Statement of NOW President Terry O'Neill
September 30, 2013
The National Organization for Women is appalled that House Republicans snuck
an anti-contraceptive measure into the government funding bill passed over the
weekend. This measure would allow an employer that provides health benefits to
its employees to remove birth control from the list of covered health services
required by the Affordable Care Act, supposedly based on the entity's
"conscience." What about a woman's conscience?
This outrageous measure is an aggressive continuation of the Republicans' War
on Women. Republicans are playing "hide and sneak" as they attempt to enact
birth control restrictions while hoping no one is paying attention. What the
radical fringe that now controls the GOP hasn't figured out yet is that women --
including the 99 percent of sexually active women who have used birth control --
are not so easily fooled. Women voters will hold them accountable for their
continuing attacks on our access to basic reproductive healthcare.
No woman -- no matter who she works for -- should be denied health care as
basic as contraception. Politicians who vote to restrict birth control will
undoubtedly pay a price at the polls in 2014.
