About WomenVote PA

WomenVote PA is a network of community groups, agencies, nonprofit organizations, and individuals working together to improve the status of women in Pennsylvania. Through voter registration and education about critical issues facing women and their families, we are working together to increase women's political participation in our state. More about WomenVote PA.

What Women Need to Understand About Retirement

The Heinz Family Philanthropies and the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) have produced a book entitled, What Women Need to Understand About Retirement, and it is online and absolutely free!

Comprehensive Health Care Reform:
Women Say No to Stupak-Pitts & Nelson-Hatch!

Throughout the month of December, women leaders and members of various organizations, including the Women's Law Project, WomenVote PA, Planned Parenthood affiliates, the Feminist Majority, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Coalition of Labor Union Women and Womens Way (Pennsylvania) travelled to Washington DC to voice their opposition to adding restrictive abortion language to the Health Care Reform bill in the Senate. Advocates met with Senators and Representatives to express their concern about the Stupak-Pitts amendment that passed in the House of Representatives and became part of HR 3962, the House Health Care Reform bill.

On December 8th, Senators Nelson and Hatch introduced an almost identical amendment to the Senate Health Reform bill, however, the amendment was defeated by a vote of 54 to 45 when two Republican Senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, two independents, and 50 Democrats voted to table the amendment.

Why should we be concerned?

First, the current law forbides federal funding for abortion. This law has been in existence since 1976 and is known as the Hyde Amendment. The only exception under the current law are in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the life of the woman. This continues to hurt low- and moderate-income women.

Secondly, according to Women's eNews, if the Stupak-Pitts or similar amendment were to become part of health care reform, it hurts women's access to abortion in three ways:

It prevents any government-run plan from offering abortion coverage, een if women pay for the service with their own premiums;
It prohibits participants in a proposed health insurance exchange from receiving abortion coverage if they also receive government subsidies available to low- and moderate-income earners;
It requires private insurance companies in the exhange to only provide abortion as supplementary coverage.

Please continue to voice your opposition to including abortion restrictions in any health care reform bills to Senators Casey and Specter. Meanwhile, please also contact your member in the House of Representatives to say you are opposed to the Stupak-Pitts amendment which is part of HR 3962. Continue to Say No to Stupak-Pitts!

Majority Support Health Plan Coverage of Reproductive Health Services

According to a survey released by the National Women's Law Center, 71% of voters surveyed overwhelmingly support requiring health plans to cover women's reproductive health services. The findings also stated that "if the health reform [plan] eliminated current insurance coverage of reproductive health services such as birth control or abortion, nearly two-thirds (60%) would oppose the plan and nearly half (47%) would oppose it strongly.

Giving Birth in Chains

By Ali Peters, Intern WVPA and PA Prison Society