Health Care & Reproductive Rights

Birth Control

Contraceptive Coverage Under Threat

HHS stood firm & issued a final rule providing women access to birth control without co-pays, but contraception opponents are fighting back.

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Supreme Court to Hear Case Challenging ACA

Find out more about the legal challenges, why we think the law is constitutional, and what women could lose if the law is struck down.

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Women's Health Report Card 2010

Are we making the grade on women’s health?

Find out how healthy women in your state are and how the new health care law will affect women's health and health policy.

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Medicaid Threats

Threats to the Medicaid Program

Washington's budget battles and focus on cutting federal spending are increasingly threatening the Medicaid program.

Check out our state-by-state fact sheets.

Protect Women’s Health

Anti-choice Members of Congress are pushing an agenda that harms women's health.

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No-Cost Birth Control
Health Care Law Challenge
Report Card on Women's Health
Medicaid Threats
Access to Abortion at Risk

Highlights

Fact Sheet | The Rubio Bill Would Allow Any Employer to Take Away Women’s Insurance Coverage of Contraception, Harming the Health of Women and Their Families

February 9, 2012

The Rubio Bill, S. 2043, introduced in the Senate in January 2012, allows any corporation of any type, any other entity of any type, or any individual to refuse to provide contraceptive coverage and services to their employees on the basis of religious beliefs.  Called the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012,” it would take away the right of millions of women to have any insurance coverage for contraception, based on an employer or health plan’s religious beliefs – whether affiliated or not with any religious entity.

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| Health Care Law Litigation

November 1, 2011

Opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have brought various lawsuits claiming that Congress lacked authority to pass the ACA but it is well-settled that the Commerce Clause of the Constitution allows Congress to make laws addressing national economic problems. The ACA addresses a national breakdown in the health insurance market that has resulted in widespread denials of coverage, limited access to health care, and increased health care costs. By addressing the economic impacts of the discrimination that women face in the health insurance market, it also falls within a long tradition of civil rights laws falling well within Congress’s authority under the Commerce Clause.

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press release | NWLC Analysis of New Census Data Shows Record Numbers of Women in Poverty, Without Health Insurance

September 13, 2011

(Washington, D.C.) Record numbers of women lived in poverty – and extreme poverty – in 2010, according to an analysis of Census data released today by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). The poverty rate among women climbed to 14.5 percent in 2010 from 13.9 percent in 2009, the highest in 17 years. Read more...

More Resources

Webinars & Presentations | 2012 Reform Matters Conference Call Agendas

January 11, 2012

This resource links to all of the Reform Matters agendas for the year 2012.

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| Health Care Law Litigation

November 01, 2011

Opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have brought various lawsuits claiming that Congress lacked authority to pass the ACA but it is well-settled that the Commerce Clause of the Constitution allows Congress to make laws addressing national economic problems. The ACA addresses a national breakdown in the health insurance market that has resulted in widespread denials of coverage, limited access to health care, and increased health care costs. By addressing the economic impacts of the discrimination that women face in the health insurance market, it also falls within a long tradition of civil rights laws falling well within Congress’s authority under the Commerce Clause.

Read more...

Webinars & Presentations | 2011 Reform Matters Conference Call Agendas

February 09, 2011

This resouce links to each month's Reform Matters conference call agendas.

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Reports & Toolkits | Below the Radar: Health Care Providers' Religious Refusals Can Endanger Women's Lives and Health

January 20, 2011

This report explores how religious refusals can impact the care women receive when they are suffering serious pregnancy complications.

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Fact Sheet | The Blunt Amendment Takes Away Access to Critical Health Insurance Coverage for Millions of Americans

February 10, 2012

The Blunt Amendment gives virtually limitless and unprecedented license to any employer or insurance plan, religious or not, to exclude any health service, no matter how essential, in the health services they cover.

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