Monday, October 15, 2012

CSM on Obama v. Romney

I found an interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor about the sharpest differences between Obama and Romney. CSM is considered a fairly unbiased news source that focuses on reporting facts, so it's worth a look. Here are some of the highlights of differences between the candidates on women's issues:

Women's Issues
  • Healthcare
    • Obamacare guarantees insurance coverage for women's preventive care like mammograms, prenatal care, well-woman visits, domestic-violence screening, breast-feeding supplies, and contraception.
    • Romney would repeal Obamacare and leave it to individual states to decide what to cover.
  • Contraception
    • Obamacare requires that health insurance plans cover contraception, although religious institutions are exempted.
    • Romney would repeal Obamacare and eliminate federal funding to Planned Parenthood (the nation's largest provider of reproductive health services including cancer screening; contraception accounts for 35% of their services). He supports a constitutional amendment that life begins at conception, calling into question whether access to IUDs and morning-after pills would be restricted.
  • Abortion
    • Obama supports a woman's right to choose abortion.
    • Romney oppposes except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to life of the mother. The Republican Party goes further and opposes abortion without exceptions.
  • Equal Pay
    • Obama opposes wage discrimination and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act & he also supports the Paycheck Fairness Act.
    • Romney has not taken a stand on this issue.
  • Domestic Abuse
    • Obama supports re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) plus expanded coverage for native Americans, gays, and illegal immigrants.
    • Romney supports the original VAWA, but not the expansion.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting comparison - I've heard some other things regarding these issues that aren't included here. It makes me wonder what is real and what isn't?

    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think there's a lot more to it, Sam, and definitely more nuance. Start with the underlying article & keep digging.

    ReplyDelete