For generations, women have overcome obstacles, exceeded expectations and fought for equality. We fought discrimination in the health insurance market, where women have been considered a pre-existing condition and denied health coverage due to a previous Caesarean section or a history of domestic violence or rape. We fought to end the discriminatory practice of insurance companies charging women more than men for health coverage, simply because we are women. And we won: the health care law finally ends these odious practices.
Ask your mom, aunt, grandmother her story about the challenges of accessible birth control or share your own story with us.
Yes, that’s right – creative uses of bacon grease and having to show your marriage license to get a prescription for birth control is what many of our mothers, great aunts, and grandmothers endured.
It’s been nearly fifty years since the Supreme Court’slandmark decision in Connecticut v Griswold struck down state bans on birth control. Yet women in at least 24 states have reported that their pharmacists have denied them access to birth control. And politicians are not making it any easier by trying to limit access to affordable contraception and other women’s health care needs.
Ask your mother, grandmother, aunt, or another loved one this Mother’s Day about the challenges she had accessing birth control. Then, share her story or yours with us!
What challenges did I face accessing birth control when I was younger? My doctor told me taking the Pill could possibly kill me — apparently thinking this additional “fact” would help me make a more informed medical decision.
I’m still alive — so I guess he was wrong. And that doctor was not alone in putting up barriers for women trying to access reproductive health care. TELL US: Have you ever asked your mom, aunt, grandmother, or another loved one in your life what challenges she had gaining access to birth control? We want to hear the stories!
It’s been nearly fifty years since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Connecticut v Griswold striking down state bans on birth control. Since then, contraception has become so central to women’s lives that 98 percent of us use it at some point during our reproductive years. Yet, politicians still re-litigate access to affordable contraception and other women’s health care needs. The stories of the past prepare us for the fights of the future! Help us collect stories to remind our daughters and granddaughters about the fights we have won — help them fight the challenges that still lie ahead. Ask your mom her story about the challenges of accessible birth control or share your own story with us.
As mothers, grandmothers, daughters, aunts, and those that love them, let’s work together to get the message across to our leaders once and for all — our health is NOT up for debate™.
Sincerely,
Death by a million cuts. That’s the plan of some members of Congress who have held hearings and votes to cut programs in the health care law. And some of these cuts go to the heart of women’s health.
They just don’t get it. We need to show — literally show — them why the health care law is important to women and their families. Join our photo blog and tell our leaders — I Will NOT Be Denied™! From the over 20 million women who have been able to get preventive health care without a co-pay to the nearly 40 million women who no longer face a lifetime limit on their coverage, women everywhere are already benefiting from the health care law. And in just a few months, women will start getting access to birth control and wellness visits without co-pays or deductibles. We can’t let some members of Congress play politics with women’s health and stop this progress. As they say — a picture is worth a thousand words. Join our photo blog and make sure your leaders know we will not go back: women will not be denied.
Sincerely,
Judy WaxmanVice President for Health and Reproductive RightsNational Women’s Law Center
Be a Seed for Change 
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