With the future of health care in the news this week, it makes me wonder: How would Mitt Romney, a father of five, feel if he had a daughter in college?
I can’t pretend to understand Romney’s line of thinking, but I imagine that if his daughter was doing everything she could to earn a degree, Romney might think again about trying to make us return to the 1950s.
Romney has tripped all over himself to appeal to the extreme right wing of his party, standing on the wrong side of every issue important to women and our health. Most recently, Romney said he would “get rid of” Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of preventive health care for women — including the clinic right here in Athens.
Romney has also embraced the controversial Blunt-Rubio Amendment, which takes women’s health decisions out of our hands and gives them to our bosses. He came out in support of a so-called “personhood” amendment, an anti-choice law so severe that it bans many forms of birth control — including the pill — and bans all abortions, even in cases of incest, rape or to save the life of the woman.
Finally, Romney has promised to repeal the new health care law and return us to the days when being a woman was considered a pre-existing condition and insurance companies could charge women higher premiums than men for the same coverage. Romney would do away with provisions that require insurance companies to cover birth control and those that let us stay on our parents’ health insurance until we turn 26.
Romney’s extreme positions aren’t just bad policies — they’re bad politics. Attacking the rights and the health care of young women won’t do Romney any favors on college campuses in this election. If Romney is trying to rally young women and students behind President Barack Obama, it’s working.
Most importantly, his extreme ideas have real consequences for millions of young people. I am one of them. I came to Ohio University with celiac disease, which means I have intolerance for gluten. The condition is manageable for the most part, but it could have some very scary consequences, including severe stomach pains, a weakened immune system and potentially even cancer.
Most young people don’t know where they are going to end up after college. Many spend months or even years figuring out the next step in their lives and the first step in their careers.
Obama’s health insurance reforms give me the peace of mind that when I graduate, I can stay on my parents’ plans until I get settled — and an insurance company won’t be able to refuse to cover me because I have this disease. But Romney would want to leave me without this important safety net, putting my health and my future at risk.
For students at OU and on college campuses throughout the country, the issue of health care is a no-brainer. So is our vote for president: Mine’s going to President Obama.
Shannon Welch is a junior studying political science.
