Celebrate strides in women’s health

As the mother of seven and a physician, I've spent a lot of my life in doctor's offices - both with my children and with my patients. And today, as we celebrate Mother's Day and begin National Women's Health Week, I reflect on the time and energy mothers spend ensuring their families are healthy, often to the detriment of their own health. And for too long, mothers have been confronted with unfair barriers to receive the health care they deserve and need.

Fortunately, we have made tremendous progress as a country in ensuring that all women and their families can have access to affordable, quality health care, in no small part because of the priority put on women's health in the Affordable Care Act.

Doctors, including myself, will tell you that the best medicine is preventive medicine. Study after study has shown that early detection of diseases like breast cancer and cervical cancer means a better shot at treating them successfully. Now because of the ACA, preventive services such as mammograms, Pap smears and even a yearly checkup are available to women with no out-of-pocket costs. Our kids benefit too. While they may still be afraid of getting a flu shot, we no longer have to be afraid of their costs.

Just five years ago, health insurance companies could deny coverage to a woman with breast cancer or another pre-existing condition. And when they did offer coverage, insurance companies often charged mothers and daughters more for health care than fathers and sons, simply because of our gender. That's all changed now because of the Affordable Care Act.

What's also changed is that today all women can access affordable and necessary health care throughout their pregnancy, because all health insurance plans are required to cover both maternity care and care related to childbirth.

But despite all the benefits the Affordable Care Act provides to moms and their families, the law is under constant assault from the Republican Party. Republicans in Congress and those running for president have vowed to repeal this law at any cost, even manufacturing a government shutdown in the process.

As a mom and a doctor, I know how critical this law is to the well-being of Iowans, and I'm so proud to be a member of the party that defends it. Yes, the law isn't perfect - no major overhaul of our health care system is without kinks - but the principle of providing care to those who need it is one that the Democratic Party is proud to stand by.

Mothers all across Iowa and across our great nation deserve the type of support and certainty they provide to their kids every day of the year. I'm proud of the strides we've made to ensure our mothers can keep themselves and their families healthy, but just like any Mom will tell you, I know our work is never done.

' Andy McGuire, a Des Moines doctor, is chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party. Comments: amcguire@iowademocrats.org