President Obama’s re-election campaign has been preparing to run against Mitt Romney, only to watch Newt Gingrich surge. So maybe their opponent will be Mr. Romney. Maybe it’ll be Mr. Gingrich. Maybe it’ll be someone else. Who knows.
On one issue, though, the Obama campaign can take on the entire Republican field already, at once: reproductive rights, since the Republicans have all come out against them. Last week, Obama for America sent out a letter talking about women’s health and choices and rights like that’s an issue that actually matters and that might attract actual voters. Rachel read parts of this on the show, in the segment posted above. The full campaign letter, titled “Big News on Birth Control” reads:
Friend —
Here’s some big news that’s going to affect millions of women.
On Friday, the Obama administration announced that soon women won’t have to pay out of pocket for birth control: Starting August 1st, many insurance plans nationwide will be required to fully cover contraception without co-pays or deductibles. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more women can make health care decisions based on what’s best for them — not their insurance company — all while saving hundreds of dollars every year.
Think about how different that is from what the candidates on the other side would do. They’ve all vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and Mitt Romney even said he would have signed a constitutional amendment in Massachusetts to define life as beginning at conception, similar to the notorious state-level ‘personhood’ amendment that could ban many forms of contraception, and even IVF.
Recommended
This news is just one more way the Affordable Care Act ensures that being a woman will no longer be considered a pre-existing condition. Critical preventive services like mammograms and other cancer screenings are now free, and an estimated 1.1 million young women are now covered by their parents’ health plans.
But at the same time, our opponents have been waging a war on women’s health — attempting to defund Planned Parenthood, overturn Roe v. Wade, and everything in between.
The President has stood firm against these attacks on women’s health, but if we’re going to protect our progress — and have the chance to take even more steps forward — we need to show we have his back now, when the heat is on.
And then there’s a line asking you to sign the petition and leave your e-mail address, like that might matter, too.
(H/t @athleen for Tumblring it.)
The place for in-depth analysis, commentary and informed perspectives.
