Planned Parenthood Condemns Dangerous Ruling to Gut Health Care for Millions Through the Affordable Care Act

Washington, DC -- Planned Parenthood issued the following statement condemning a ruling from a federal district court that would gut health care access for millions of Americans who gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and millions more who benefit from consumer protections afforded under the law.

Statement from Dr. Leana Wen, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

This ruling cannot and must not stand. This would take away health care for millions and is a direct attack on anyone who can’t afford basic health care. As an emergency physician, I’ve seen what it means when people are forced to delay care or go without regular health exams. It means the difference between having a lump in your breast examined, and dying of metastatic cancer. It’s the difference between having an infection treated with antibiotics, or an amputation after serious infection. This would especially harm those who already face systemic barriers to care like people with low income, people of color, people living in rural areas, and immigrant communities. When politicians tried to gut the ACA in Congress, people organized, mobilized, and stopped them in their tracks. And they made their voices loud and clear in the midterm elections. People want more health care, not less, and we will fight back with everything we’ve got.

Background

Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), women could be charged more simply for being a woman. Women paid thousands of dollars out of pocket for basic care, such as birth control and annual check ups, and tens of millions went without insurance.

Gutting the ACA would threaten millions of women health and financial security:

• More than 62 million women now have access to no-copay preventive services, including birth control, STI screenings, and life-saving preventive services such as breast cancer screenings and Pap tests.  

• Under the ACA, women of color are able to access better preventative care,  a step forward in leveling the playing field for groups that have faced years of discriminatory policies that have lead to poor health outcomes.

• Financial assistance to purchase insurance could be eliminated threatening millions access to private insurance coverage, and coverage for the 12 million people who receive coverage under the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid is also threatened.

• Prior to the ACA, routine women’s health conditions were considered pre-existing conditions, including pregnancy.

• The Affordable Care Act eliminated “gender rating,” ensuring women do not pay an estimated $1 billion more annually than men for the same health care plans.