PRESS RELEASE from Obama for America
Virginia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Contact:
Marianne von Nordeck, Virginia Press Secretary
New
OFA
Fact Sheet Highlights the Choice Virginia Women Face This Election
Richmond, VA
– Today, Obama for America released a fact sheet that shows how women
and families in Virginia are already benefiting from President Obama’s
health care reforms.
“President Obama has consistently stood up for women in this
country. Thanks to Obamacare, 1.4 million women in Virginia will start
to see their coverage expanded this month to include preventive health
care services like contraception and domestic violence screenings. Mitt
Romney wants to repeal Obamacare and take this basic right away from
women and families.” – Virginia House Minority Whip, Delegate Charniele
Herring
“For women in America, the choice is clear – we want a president
who has our backs, not one who wants to roll back our rights. President
Obama passed landmark health reforms that ensure that women in Virginia
and across the country can access the care they need. Mitt Romney wants
to put insurance companies’ interests first, and keep women paying more
for basic preventive health care. We have a choice this election – and
I choose President Obama.” – Former State Senate Caucus Chair Mary
Margaret Whipple
Some of the fact sheet’s findings include:
- More than 1
in 5 women over 40 in Virginia are not up to date on their mammograms.
Because of Obamacare, more women can get this lifesaving service
without any out-of-pocket costs.
- 58 percent of young women in Virginia aren’t fully
immunized with the life-saving HPV vaccine. Thanks to Obamacare, women
and girls can now get the HPV vaccine without any co-pay or deductible.
- While 79 percent of new moms in Virginia begin breastfeeding
their
baby, that number drops by nearly half in the first six months.
Obamacare requires insurance companies to cover breastfeeding support
services, so more women can access the help they need to begin and
continue breastfeeding.
- Only 46 percent of Virginia residents aged 18 to 44
have ever been tested for HIV. Obamacare makes sure these
services are
covered with no co-pay or deductible so women can take control of their
health.
President Obama has helped protect women’s rights to make
their own private health care decisions in consultation with their
doctors and families. President Obama will not give any ground to those
who would try to deny women their own health care choices. Behind
every one of the President’s policies is a simple idea: women should
have control over the decisions that affect their health, their lives,
and their careers.
Mitt Romney has said he would repeal the Affordable Care Act with
no clear plans to replace it, returning America to the days when
insurance companies had free reign. Romney has proposed eliminating all
federal funding for Planned Parenthood, a major provider of women’s
health care in Virginia. He also supported the Blunt-Rubio amendment,
extreme legislation that would take women’s personal health decisions
out of their hands and give them to their employers. It would allow any
employer to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage – putting at
risk the nearly 79 million women who rely on their employer for health
care.
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