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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Senate Republicans Decide that it *is* Your Boss’ Business

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From Bernie’s Buzz:


Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a bill that would have protected women’s right to make their own health care decisions. In the 56-43 vote – four short of the 60 needed – only three Republicans supported this basic protection for women.

Although the vast majority of American women use birth control at some point in their lives, many women without insurance could not afford the method that would work best for them. The Affordable Care Act guaranteed that health insurance would fully cover the cost of contraception. A recent Supreme Court decision took back that guarantee, telling women they could only be covered if their bosses said it was ok.

“The court was wrong and the Senate Republicans are wrong,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said. “Bosses should not be able to impose their religious beliefs on their employees. Bosses should not be able to deny insurance-covered birth control to their female employees. Women should make their own health care decisions, not their employers.

“At a time when tens of millions of women use birth control, there is no valid reason to restrict a woman’s access to safe, widely-used preventive services simply because her employer does not approve of what should be her private medical decisions.”

The Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act would have ensured that employers cannot interfere in their employees’ decisions about contraception or other health services.

From the Twittering Masses:

VOTE VOTE VOTE:

Ronald Brownstein ‏@RonBrownstein

Why #contraception debate? In new @maristpoll, Dem Senate candidates lead w/ col+ white/wmn by 11 in MI, 15 in IA, 24 in CO and 39(!) in NH.

Michigan, Iowa, Colorado and New Hampshire: Keep them Blue!!


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/ 9 Comments

9 comments

  1. JanF

    How not to tackle contraception policy

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Republicans plan to put forward a bill that would ensure employers cannot prevent their employees from obtaining contraception.

    “We plan to introduce legislation this week that says no employer can block any employee from legal access to her FDA-approved contraceptives,” McConnell said.

    But it’s worth pausing to appreciate exactly what this proposal intends to do. In a word, the goal is to do nothing.

    By “nothing,” I don’t mean the Republican measure is inadequate or intended to push policy in a misguided direction. Rather, I mean the GOP plan actually does nothing.

    Laura Bassett explained that the bill “literally does nothing.”

    The GOP bill would change nothing, because women can already legally access contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

    You’re going to think I’m kidding, but I’m entirely serious. The Republican plan, as unveiled today, would allow women to buy contraception. That’s it. That’s the plan. You spend money on birth control and then you receive birth control in exchange.

    Evidence (as if we need it) that the GOP simply does not understand what women are upset about.

  2. bfitzinAR

    bosses=men=people.  women=servants=not people.  These guys (and unfortunately a few women who’ve been granted just enough power that they’ll fight for the status quo) still long for the days when the earnest learned debates were about whether or not women were fully human.

  3. Diana in NoVa

    day when we’d be fighting about birth control! Abortion, yes. Some people are against the idea of women having that right. I don’t agree with them, and I think many of them are hypocrites, but yes, I can somewhat understand their point of view.

    But birth control? For chrissake, what century is this? What planet is this? I feel as if I’m living in the America of 1875 but no one told me about the time machine going backward.

    I want women to get control of the dam’ government and until then I want everywoman to know how to prevent pregnancy even without Big Pharma.

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