Thank you, Chief Justice Roberts!

Tweet

I never thought I would say those words without sarcasm.

But Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act with Roberts being the swing vote means that women owe him at least a curtsy. Yes, he voted with the majority to uphold the ban on late term abortions, but for now, women should tip our hats in his direction.

Women have the most to gain from the ACA and thus had the most to lose if the USSC declared the ACA unconstitutional. Why?

• As former Speaker of the House Pelosi likes to say, being a woman will no longer mean insurance companies can charge us more simply for being a woman.
• Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center reminds us that “[m]illions more women will get preventive services like mammograms, Pap smears, and birth control without a co-pay.”
• Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America notes that another benefit for women under the ACA will be maternity coverage.
• Women make up the majority of low-income elderly persons and will certainly benefit from ACA’s Medicare drug discounts.

This was a tough fight. A long and tough fight.

So what does the leadership of the GOP say to this? FIGHT! REPEAL! I say, hands off.

The ACA is not perfect. It leaves out undocumented immigrants. While “over 70% uninsured Latinas and Latinos in [California] will have access to affordable health care”, “just over a quarter of uninsured Latinas/os will be excluded due to citizenship and immigrant clauses that prohibit undocumented residents from participating in public programs, receiving tax credits and using their own money to purchase coverage through the Exchange,” according to California Latinas for Reproductive Justice.

There will still be people who will not be insured and costs may be prohibitive to some low income people. I doubt that a market-based system can solve our health care issues. But…yet, but, I still feel does some important issues. It is not perfect, far from it, but it does move us closer to a fairer health care system.

And for that, I’ll take a vacation from scowling at my TV every time I see the Chief Justice. At least until he ticks me off again.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcconnellcenter/6077624384/in/photostream/