July 1, 2009

Women state legislative leaders attending the Center's Strategic Action Convening: A Framework for Health Care Reform program in Washington, DC on June 12-14, 2009 took immediate action to bring their voices - and the needs of their constituents - to the Congressional debate on health care reform.

Together, they crafted a brief but powerful letter to the Members of the Senate and House Committees that are writing the new legislation - to insist that Congress explicitly include all reproductive health care services among the "essential benefits" in any legislation they enact.

The letter, which follows, is signed by more than 100 legislators and former legislators who participate in the Center's Contract with Women of the USA® State Legislators Initiative.  Click here to learn more. To support the Center's work, DONATE NOW.

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As women legislative leaders from throughout the country, we strongly appreciate and support your active leadership to enact health care reform for our Nation.  Under your leadership, we have an unparalleled opportunity to effect real change and make a significant difference in the lives of all.

As you craft this legislation, it is imperative that you include comprehensive women's reproductive health care as core services within the definition of "essential benefits."  Reproductive health care services are a basic human right, not for a privileged few but for all.  Therefore, health care reform cannot be comprehensive without the full inclusion of these services.

We understand the difficulties and challenges associated with this process and urge you to ensure that full access to all reproductive health care services is included as an essential benefit in the final bill signed into law.

Sincerely,

Delegate Bonnie Brown, West Virginia
Representative Maralyn Chase, Washington
Senator Karen Fraser, Washington
Representative Deborah Heinrich, Connecticut
Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter, South Carolina
Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Washington
Representative Marilyn Lee, Hawaii
Senator Linda Lopez, Arizona
Representative Elizabeth Ritter, Connecticut
Representative Nancy Todd, Colorado
. . . at the Strategic Action Convening of the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington, DC on June 14, 2009

Former Senator Catherine Abate, New York
Senator Rosalyn H. Baker, Hawaii
Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Georgia
Representative Donna Boe, Idaho
Representative Barbara B. Boyd, Alabama
Former Representative Laura Boyd, Oklahoma
Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown, Pennsylvania
Senator Barbara Buono, New Jersey
Senator Meg Burton-Cahill, Arizona
Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Utah
Representative Sue Chew, Idaho
Assembly Member Barbara M. Clark, New York
Representative Eileen Cody, Washington
Representative Merika Coleman, Alabama
Representative Kari Conrad, North Dakota
Representative Theresa Conroy, Connecticut
Senator Elizabeth Crowley, Rhode Island
Representative Sue Dickenson, Montana
Representative Patricia Dillon, Connecticut
Senator Katie Dorsett, North Carolina
Representative Jean Farmer-Butterfield, North Carolina
Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau, Kansas
Representative Gail Finney, Kansas
Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer, West Virginia
Senator Jennie Forehand, Maryland
Representative Gloria Fox, Massachusetts
Senator Rosa Franklin, Washington
Delegate Barbara Frush, Maryland
Representative Martha Garcia, Arizona
Representative Linda M. Gentile, Connecticut
Representative Peggy Gibson, South Dakota
Senator Bethany Hall-Long, Delaware
Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, New York
Delegate Sue Hecht, Maryland
Delegate Sheila E. Hixson, Maryland
Representative Melissa Walsh Innes, Maine
Senator Patricia Jehlen, Massachusetts
Representative Tishaura O. Jones, Missouri
Representative Babette Josephs, Pennsylvania
Senator Arthenia Joyner, Florida
Senator Carol Juneau, Montana
Representative Phyllis Kahn, Minnesota
Senator Christine Kaufmann, Montana
Senator Karen Keiser, Washington
Representative Beth Kerttula, Alaska
Representative Kay Khan, Massachusetts
Senator Michelle Kidani, Hawaii
Senator Liz Krueger, New York
Senator Nicole LeFavour, Idaho
Representative Tina Liebling, Minnesota
Representative Veronica Magnan, Maine
Representative Sue Malek, Montana
Senator Lisa Marrache, Maine
Deputy Mayor Salima Siler Marriott, Baltimore, Maryland
Representative Marcie Maxwell, Washington
Representative Beth McCann, Colorado
Representative Helen Miller, Iowa
Representative Kate Miller, New Hampshire
Representative Hermina Morita, Hawaii
Representative Dawn Morrell, Washington
Senator Lynda Moss, Montana
Representative Lori Movsesian, New Hampshire
Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland, Hawaii
Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver, Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore, New Jersey
Representative Jeanette Mott Oxford, Missouri
Senator Sandra L. Pappas, Minnesota
Representative Sandy Pasch, Wisconsin
Representative Anne Pasley-Stuart, Idaho
Representative Beatriz Pastor, New Hampshire
Representative Ann Peoples, Maine
Representative Lonnie Reed, Connecticut
Representative Peggy Reeves, Connecticut
Senator Rebecca Rios, Arizona
Representative Sarah Roberts, Michigan
Representative Johnnie Roebuck, Arkansas
Representative Cindy Rosenwald, New Hampshire
Representative Kelda Helen Roys, Wisconsin
Representative Diane Russell, Maine
Representative Su Ryden, Colorado
Representative Linda Sanborn, Maine
Representative Rosemary Sandlin, Massachusetts
Representative Diane Sands, Montana
Senator Elizabeth M. Schneider, Maine
Representative Jennifer Seelig, Utah
Senator Deb Simpson, Maine
Senator Vi Simpson, Senate Democratic Leader, Indiana
Representative Carla M. Skinder, New Hampshire
Former Senator Ada L. Smith, New York
Representative Elaine Smith, Idaho
Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, New York
Representative Mary Wynne Still, Missouri
Senator Andrea Stillman, Connecticut
Former Senator Maggie Tinsman, Iowa
Senator Lois Tochtop, Colorado
Representative Carolyn Tomei, Oregon
Representative Diana Urban, Connecticut
Delegate Kriselda Valderrama, Maryland
Representative Rebekah Warren, Michigan
Representative Kathy Webb, Arkansas
Senator Loretta Weinberg, New Jersey
Senator Mary Margaret Whipple, Virginia
Representative Franke Wilmer, Speaker Pro Tempore, Montana
Representative Suzi Wizowaty, Vermont
Representative Alice Wolf, Massachusetts