More Than A Magazine, A Movement
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which since its 2010 passage has granted health coverage to more than 31 million Americans, has survived another day in court. In Thursday’s 7–2 decision from the Supreme Court, the justices ruled that Texas and other objecting Republican-led states had no legal standing to bring the challenge to court.
The Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage requirement has increased the use of birth control among patients. But even with the measure in place, the pandemic took a toll on women’s contraceptive access to contraception, perpetuating inequities in access.
Anti-abortion extremist Jeff White, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to defrauding health insurance companies through state Affordable Care Act exchanges and a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme involving drug rehabilitation centers, was finally sentenced in February to three years in prison and three years of supervised release.
The Whites sent more than 300 people to rehabilitation facilities that offered them kickbacks for every patient admitted, typically in the thousands of dollars.
On Thursday, President Biden signed an executive order to reopen enrollment on the Affordable Care Act’s HealthCare.gov, the federal health insurance marketplace, from February 15 to May 15.
But while this is a welcome first step to help uninsured Americans get coverage, now is the time to make progress and go further in women’s access to health care—not just to hold on to the last decade’s achievements.
Until we start treating health care as a human right, we’ll continue to struggle to achieve equality and reproductive freedom.
Sexual and reproductive health advocates need to hold the Biden-Harris administration and congressional lawmakers accountable to undo the harms of the last four years, push for progressive and equitable policies, and make 2021 a turning point for sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice.
Here’s how.
The Trump administration is seeking to have the Supreme Court toss out the entire ACA—in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Will the Supreme Court go along with it?
President-Elect Biden’s platform for women promises to be the most ambitious presidential agenda yet addressing issues that affect women and girls. This is the first of a multi-part series covering the agenda.
The health care prong of President Elect Biden’s agenda for women includes protecting and strengthening access to reproductive health care, expanding access to high-quality, affordable health care, addressing maternal mortality and tackling health inequities. The platform focuses in particular on developing health care protections for LGBTQ+ women, women with disabilities, incarcerated women, women veterans and Native women.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s lifelong work to achieve equality was unrelenting while serving on the Supreme Court. On the other hand, Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court puts freedom of choice, affordable health care, marriage equality and other hard-won rights are at risk.
Short of a new administration’s decision to unpack and expand the Supreme Court, the future will be a conservative supermajority on the court.
The speed in which Judge Amy Coney Barrett is being rushed through a Supreme Court vetting process shows that senators can indeed make progress quickly if they care enough about the issue at hand. Right now, they need to care about the American people and focus on COVID-19 relief.