Demonstrators protest Donald Trump’s election to the presidency, in Union Square in Manhattan, November 9, 2016. (Photo: Yana Paskova / The New York Times)
Republicans spend significant amounts of time publicly railing against and legislatively restricting abortion — a procedure that has been around as long as pregnancy. However, abortion is far from their only reproductive health care target. Appointments made and policies already outlined by the incoming Trump-Pence administration indicate a full-scale attack on every aspect of reproductive health, from contraception access to preventative measures against cervical cancer and STI screenings, to measures aimed at addressing our country’s already abhorrent maternal mortality rate.
Providers and advocates around the country are preparing for an all-out assault on bodily autonomy. For several of those who spoke with Truthout, a key priority is gearing up to defend against the promised attacks on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While it does not provide universal health care, the ACA’s regulation of the insurance industry has lowered the cost of care for millions and significantly decreased longstanding discrimination against women, transgender individuals and those with pre-existing and chronic conditions. Repealing even parts of the ACA could be devastating for marginalized and low-income people.
“I am very concerned that ideology will supersede a humanitarian approach to governance,” Dr. Leah Torres — a Salt Lake City-based Ob-Gyn specializing in reproductive health — told Truthout. “I see how having no access to health care affects those of lower income. Health care is a human right, not a privilege. We must, as a society, value everyone. To do otherwise is un-American at its very core.”
Torres said her patients and fellow health care providers are already expressing concern about the full or partial repeal of the ACA.
“The nation has been lied to about the ACA and has taken the false rhetoric to heart without…