A Big Something For The Ladies

Over at MSNBC's new blog Lean Forward, Sandra Fluke weighs in on the multiple provisions in the Affordable Care Act that take effect today involving substantive changes in new and renewed insurance plans for women's health.  Among the new provisions:

- It guarantees them a free annual well-woman visit, and if needed, follow-up visits. That visit will now include a no-cost screening for domestic or intimate partner violence. For sexually-active women, the visit must also include a free annual screening for HIV and counseling for other sexually transmitted infections.

- It entitles women over 30 to a DNA screening for HPV (human pappilomavirus) every three years, regardless of pap smear results. Detecting and treating HPV will reduce these women’s risk of cervical cancer.

- It allows pregnant women to receive a free screening for gestational diabetes, not only ensuring that they receive care during their pregnancy, but reducing their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in later years. They are also entitled to comprehensive support for breastfeeding, including assistance for moms struggling to breastfeed, as well as equipment like breast pumps, which is especially important for new moms returning to work outside the home.

- Finally, perhaps the best known benefit of this policy is that adult women can access contraception at no cost. This includes any FDA-approved form of contraception, including sterilization procedures, but not any form of abortion. To reiterate what we've said from the start: Access to contraception allows women to control the timing of pregnancies, ensuring that mothers and their children are as healthy as possible.

And these provisions will help all women.  Personally, having known someone whose life was saved by early screening for gestational diabetes, that third provision is no joke and I applaud it.  All of these benefits for women are things the GOP is vowing to now eliminate, so there's a pretty clear choice for your vote in November.  Don't tell me there's "no war on women" when these provisions would be among the first to go if the GOP had their way.  This is what the Democrats fought for, so if you are a woman or have a sister, mother, aunt or niece, you have every reason to applaud these changes that will save money and save lives.

Use that vote in November.