NEW: Planned Parenthood Calls on Gomez to Come Clean with Voters

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

GolocalWorcester News Team

PPAF calls on Gomez to take a stand on women's health

Today, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts (PPAF) called on US Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez to "come clean" with voters on women’s health.

In response to Gomez’s continued attempts to avoid revealing his position on access to birth control, Planned Parenthood Action Fund has launched a petition calling on him to clearly state where he stands on the issue. Last week, women’s health advocates hand delivered the full text of the Blunt Amendment directly to Mr. Gomez’s office. The Blunt Amendment, defeated on the Senate floor last year, would have allowed any employer to deny coverage to their employers for virtually any health care, including birth control.

What PPAF is Saying

"It has been over a month since Gabriel Gomez was first asked how he would vote on key women’s health bills," said Tricia Wajda, Director of Public Affairs for the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts. "But rather than coming clean, his strategy is to hide from voters who want and deserve to know who he stands with: women and families who benefit from birth control, or bosses who want to prevent women from making their own medical decisions." Wajda noted that Friday, June 7, marks the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Griswold v Connecticut, which provided the first constitutional protection for birth control. "Forty-eight years later, 70% of Americans believe health insurance companies should cover the full cost of birth control, just as they do for other preventive services. Affordable birth control access is a key health and economic issue for Massachusetts women, and Mr. Gomez needs to tell us where he stands."

Wadja said that tonight's debate between Gomez and Democratic challenger Ed Markey "is an opportunity for Mr. Gomez to address issues of great importance to Massachusetts residents – including access to safe and legal abortion, birth control, and affordable health care for women and families." Massachusetts voters need a Senator whom they can trust to be open and clear on his stances, she said, "not someone who keeps voters in the dark."

In an interview with Stephanie Ebbert of the Boston Globe, and almost two weeks later at a press conference, Gomez responded to reporters’ questions about the Blunt amendment with different policy positions, refusing to answer how he would vote on the amendment.

What it Means

According to PPAF, the Blunt Amendment would undermine the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit, which enables millions of women to get access to the full range of FDA-approved birth control options without a co-pay.

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund reports that seven in ten Americans believe that health insurance companies should be required to cover the full cost of birth control, just as they do for other preventive services. Approximately 47 million women nationally, including 4.9 million Latinas, stand to benefit from the Affordable Care Act’s women’s preventive health care provision, including no co-pay birth control. Already, it’s estimated that nearly 27 million women nationally are benefiting from the women’s preventive services provision which went into effect last August.

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund has endorsed Congressman Ed Markey for U.S. Senate. As a U.S. Representative, Congressman Markey has received a 100 percent rating from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for his votes against legislation that would have restricted access to safe and legal abortion, and for his votes in support of comprehensive sex education, birth control access, and funding for Planned Parenthood. Congressman Markey supported the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care law that includes new benefits for women, including access to birth control without a co-pay as well as a number of other preventive health care services. During the congressional debate on the ACA, Congressman Markey opposed the Stupak-Pitts amendment that would have effectively banned health coverage of abortion in the new health insurance marketplaces.

You can read stories from supporters of the birth control benefit here.