On a day when Mitt Romney's campaign took heat for touting the health care reform law he implemented while governor of Massachusetts, President Barack Obama received roaring applause for passing his own health care law during his first term in office. Speaking before a crowd predominantly made up of women in Denver, Obama gave a full-throated endorsement to the Affordable Care Act.
"Four years ago, I delivered on my promise to pass health reform by the end of my first term, and that's what we did," Obama said. "The Affordable Care Act, also known as 'Obamacare' -- I actually like the name, 'cause I do care. That's why we fought so hard to make it happen."
At the crux of the president's speech was an explanation of Obamacare's benefits for women and the argument that a Romney administration would be a step backward for women's health.
"When it comes to a woman's right to make her own health care choices, they want to take us back to the policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century," he said. "Colorado, you got to make sure it doesn't happen. The decisions that affect a woman's health, they're not up to politicians. They're not up to insurance companies. They're up to you."
Obama's lead among women in Colorado is not nearly as large as it is in other battleground states, according to the latest Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News swing state polls, and he is trailing Romney there by five points overall.
In his impassioned appeal to female voters, Obama outlined several ways in which he and Romney disagree on women's health issues. Romney opposes funding for Planned Parenthood, opposes mandatory contraception coverage and opposes abortion rights. He has also promised to immediately overturn Obamacare, which offers a number of preventative health benefits for women and prevents insurance companies from charging them more than men for the same coverage.
The president also mentioned his opponents's inadvertent statement in support of Mississippi's controversial "fetal personhood" initiative -- an anti-abortion measure that is currently being discussed again in Colorado.
These aren't just "women's issues," and they aren't just "health issues," Obama said. "These are economic issues, and they affect every woman in America."
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