this statement:
“We strongly urge members of the
House to vote against repeal of the healthcare law. While we certainly
criticized the law during last year’s debate for its backsliding on access to
abortion services, a reversal of the legislation would remove important
protections for women’s health and set the stage for more retrograde reforms in
the future.
“On the one hand, the Nelson
Amendment was a significant setback for women, imposing a convoluted payment
system for abortion coverage that needlessly burdens insurers and discourages
them from offering coverage at all. At the same time, repeal of the healthcare
law would deprive millions of women and their families critical provisions that
will safeguard their health. Among other provisions, the law eliminates
the discriminatory practice of charging women higher premiums than men,
provides families with options for affordable insurance coverage, ends denial
of coverage for women who have had cesarean sections, and expands coverage for
women’s health by holding out a promise of increased access to contraception
without co-pays.
“Those supporting repeal have made
it no secret that they plan to replace these benefits and advance measures that
will reverse this historic progress, including unprecedented further
restrictions on women’s reproductive health. Even those who found fault with
the healthcare law when it was passed should join the chorus critical of
repeal.”