By Kendra McCormick

Throughout the economic crisis, many successful policies that improve women’s economic security and ensure our access to health care have been put in jeopardy. Even our right to vote is being attacked. However, I feel most threatened by the proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

It is easy for me to see how the Affordable Care Act affects both me and the people that I care about. As a recent college graduate, it has comforted me to know that I can stay on my parents’ health insurance plan until I obtain my own health benefits. Furthermore, a family member has struggled with health issues in the past and will soon need to find a new health insurance policy. Under the Affordable Care Act, her pre-existing conditions will not prevent her from obtaining the health insurance that she needs. Yet it is not just my family and I that benefit; countless other women are also assisted by this legislation. 

The Affordable Care Act ensures that people with most pre-existing conditions will be able to acquire health insurance, defrays the costs of preventive care, and prohibits monetary limits on coverage of essential benefits. These provisions, in addition to numerous others, can particularly benefit women.

Preventive health services for women include mammograms, cervical cancer screening, contraception, flu shots, HIV screening, breastfeeding support, and domestic violence screening. The prohibition on coverage limits protects women with chronic conditions. Another provision allows young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until they are 26. Like me, other young women, who are more likely than any other group of women to lack health insurance, are already benefiting from this policy.

These are just several of many examples of the value of the Affordable Care Act for women. Thanks to this legislation, women and girls have increased access to a variety of healthcare services and will be able to experience a better quality of life.

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Kendra McCormick is a 2011 graduate of the George Washington University and Program and Policy Intern at the National Council of Women’s Organizations. 

By Kendra McCormick

The recession negatively impacts young people looking to enter the workforce for the first time, and as a recent college graduate, I can easily see how the recession is impacting my peers and me. I have experienced firsthand how difficult it is to find full-time, paid employment in my field of study, and I know many other people in the same position as myself.

Therefore, when President Obama announced the American Jobs Act, I was excited to hear what he would have to offer for recent graduates, but I had a hard time seeing what was in this plan for people like me. How will students lower their debt, and how will opportunities be built for them to begin a career after college? It is clear that something has to be done.

During my job search, I have come across countless articles describing the hardships of unemployed and underemployed college graduates. The price of tuition at many schools has skyrocketed, yet entry-level wages for college graduates are down. Statistics show that my generation is taking a longer amount of time to become financially stable and independent. Furthermore, many experts speculate that students who graduate during the recession will be left enduring long-lasting economic and professional consequences, including stunted professional development and decades of lower wages. And it is not only college graduates who are suffering: regardless of education, America’s youngest workers have been hit harder than average by the recession.

Because reducing unemployment is so critical for my generation’s success, I support the American Jobs Act. Although there was not much mention of how it would specifically benefit recent college graduates, it does aim to expand opportunities for low-income youth, and it prioritizes creating lasting economic change. Additionally, the American Jobs Act would have a positive impact on women, who have yet to benefit from the recovery as much as men have.

Overall, I believe that passing this bill would be a step forward, for my generation, for women, and for reducing unemployment. However, I hope that more will also be done to specifically benefit the large numbers of recent graduates who have thus far been unable to launch their careers. After all, what better incentive is there for young people to continue their education than a clear correlation between education and jobs?

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Kendra McCormick is a 2011 graduate of George Washington University and Program and Policy Intern at the National Council of Women’s Organizations.

For more information on HERvotes, please reference http://msmagazine.com/HERvotes/.

By Kendra McCormick

Please join HERvotes, a campaign to encourage women to go to the ballot box to protect their health and economic rights! 

Throughout the economic crisis, many successful policies that improve women’s economic security and ensure our access to health care have been put in jeopardy. Even our right to vote is being attacked. However, I feel most threatened by the proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act. 

It is easy for me to see how the Affordable Care Act affects both me and the people that I care about. As a recent college graduate, it has comforted me to know that I can stay on my parents’ health insurance plan until I obtain my own health benefits. Furthermore, a family member has struggled with health issues in the past and will soon need to find a new health insurance policy. Under the Affordable Care Act, her pre-existing conditions will not prevent her from obtaining the health insurance that she needs. Yet it is not just my family and I that benefit; countless other women are also assisted by this legislation.                                          

The Affordable Care Act ensures that people with most pre-existing conditions will be able to acquire health insurance, defrays the costs of preventive care, and prohibits monetary limits on coverage of essential benefits. These provisions, in addition to numerous others, can particularly benefit women.

Preventive health services for women include mammograms, cervical cancer screening, contraception, flu shots, HIV screening, breastfeeding support, and domestic violence screening. The prohibition on coverage limits protects women with chronic conditions. Another provision allows young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until they are 26. Like me, other young women, who are more likely than any other group of women to lack health insurance, are already benefiting from this policy. These are just several of many examples of the value of the Affordable Care Act for women.

