Spring Pennsylvania NOW Times and Voters Guide

Our semi-annual newsletter, the Pennsylvania NOW Times is now available.  Included in the newsletter are the following articles:

• New Executive Board Elected
• Voters' Guide
• Legislative Updates
• Fundraising Update
• National NOW PAC Endorses Lois Herr for 16th CD

To view the newsletter in pdf format, click here.

We Were Sold Down the River

Last night, the US House of Representative passed HR 3962, the so-called Health Care Reform bill. During the floor debate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed a successful vote on Rep. Stupak's amendment to deny any woman access to abortion coverage.  This means that any woman will be denied abortion coverage in her health insurance plan if she either uses the "public option" OR if she receives any subsidy whatsoever to purchase health insurance from private insurers.  So now lower and middle-class women will ALL be completely denied access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care.  Which may also include access to emergency contraception and other forms of birth control.

Here is how the PA Congressional House delegation voted on this amendment.  Fourteen Pennsylvania Representatives, including 7 D's and all 7 R's, voted against women's reproductive health and only 5 D's stood up for women's rights.

Yes Votes (i.e., Votes for Stupak Amendment and AGAINST Women's Health)


Jason Altmire       (D) PA 4
Christopher Carney  (D) PA 10
Mike Doyle          (D) PA 14
Charlie Dent        (R) PA 15
Kathy Dahlkemper    (D) PA 3  (and co-sponsor of amendment)
Jim Gerlach         (R) PA 6
Tim Holden          (D) PA 17
Paul Kanjorski      (D) PA 11
John P. Murtha      (D) PA 12
Tim Murphy          (R) PA 18
Joe Pitts           (R) PA 16 (Primary Republican Co-sponsor)
Todd R. Platts      (R) PA 19
Bill Shuster        (R) PA 9
Glenn Thompson      (R) PA 5

NO VOTES (Votes in Support of Women's Reproductive Health)

Robert a. Brady     (D) PA 1
Chaka Fattah        (D) PA 2
Patrick J. Murphy   (D) PA 8
Allyson Y. Schwartz (D) PA 13
Joe Sestak          (D) PA 7

This was the third blow to what could have been true health care reform.  The first blow was a weakening of the public option to an insurance "exchange program" that continues to keep insurance companies in power over our health care.  The second blow was the removal of Kucinich's amendment allowing states to craft their own single-payer plan.  And now this!

WOMEN HAVE BEEN SOLD DOWN THE RIVER TO PASS THE FLAWED NON-HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL!

I just emailed the White House with this message:

Yesterday, the House passed HR 3962.  In the process, Pelosi allowed Stupak to offer his anti-abortion amendment knowing that the majority of the house is anti-woman and anti- comprehensive health care for women!

YOU SOLD US DOWN THE RIVER! We will no longer support this bill in its current format! Not only does it deny women access to full reproductive health care, it’s public option is weak, and there is no clause in it allowing states to create single-payer plans.

What could have been an excellent plan is now just a shill for the extreme right wing and the insurance industry!

Unless you come out and clearly state that you will keep your campaign promise and protect women’s reproductive rights by vetoing the entire bill if the Stupak amendment remains within the bill and call for a much stronger public option (NOT an “Exchange Program”), we will oppose this non-reform bill.

We must stand up for a truly comprehensive health care reform law.  One that includes single-payer, Medicare for All and that is truly comprehensive health care for all. One that includes full reproductive health care and doesn't deny coverage to anyone based on pre-existing conditions, evidence of domestic violence, age, sex, race, national origin, disability, immigrant status, or ability to pay.

This Isn't Health Care

Last week, a long-time NOW member and friend received an e-mail titled, “Women must have real health insurance reform now.” She forwarded it to me with the following comment:

“Insurance reform? Who’s drinking the (i)nsurance compan(ies)’ Kool- Aid? Health insurance reform is another name for a gigantic taxpayer donation to the health care insurance corporations like the taxpayer donation to the too-big-to-fail financial institutions.”

PA NOW agrees with our sister and disgrees with the subject line of the original emiail. We don't need health insurance reform. What we need is single-payer health care. This is the form of health care that the National Organization for Women has been advocating for since 1993 when NOW passed a national resolution supporting it.

I, like many people, am a victim and survivor of our broken health care system. I had to fight with my and my twin sister’s insurance companies to reverse a denial of transplant donor coverage in order for me to have a bone marrow transplant. Then I dealt with 30 companies rejecting me for health insurance coverage for a pre-existing condition. And whenever our family now refills my son’s asthma medication, the pharmacist fights with coordinating two health insurance companies to get them to fill the prescription because one requires generic and the other requires a brand name medication.

This isn’t health care. This is the Kool-Aid that the insurance companies are feeding us. Let’s get rid of this Kool-Aid in Pennsylvania and in the U.S. Pass HB 1660/SB 400 in the state and HR 676 in Congress so that we can have comprehensive single-payer coverage for all.

Call and write your legislators to support, sponsor and vote for a Medicare-for-All kind of bill.  In PA that's HB 1660 and SB 400.  In Congress that HR 676 as well as the amendment in the general health care bill that allows states to create their own single-payer system.

-Revised from a speech on Single-Payer Health Care given in the Capital Rotunda on Tuesday, October 20 in Harrisburg as part of the Health Care for All Rally.