Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights

Judy Waxman

Judy Waxman is the Vice President of Health and Reproductive Rights at the National Women's Law Center. She pioneers advocacy, policy and educational strategies to promote the quality and availability of health care, including reproductive choice, for American women. Prior to joining the National Women's Law Center, Ms. Waxman served as Deputy Executive Director at Families USA for over a decade. In that capacity, she worked to achieve high quality, affordable health and long-term care for all Americans and was a leader on grassroots and activities on Medicaid, Medicare and other health care access legislative issues. She previously served as a Professional Staff Member with the Pepper Commission (the United States Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care). Ms. Waxman was also an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, an attorney for the Department of Health and Human Services and served as President of the Board of Directors of the Women's Medical Center, a nonprofit health clinic. She served on advisory committees for publications of the Alan Guttmacher Institute and the Older Women's League (OWL), and was the Chair of the Health Task Force of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and of the Leadership Conference of Aging Organizations. She holds a law degree from American University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Miami, in Florida.

Expert in: Abortion, Pharmacy Refusals, Emergency Contraception, Health Insurance, Barriers to Reproductive Care, Religious Restrictions, Family Planning, Health Care Reform, Medicaid & Other Public Funding, Pregnancy Rights, Report Card on Women's Health, Health Care & Reproductive Rights
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My Take

Protect Women's Health: Tell Your Senators to Reject Extreme Legislation

Posted by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights | Posted on: February 11, 2012 at 11:00 am

Yesterday, President Obama made an announcement that took the responsibility from certain religiously-affiliated employers and gave it to insurance companies for covering contraception with no co-pays or deductibles. This accommodation will protect women's access to birth control and without extra cost, regardless of where they work. We will closely monitor the implementation of this new rule and work to make sure that all women have access to this essential health benefit.

However, opponents of birth control in Congress are still focused on taking away access to contraception introducing extreme legislation that threatens health across the board. The pieces of legislation range from allowing any employer, regardless of whether it is a religious entity, to deny coverage of contraception to giving employers the right to refuse coverage of any health care service they find religiously or morally objectionable.

They are playing politics with women's health – and it would hurt everyone. Tell your Senators to reject all extreme legislation that would take away women's access to birth control without a co-pay, and other needed health care.

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Tags: Birth Control Refusal, Birth Control/Contraceptives, Blunt Amendment, Health Insurance, Take Action, Women's Health Amendment, Barriers to Reproductive Care, Religious Restrictions, Health Care Reform, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 2 comments

We Need Your Voice On Contraceptive Coverage!

Posted by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights | Posted on: February 08, 2012 at 05:23 pm

Last week, together we secured a victory against efforts that would have harmed women's health. After hearing from women and men across the country, Susan G. Komen for the Cure reversed its decision to stop funding breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood health clinics. When people come together to protect access to critical women's health services, we're a force to be reckoned with.

But opponents of women's health are at it again. They're attacking the recent Obama administration decision to make contraception widely available to women without co-pays. Help us push back on these attacks on affordable access to birth control — tell the Obama administration you support no-cost birth control by signing the petition on the White House website.

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Tags: Birth Control Refusal, Birth Control/Contraceptives, President Obama & Obama Administration, Take Action, Barriers to Reproductive Care, Religious Restrictions, Family Planning, Health Care Reform, Pregnancy Rights, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 1 comment

Life Growing Up Without Title IX

Posted by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights | Posted on: February 02, 2012 at 03:18 pm

Reading over Leila’s blog on her life growing up in sports, I had very mixed feelings. First, I felt anger. Anger that I had missed out. Anger that it never even occurred to me when I was a kid that it was unfair that the girls only did aerobics during gym class and boys got to do everything else. That was the standard, and no one questioned it. I’m angry that I didn’t get the opportunity to play sports and be part of a team, and that I didn’t question the status quo.

You see, when I was growing up, there was no Title IX.

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Tags: National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Title IX, Athletics, Education & Title IX | 1 comment

Breaking News: Access to No-Cost Birth Control Secured

Posted by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights | Posted on: January 20, 2012 at 06:11 pm

Because of you, many women will not lose access to no-cost birth control under the health care law.

For months now, we've been updating you on a new "interim" rule that would provide women across the country access to birth control with no co-pays. This morning, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it was issuing a final rule providing contraceptives without co-pays and refused to expand the religious employer exemption.

Over the summer in its temporary rules, HHS deemed birth control a necessary preventive health service for women, thus requiring coverage without co-pays by the Affordable Care Act. It also would allow a narrow set of religious employers to deny this critical coverage to their employees. But that didn't satisfy opponents of contraception. They wanted the coverage to be dropped, or at least to expand the exception to nearly 1.5 million employees and the women in their families. HHS stood firm, taking a giant step forward in protecting women's health.

Join us in thanking Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for standing firm and issuing a final rule providing women access to birth control with no co-pays. 

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Tags: Birth Control/Contraceptives, Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, Take Action, Barriers to Reproductive Care, Religious Restrictions, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | Add new comment

Protect Roe - Join the Virtual March

Posted by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights | Posted on: January 20, 2012 at 11:05 am

Ninety-two. That's the number of anti-abortion measures passed into law across the U.S. in 2011. And in case you're wondering, yes, that's a record — in fact, it's over 2.5 times the previous record. Needless to say, this is NOT cause for celebration.

Instead, this weekend we're celebrating the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized a woman's right to choose. But women's access to abortion has never been more in jeopardy — so for the next week, we're partnering with organizations across the country to host a virtual march and demand that our elected officials protect women's access to safe and legal abortion.

For years, anti-choice advocates have tried to chip away at Roe at both the state and federal levels. And if last year is any guide, they're making progress. Their ultimate goal: overturn Roe and force women into the back alleys again to obtain illegal and unsafe abortion. We can't let them take us back to those days — the cost to our lives and well-being is just too high.

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Tags: Abortion, Roe v. Wade, Trust Women Week, Barriers to Reproductive Care, Pregnancy Rights, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 1 comment