URGENT ACTION: Stop the GOP war on women!

It’s almost the end of the day, but your work isn’t done yet, folks.

As Vanessa mentioned yesterday, Congressman Joe Pitts has yet another anti-abortion-funding bill. And the House leadership is pushing it through at warp speed. Nevermind jobs! Economy shmeckonomy! Wall street regulations be darned! Keeping women from using their health insurance to, you know, get health care is at the top o’ the agenda.

H.R. 358, the so-called “Protect Life Act” is an intensified remix of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment on which it is modeled. It would do a few things:

• End abortion coverage in state health care exchanges, the public marketplaces for health insurance starting in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act. Eventually, most people are expected to get their insurance through the exchanges. If this bill is successful, getting insurance that includes coverage for abortion will be nearly impossible – putting abortion out of reach of even more women.

• Allow hospitals receiving federal funds to deny emergency abortions to women whose lives are in danger.

• Place a gag order on insurers, preventing them from even giving women information about how to get abortion coverage. (Info from the National Network of Abortion Funds.)

The House of Representatives could vote on this bill this week. Time is of the essence here. If you’ve got a pro-choice Rep, give them a call anyway. Tell them to really stand up for women and put some peer pressure on their colleagues who might be wavering.

Here’s how: Call (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Representative–you can call 24 hours a day and leave a message if the staff is not in the office. You can also email them here. If you’re not sure who your Rep is, click here to find out.

This is the suggested message from NNAF:

“I oppose H.R. 358, which prevents insurance plans from covering abortion. Plase tell my Representative to vote AGAINST this dangerous bill. We must protect a woman’s health and safety. Politicians should not interfere in the medical decisions a woman and her family need to make.”

I might suggest something a little saltier, myself. But it’s your call entirely.