But the Court also altered Obamacare in a very fundamental way: it limited expansion of Medicaid to voluntary participation rather than the mandatory expansion ACA originally called for. Medicaid expansion, along with state health insurance exchanges, is the linchpin of President Obama’s plan to provide insurance coverage to 30 million low-income uninsured Americans. Continue reading

The Court's decision affirms significant health benefits for women. Many of these have been spelled out and touted frequently for months, but now that the law stands, these benefits deserve greater coverage and additional analysis. Continue reading

Instead of doing the hard, unpopular-but-more-honest-thing by taking on an institution that is so blinded by its anti-abortion and anti-women sentiment and beliefs that it is now willing to bring down health care reform via its Fortnight for Freedom and by its refusal to accept the Obama Administration compromise on contraceptive coverage for religious institutions, Brown took the easy route: swinging at Planned Parenthood for not supporting so-called pro-choice Republicans - one of whom, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine - has called their decision "infuriating". Continue reading

To warm up the conversation about duct-taping women's mouths while taking away our rights I’ve prepared a list of six other v-words and phrases that alone and together are equally important to vaginas this year and to winning the war being waged on us. Continue reading

On Tuesday (6/12) voters in North Dakota defeated Measure 3 - an amendment to the state's constitution that would have greatly expanded the ability of individuals and institutions to do just about anything they wanted in the name of religious freedom - minus the pesky interference of church-state separation. Continue reading

The National Partnership for Women & Families introduces "Repro Health Watch" - a new resource that tracks women's health policy nationally and in states. Continue reading

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) is "quietly" drafting legislation that would make it possible for states to offer universal healthcare for their uninsured residents. According to Progressive Democrats of America, the legislation would allow federal funds for healthcare reform to be pooled with state tax money for universal coverage. Here's what the legislation would do: It would create a mechanism for states to request federal funds after establishing their own health insurance programs. It would, for the first time, create a system under which a Medicare-for-all program could be rolled out on a state-by-state basis. In order to receive federal funds, states would have to offer a healthcare plan with the same benefits as the most popular plan available to federal government employees. The plan would be required to cover any out-of-state treatment received by residents. There were 49 million Americans without health insurance - 16.3 percent - in 2010, according... Continue reading

It's tough to give a "worst of" award to any state that treats women and our rights more like eminent domain (but without even the right to appropriate reimbursement or payment) than citizens. However there are worsts. In the assault on reproductive rights, two states rise to the top (or the bottom, as it were): Arizona and Wisconsin. Continue reading

Part I and II are an overview of what's happening nationally and around the country in state legislatures. None of this will come as a surprise to readers of this blog, but since extremists stay busy 24/7/365, what's happening changes almost daily. So stay tuned. Continue reading

Just one of the new and creative ways women across the country are moving forward to take care of business in this election year. News about this and other groups and actions around the nation will be posted regularly here, so stay tuned. Miss R*EVOLutionaries is organizing CA residents. "We... Continue reading

The U.S. Senate prepares to introduce Paycheck Fairness Act...again. It shouldn't be a surprise to anybody when it doesn't go anywhere. We're in an election year - and a pretty nasty one, by all early indications - so GOP will continue to obstruct and drive wedges. They're engaged in an... Continue reading