By Kevin Foley
“I know in your mind you can think of times when America was attacked,” growled Rep. Mike Kelly, a tea party congressman from Pennsylvania. “One is December 7th ...the other is September 11th. I want you to remember August 1st, 2012, the attack on religious freedom...a day that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”
What happened on August 1st that was as horrific as Pearl Harbor and 9-11?
On that day 47 million American women began to have access to free preventative health services as part of a new provision in the Affordable Care Act, that’s what.
Kelly is among the far right demagogues in hysterics over a plan that will ultimately lower heath care costs for individuals and the country.
The former car salesman’s not concerned about freedom. He’s worried millions of voters are feeling the positive effects of ACA. The last thing he and the rest of the do-nothing Republicans in congress want is Americans benefiting from a program they vehemently opposed.
But then, conservatives seem always to be on the wrong side of history. They fought Medicare. They fought the Civil Rights Act. Now they’re fighting to undo ACA.
Here is what Kelly thinks is the same as crashing jetliners into buildings and slaughtering innocent people: comprehensive preventative care coverage for insured women who enroll in new health care plans or renew their existing policies on or after August 1st.
That means women will be eligible to receive eight important services aimed at preventing illnesses and promoting healthy lifestyles.
And here are the services that Kelly believes are equal to a murderous sneak attack on American naval ships:
- Well-woman visits - Annual preventive care visits for adult women to obtain the recommended preventive services, plus additional visits if women and their doctors determine they’re necessary.
- Gestational diabetes screening - Screening is for women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant, and those at high risk of developing gestational diabetes.
- HPV DNA testing - Women who are 30 or older will now have access to high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing every three years, regardless of Pap smear results to help reduce the prevalence of cervical cancer.
- STI counseling - Sexually active women may receive annual counseling on sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
- HIV screening and counseling - Sexually active women can receive annual counseling on HIV.
- Contraception and contraceptive counseling - Women will have free access to all methods, sterilization procedures and patient education and counseling. This does not include abortion or abortion drugs.
- Breast-feeding support, supplies and counseling - Pregnant and postpartum women now have access to comprehensive lactation support and counseling from trained providers, as well as breastfeeding equipment.
- Interpersonal and domestic violence screening and counseling - Screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence is provided free for all adolescent and adult women.
By now, we’re accustomed to the insane hyperbole mouthed by raging reactionaries like Kelly and their media echo chamber, all conjuring up nightmarish fantasies to terrorize Americans into voting against their own best interests.
There’s a war alright and it’s being waged against women by Kelly and the rest of the far right fringe in congress.
But it's beginning to backfire on them with women now reacting to their hostility. In key swing states, including Kelly’s home state of Pennsylvania, women favor President Obama over Mitt Romney, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll. Add them to all the other voters conservatives have angered, offended and alienated – African-Americans, Latinos and Hispanics, gays and lesbians – and things look pretty good for Democrats come November.
*
* *
Kevin
Foley is president of KEF
Media Associates, an Atlanta-based producer and distributor
of sponsored news content to television and radio media. |