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Following the Republican party winning the control of Congress in fall 2014, they’ve already begun trying to dismantle Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also known as, “Obamacare.” One of the most significant changes for their healthcare agenda is in removing maternity care for women.

MUST READ: 3 Reasons Obamacare Is Important For Women

So how does removing this particular “consumer protection” benefit the average American under GOP rule? We’re not entirely sure. But it does place American residents, whether they identify as Republican, Democrat, or Independent, on receiving less of the assistance they did towards being able to afford respectable health insurance. The GOP has been against Obamacare since its creation because they believed that its applicants became or would be too dependant on the government to provide so much care and attention. Iowa Republican Joni Ernst bluntly told New York Magazine back in October: “Now we’re at a point where the government will just give away anything.” From the Republican party perspective, writer Jonathan Chait included that “Health care should be a privilege rather than a right. If you can’t afford health insurance on your own, that is not the government’s problem.”

Well sh*t.

Before Obamacare rolled out its maternity and women’s health rubric, women were collectively paying $1 billion dollars in healthcare. Commencing in 2012, women have since gain wider access to FDA-approved contraceptives, breastfeeding support and supplies, gestational diabetes screening, HPV DNA testing, mammograms and colonoscopies, and counseling for pregnancy prevention and childcare amongst other concerns and interests specifically women-related. Senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Representative Fred Upton of Michigan are looking to get rid of all these services for women under government help through their “Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility, and Empowerment Act.” What would Ernst have to say about this? Everything about the title of three Republican’s proposal contradicts their intention of not handicapping the average American living woman who needs government assistance for medicine and guidance.

A few years ago, there were some concerns from both parties over Obamacare, as for example, its program was meant to make healthcare more affordable for young people in their 20s, yet many 20-somethings complained that they could still barely afford to pay their medical bills. Although that road bump has never been exclusive to Obamacare which was why the creation of it was America’s hottest topic and greatest argument starter back in 2011-12. Healthcare has almost always been hard for Americans to have, and the Obama Administration was just doing their best to accommodate the average household’s income.

Is trying to override Obamacare entirely worth it when many women could be at risk of not receiving the tools and services they need, especially if they are anticipating motherhood?

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Three Male Republicans Have Proposed Removing Maternity Care Coverage From Obamacare  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com