PRESS RELEASE from Obama for America Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Contact:
Marianne von Nordeck, Virginia Press Secretary
 

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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