Forget about providing healthcare to millions of Americans. No, according to one Netroots panelist, the purpose of Obamacare is to allow for young Americans to “get laid” without worrying about getting pregnant.
While speaking on a panel about Millennials and abortion at the annual liberal conference Netroots, Mari Schimmer, a field director for Choice USA, told the audience the purpose of the Affordable Care Act is to help those needing birth control to prevent pregnancy.
“But we’re still playing into the hands of the opposition and saying ‘OK, that’s fine. We won’t talk about sex, we won’t talk about needing [birth control] to prevent pregnancy, we won’t talk about people who are sexually active and have a right to be and to not get pregnant if they don’t want to,'” Schimmer said, “and that’s what the purpose of the Affordable Care Act is.”
The activist, in referencing the political debate surrounding the birth control mandate for religious organizations, said that while pro-‘reproductive justice’ advocates may have won — in that the mandate remains — they could have done better.
“When we did have the opportunity and Leader Pelosi created the opportunity for a woman to speak out about birth control, the frame around it was birth control for, not for contraception, but for someone who had a medical issue and the need for birth control, which is a real need that many of us have,” she said. “…We’re going to talk about this really neat and clean example of a young person not at all related to sex or sexuality or young people getting laid. We’re going to talk about this really basic healthcare need. And I think that we shortchanged ourselves.”
Instead, Schimmer indicated that pro-choice activists should have worked to spread a message of healthcare — Obamacare — to promote sexuality instead of health. Young people “getting laid,” as she said, is what the conversation should have revolved around, contrary to the argument of birth control used for medical purposes.
The group’s website outlines what Obamacare means to its patients and highlights that the plans cover “birth control with no co-pay.”
“If Americans don’t know how to access the new benefits and protections that they’re going to receive as we implement this law, then health care reform won’t make much of a difference in their lives,” President Obama said at Planned Parenthood’s annual conference. “…We’ve got to spread the word, particularly among women, particularly among young women, who are the ones who are most likely to benefit from these laws.”
And, with the president recently enlisting the help of Planned Parenthood to sell the exchanges — which are set to roll out Oct. 1 — it’s easy to see how the Affordable Care Act helps those engaging in sexual activity.
