<\/a>Ok, ladies. Listen up. Maybe you voted in the 2016 election. Maybe you didn\u2019t bother. Maybe you voted Hillary. Or maybe you wrote in for Bernie or gave your support to Trump. I\u2019m not here to criticize or chastise. I just want to remind you \u2013 especially if you\u2019re a woman still of child-bearing age \u2013 about exactly what was at stake concerning your health and the American health-care system in this election. I hate to say it but it\u2019s looking increasingly like a miracle just isn\u2019t going to materialize out of the ether and save us from the electoral college doing the dirty work of anointing the most unqualified, uninformed, impulsive, and temperamentally and intellectually unsuited individual to the presidency in our lifetimes..<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like to be negative. But. What looks like an almost certain effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act by Republicans is looming just over the horizon. And contrary to the spin from Fox News and conservative talking heads, repeal is really, truly not going to yield anything good. Quite the contrary. As women, repeal is going to affect us disproportionately in profound and destructive ways. (What\u2019s new about that? This is the oldest story there is.)<\/p>\n

If you didn\u2019t realize before November 8 just what\u2019s on the line, at least pay attention now. This is about how the election of Trump and a Republican-dominated Congress and the expectation of an increasingly right-leaning Supreme Court might affect you and your body and the most important of your life and work choices for perhaps the next few decades.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t listen to me. Ignore, if you like, my particular brand of seething anger and unhinged anxiety. Do yourselves a favor now and take a few moments to watch and learn from this video put together by the National Women\u2019s Law Center.<\/p>\n

Narrator Gretchen Borchelt is going to gently remind you that before<\/strong> the Affordable Care Act<\/p>\n

Being a woman was a pre-existing condition and insurance companies could either deny you coverage or require you to pay more for your coverage<\/p>\n

92% of insurance plans used a process called gender rating that meant that collectively women paid $1 billion<\/em> more than men for coverage<\/p>\n

19 million women were uninsured<\/p>\n

Just 12% of insurance policies covered maternity care (family values, anyone?)<\/p>\n

Full coverage of women\u2019s preventive services, such as cancer screenings, was not required<\/p>\n

Full coverage of birth control \u2013 considered health preventive services under the ACA \u2013 was non-existent<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Just think of this one statistic if you want to understand what\u2019s on the line for your lifestyle and financial security:<\/p>\n

In one year alone, since enactment of the Affordable Care Act, women (hey, millennials, are you listening?) have saved $1.4 billion <\/em>on the cost of birth-control pills alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like I said. Listen and watch. Then decide. Are you going to sit this fight out? Or are you <\/em>going to get involved and do<\/em> something to protect yourself?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n