From: wright274@centurytel.net

To: E-OHPSCA2713.EBSA

Date: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 6:17:00 PM

eventive Care and Contraception!

From "AAUW Action Network" <VoterEd@aauw.org> 

To "Julie Mcbride"<wright274@centurytel.net>

Date Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:48:31 -0400

Support Access to Preventive Care and Contraception!

We have some good news and we have some bad news. The good news is the Department of Health

and Human Services (HHS) is considering adopting the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) recommendations

that women’s preventive health care be completely covered by any new health insurance plans under

the new health care reform law!

The bad news, unfortunately, is that efforts are underway to expand “religious refusal” exemptions. If

expanded, certain employers would be exempt from having to provide coverage for contraceptive

services to their female employees if the employer is opposed to contraception.

An expanded exemption would allow an employer to deny their employees access to care that doctors,

medical associations, and the IOM consider necessary. Besides, with or without an employer exemption,

if an employee is opposed to contraception on religious grounds, she’s unlikely to fill a prescription for

birth control. But these exemptions are also a little sinister.

Religious refusal provisions allow the decision makers at “religious employers” to determine what sort of

contraception, if any, their female employees will have access to. If the existing religious refusal

exemption is expanded, it would create a broad definition for “religious employers,” and could impact all

employees at some schools, hospitals, charities, and elsewhere – even if the employee does not share

the faith of their employer.

Here’s more good news, however: HHS is currently waiting to hear from the public! That’s right – AAUW

has a chance for input, both as an organization and as individual members and e-advocates.

Take two minutes to send a brief message to HHS. Below, please find draft language we’ve written that

we encourage you to edit and email. Please note: Your email will be published online (here), so don’t

include your name, address or anything else you don’t want on the web!

To send a message, copy and paste then edit the provided draft in an email to:

E-OHPSCA2713.EBSA@dol.gov

I join with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in asking you to accept the

recommendations of the Institute of Medicine as pertain to coverage of preventive care under the new

health care law, and to reject any exemptions for “religious employers.” These preventive services are a

critical element of the new law and would provide countless women better access to necessary health

care.

While AAUW believes that “religious refusal” exemptions unjustly deny women access to contraceptive

services, others, driven by an ideological distaste for all contraceptive services, are pushing the

government to make exemptions even larger. Indeed, some groups are pushing for the exemption to

apply to religiously-run health providers, so hospitals with religious affiliations would be exempt from
the coverage requirement, even though they employ people of all faiths and ideologies. If granted, this

larger exemption would deny access to thousands of women just because of where they work.

I urge you to ensure women have access to quality preventive care by accepting IOM’s

recommendations and rejecting the proposed

this is a personal matter that should be decided by the patient and her doctor. period. we have tostand

up to these extremist people that want to drive this country into the ground! my daughter and her

daughter should not have to worry about her employer insurance that SHE pays for, being dictated by

the employer her insurance company her pharmacy. let the option be out there for women to decide.