GOP Attempting An "Assault On Women's Health," Claim Democrats

By Anna Cameron

At a press conference headed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) Tuesday, Democrats stood in fierce opposition to Republican proposals that those on the left say would threaten women’s health and reproductive services.

“Your agenda on women’s health is extreme. It breaks faith with a decades-long bipartisan compromise, and according to medical experts, your agenda risks the health and the lives of women,” said Boxer in a message to House Republicans included in her opening statement.

Spearheaded by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the “No Taxpayer Funding For Abortions Act” would prohibit individuals with flexible spending accounts and health coverage tax credits from purchasing or keeping insurance covering a full range of reproductive health. Small businesses receiving tax credits would also lose them if they chose a health care plan that covered a full range of reproductive care.

Democrats argue that the proposed bill as well as other pieces of GOP legislation would hinder access to abortion in the case of rape, incest, and life-threatening situations and that millions of women would lose access to mammograms and other preventive screenings.

“These bills show a heinous disregard for the health and well being of women in America,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). “This election was about the economy, so I do not understand how this Republican Congress can move from that mandate…towards ‘how do we undermine women’s reproductive health?’

Added Gillibran, “This is an egregious example of not only overstepping but a misjudgment of what the American people want.”