Unprecedented. That's what they're calling the GOP's most recent attack on women in Arizona. I'm calling it unthinkable.
There is a bill making its way through the Arizona state legislature that would require women to prove to their boss that they need birth control in order to treat a medical condition if they wanted their prescription to be covered by their insurer. That is outrageous. Women should never be forced to share personal information with their boss in order to have access to basic health care.
As if that wasn't bad enough, it goes even further. This bill also allows a woman's boss to fire her for using birth control as a contraceptive. Fired. For taking birth control. These Republicans are trying to take away women's rights and freedoms and we won't stand for it. This bill has, incredibly enough, already been passed in the Arizona State House and is now up for debate in the State Senate.
At EMILY's List we work to elect Democratic women at all levels of government -- including the state legislatures. This stream of regressive, extremist bills coming out-of-state legislatures recently only underlines the importance of that work. The more progressive, Democratic women we have in the state houses, working to defend these rights for our daughters and granddaughters, we can stop these bills from becoming laws. We can stop states from placing restrictions on women. We can stop our rights from being taken away.
Seventeen of the twenty states with the most women in their state legislatures require insurers to cover prescription drugs, including birth control. Some of these states are actually working to improve the quality of life for women, not trying to turn back the clock on our rights. When pro-choice Democratic women are at the table, the conversation changes, the outcomes for women change for the better.
Two EMILY's List heroes started their political careers in the very halls where this terrible piece of legislation is now being debated. Gabby Giffords and Ann Kirkpatrick both served in the Arizona state legislature, representing Arizona women at the state capital before they went on to defend the rights of women in Congress. We've also helped to elect five of the women currently serving in the Arizona state legislature -- two of whom have already voted against this bill in the House.
Strong pro-choice Democratic women are standing up for all women across the country when they push back against this right-wing agenda. We count on Democratic women up and down the ballot to defend our basic rights -- now more than ever. Democratic women in state houses and in Congress need reinforcements to fight back in this War on Women. It heartens me to know that we're on track to train well over 1,000 women to run for state and local offices through EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program this election cycle. These women are the future leaders who will help stop these outrageous pieces of legislation.
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Walmart Stores Inc.
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Wells Fargo & Co.
Bank of America Corp.
McDonald's Corp.
Apollo Group Inc.
Kroger Co.
Raytheon Co.
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Honeywell International Inc.
It is medication being bought on the company insurance for contraception purposes. Isn't that what the are trying to prevent? So the rules should be the same for the extended family of all employees who are covered.
Imagine men having to take their wives intimate, vaginal related, medical records in to present to the boss..
A woman's use of birth control should be between her, her husband(lover) and God, (if she believes). What the heck does the state have anything to do with that?
Just because our elected officials have their own personal beliefs, doesn't mean they should use their time in office to force those beliefs on everybody else. They should work to pass laws that protect not only their own beliefs, but also everyone elses.
There was no birth control pill before the 1960's. It took awhile for them to be in wide use, and to get the dosage lower to minimize side effect.
From Colonial times until now, shotgun weddings were very popular. I was born 2 months "early", as happened with many 1st kids. People before the pill married between 16 and 20 in general.
College for women before the pill? Something of a pipe dream. Most women would have had a child by age 22. Careers? That didn't matter, women couldn't work in many professions anyway.
Abortion: One relative had 7 abortions. After the pill, not another one. My grama had an abortion in the 1930's because they had little money for food for their kids during the depression.
I was in college and amazing number of women had abortions. The poor women had back alley ones, including hemorrhage and sterility sometimes, as happened to my 15 year old friend that was raped at gunpoint. The college women went to regular docs.
Fast forward to today: None of the women my kids went to college with had an abortion. Many of the women were on BC for irregular cycles. Families are more able to plan their kids, as many did. The birth rate went down to about 2 kids per family.
These laws take worker's rights away and give complete control to the corporations and employers to deny health care access to anyone they want, for whatever reason they choose.
Read the bill.
Yep. This is a war on women alright...
Wow. Pay for it yourself or tell us your most intimate health details. Can't even describe how bogus that is.
Healthcare providers can find that out by having those applying for their services to sign out a questionnaire.
I love your melodramatic post by the way.