Health Policy

WNDC believes that comprehensive health care is a basic human right. Every person in America is entitled to the full range of science-based health care services regardless of race, skin color, religion, gender identity, immigration status or ability to pay. Health care must encompass all stages of life from birth to death. The Public Policy and Political Action Committee (PPC) is committed to promoting and supporting efforts towards ensuring all people in America have access to and receive the medical services necessary to meet their healthcare needs.

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Health Policy Articles

Tuesday, June 25: REMINDER: This Election Is About Protecting Women’s Right

by Karen Pataky, Chair, Health Policy Taskforce The 2024 election will determine more than who will serve as our next president. Just as important, it’s about who will be our next Supreme Cou... READ MORE...

February 12, 2024: Keep Your Politician out of My Doctor’s Office!

By Karen Pataky, co-chair, Health Policy Task Force That is, revise and renew protections for health care for America’s women. Let’s be clear: No one wants an abortion. But when contrac... READ MORE...

November 21, 2023: Period Poverty and Insecurity

by Kathy Hochman, Director of the Public Policy and Political Action Committee When DC Councilmember Brooke Pinto spoke at a WNDC luncheon in November, we learned a lot about the initiatives sh... READ MORE...

February 22, 2023: Abortion Rights Are Not Just About Babies

By Karen Pataky, Director, Public Policy & Political Action Committee; Chair, Health Policy Task Force When the Supreme Court reversed the Roe v Wade decision on June 24, 2022, the court went... READ MORE...

January 23, 2023: Representative Katherine Clark (MA-5)

By Katherine Flaherty, MDiv; Member, Public Policy Committee This is a unique opportunity to introduce Representative Katherine Clark (MA-5), recently elected Assistant Speaker and whip of th... READ MORE...

December 21, 2022: Abortion Rights Are Not Just About Babies

By Karen Pataky, Director, Public Policy & Political Action Committee; Chair, Health Policy Task Force The midterm elections and the Georgia runoff have been more about Democracy and the ... READ MORE...

September 12, 2022: “The Church–State Wall" is Crumbling

by Karen Pataky, Chair, Health Policy Task Force (based on Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post, July 17, 2020) Far-right Christians have planned to reverse Roe v Wade si... READ MORE...

July 14, 2022: Authoritarianism Accounts for President Biden’s Low Poll Numbers

by Elizabeth Clark, Chair, Democracy & Human Rights Task Force When President Biden is criticized and questioned on why he doesn’t take stronger measures to fight gun violence by, f... READ MORE...

July 6, 2022: Separation of Church and State

by Karen Pataky, Chair, Health Policy Task Force “The purpose of separation of Church and State is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe ... READ MORE...

July 6, 2022: The End of Roe v. Wade Means Official Religious Oppression

by Jean Stewart, Chair, Earth & Environment Task Force One often ignored aspect of the debate over abortion, and the coming end of pregnant people’s access to safe abortions in many... READ MORE...

June 24, 2022: The End of Roe v. Wade Will Result in Thousands of Maternal Deaths. AGAIN.

by Karen Pataky, Director, Public Policy & Political Action Committee; Chair, Health Policy Task Force JUNE 24, 2022—Today’s SCOTUS decision will be a death sentence for many ... READ MORE...

May 12, 2022: Reversing Roe v. Wade Is NOT Just About Abortions

by Karen Pataky, Director, Public Policy & Political Action Committee; Chair, Health Policy Task Force So ex-President Trump’s SCOTUS nominees are fulfilling their purpose. Roe... READ MORE...

March 11, 2022: Keep Politicians out of Hospitals and Doctors’ Offices

Republican politicians have lied to us. They love “Big Government” but only when they are in charge. Ex-President Trump succeeded in packing our Supreme Court with justices primarily se... READ MORE...

January 5, 2022: We Must Preserve Democracy in Health Policy

Full Democracy in health policy means each life is of equal value and that all health care decisions are made based solely on science and are totally confidential between the patient and his... READ MORE...