In response to recent attacks on historic policies that benefit women, including the Affordable Care Act, a coalition of women’s organizations is launching HERvotes to recognize and protect historic victories for women.  The launch is linked to Women’s Equality Day, August 26^th, when the 19^th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote.  It also coincides with the 1963 March on Washington and the unveiling of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC. 

I hope that HERvotes persuades other women to seek out more information about the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, helps them understand the significance of these protections, and encourages them to vote for candidates who are committed to protecting and advancing health care reform.

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Kendra McCormick is a 2011 graduate of George Washington University and Program and Policy Intern at the National Council of Women’s Organizations.

For more information on HERvotes and the list of historic laws at risk, please reference http://msmagazine.com/HERvote/.

By Becky Mezzanotte

It was not until I returned from living abroad in the Middle East that I realized just how much I actually cared about women’s rights. Prior to that point in my life, I lived in blissful ignorance of the fact that slowly, but surely, my rights as a woman in the United States were being attacked.

But, those days of living in ignorance came to an end pretty fast when I returned from Egypt, a country where being a woman means men feel that they can harass you on the street. Experiences like this are what wake you up when you come to a country, like the United States, that is supposed to be “civilized” and “modern”. You expect to see progress and change, and yet everywhere I look I see the rights that women have worked so hard for in this country being thrown away like they are rubbish.

A perfect example of this has to be the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) enacted in 1994 by Congress. The act itself was the first to acknowledge that violence against women occurred and needed to be addressed. However, if VAWA expires at the end of 2011, as it is supposed to, what precautions are there to protect women from harassment, stalking and sexual assault?

I wish that I could say that VAWA expiring would be no big deal because we as a society had moved past the point of violence occurring against women (and anyone else for that matter), but this isn’t the case. According to a report from the UN’s Unite to End Violence Against Women campaign in 2006, “[i]n Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, between 40 and 70 percent of female murder victims were killed by their intimate partners”. Even though the numbers of these murders, sexual assaults and other violent acts are decreasing, the fact that they still exist is why something needs to be done to keep VAWA active.  

Gone are the days where I can sit back and let someone else fight for my rights. And that would be the exact reason that I am sitting here typing out this blog entry. This blog entry is apart of a much larger movement, HERvotes, which serves to create awareness of the attacks against women including elimination of VAWA, attacks on Social Security and many other rights that women have earned over the years and hopes to mobilize women voters in 2012 to preserve women’s Health and Economic Rights.  Because as I sit here, someone out there is working to pass several pieces of legislation that will take my rights away and send me back a hundred years. As much fun as period clothes are to wear for a short period of time, I would not want to live in them for ever. 

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Becky Mezzanotte is a graduate of American University and the current social media specialist at the National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO).

For more information on HERvotes and the list of historic laws at risk, please reference http://msmagazine.com/HERvote/.

By: Ashley Horne

To celebrate Women’s Equality Day, on August 26^th, women’s groups are coming together to protect our Health and Economic Rights and to encourage women to vote in 2012.  Out vote has never been more important, and it seems only appropriate to get out the vote on the 91^st anniversary of the 19^th Amendment and woman’s suffrage.

Many of our most important achievements are under attack by federal, state and local elected officials.  Women’s organizations have watched the “War on Women” play in the media and we have fought back individually.  Now a large coalition of organizations has joined forces to counter these attacks on women. 

The National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO) is pleased to join HERvotes and the fight to protect women’s Health and Economic Rights.  As a coalition representing millions of American women, we can use our collective voice to mobilize women voters in 2012.

Beginning Thursday, August 25^th, the HERvotes coalition is spreading our message through a blog carnival and grassroots activism. As a collective voice, we are telling women not to give up or to lose faith in the government, but rather to VOTE for officials who support YOU! In 2008, women had a higher voter turnout rate than men. Let’s turn this gender gap into a referendum on women’s rights!

Help us protect the top 10 historic laws that impact women all across America. 

If we don’t counter the “War on Women”:

·       Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are at risk of being cut or eliminated. This would leave millions of women without financial security and vital health services.

·       Title X family planning programs will be eliminated throughout the country. This year, we’re seeing more attacks on Roe v. Wade than at any time since 1973.

·       The Violence Againist Women Act (VAWA) might not be reauthorized before it expires at the end of 2011.

·       The Affordable Care Act might be repealed and women and girls of all ages will lose vital healthcare services.  This includes well woman visits, contraceptives, mammograms and cancer screenings, prenatal care and counseling for domestic violence victims.

We need you! Join the fight to protect our Health and Economic Rights. As a coalition, we can educate and bring women to the polls in 2012. Our voices can make a difference.

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Ashley Horne is the Director of Programs and Policy for the National Council of Women’s Organizations.

For more information on HERvotes and the list of historic laws at risk, please reference http://msmagazine.com/HERvote/.