November 10, 2021: Should We Bring Back “Shotgun Weddings?

There is much controversy among anti-abortion advocates re: the rights of the biological father to veto his female partner’s decision to have an abortion. Some nine states are legislating initia... READ MORE...

November 9, 2021: Food Insecurity in the United States—a National Security Problem, a Public Health Crisis, and a Major Obstacle to the 2030 Agenda

Even though the United States of America played a major role in crafting the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in New York in September 2015, less than a decade to 2030, we... READ MORE...

October 12, 2021: In Tennessee, the Sperm is Mightier than the Egg

Last week the Tennessee General assembly introduced a bill that would allow any man the right to veto the decision of his female partner to have an abortion. The man would not need to undergo any test... READ MORE...

October 3, 2021: Why We Marched Today—Women’s March 2021

Today’s March was not just about abortion. It’s about the totality of control of women’s lives by far-right religious leaders and politicians. What is different is that now the... READ MORE...

September 16, 2021: Let’s Tell the Truth about Abortions

From the beginning of recorded time, there have been many couples who have chosen to separate the act of intercourse from the birth of a baby. For many of humankind, some religious leaders and heads o... READ MORE...

May 18, 2021: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides, Who Pays

Today’s far-right Republican Party has been terrified of “Replacement” since Democratic gains in the 2018 national and state midterms, and the election of President Joe Biden in 2020... READ MORE...

September 17, 2020: Statement on the Forced Sterilizations in Georgia ICE Facility

Brutality against women who are not rich, not white, not native English speakers, and who have no advocates outside the prison facility has erupted in Ocilla, Georgia in an ICE “detention facili... READ MORE...

August 1, 2020: COVID Threats to Reproductive Rights

The pandemic has made abortion harder for women to access in some states, including Texas, since abortion was deemed not essential. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) doesn’t h... READ MORE...

July 1, 2020: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides, Who Pays, Part I

“The people in power right now are too comfortable with other people’s deaths.” – Rev William Barber, Poor People’s March 2020 has brought planet Earth another world ... READ MORE...

April 1, 2020: Ignorant and Dictatorial

In 2017, #45 came roaring into Washington, DC determined to establish a CEO-driven presidency. He did not know our Constitution or separation of powers, nor how our legislative process works. He still... READ MORE...

February 1, 2020: It’s Not Just about Abortion: Full on Assaults against Women by Religious Right

As we approach the 47th Anniversary of Roe v Wade, which guarantees women the right to a safe abortion provided by licensed physicians, religious right-wingers in America are attempting to legalize ou... READ MORE...

January 6, 2020: 2020 Positions on Healthcare

We believe that comprehensive health care is a basic human right. Every person has the right to receive the full range of science-based health care services regardless of race, sex, skin color, religi... READ MORE...

June 1, 2019: Fighting for Reproductive Justice with Perseverance

On Tuesday, April 16, 2019, the WNDC hosted Julie Burkhart, who shared her frightening and courageous story of fighting for women’s rights for safe abortions and effective birth control after th... READ MORE...

May 18, 2018 : Who lives, who dies, who decides, who pays?

Cruelty and Discrimination are not Acceptable Concepts of Governance for America Sanctimonious Conservatives are stripping health care dollars from “those people” (AKA less fortunate Am... READ MORE...

April 27, 2018: “Conscience Protection” for Doctors and Nurses or Legalized Bigotry?

The federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services has a new Division of “Conscience and Religious Freedom.” The public relations selling point is to protect health car... READ MORE...

January 1, 2018: Offsetting the “Deficit” by Cannibalizing Health Care for Americans

While #45 has been attempting to destroy NATO and cozying up to Vlad Putin, he and his congressional Republicans have been continuing to dismantle health care for American citizens. By executive fi... READ MORE...

Documents

2024 Positions on Health Policy

2020 Positions on Health Policy