How Many Men Does It Take To Cut Womens Access To Maternity Care

How Many Men Does It Take To Cut Womens Access To Maternity Care In case you missed it, this past Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted out a photo showing a large group of men discussing the (ultimately unsuccessful) legislation that had been proposed to replace Obamacare.Whos missing from the photo? You guessed it -- women. Why does this matter? Beyond whats obvious -- the glaring underrepresentation of women in government -- the photo is particularly unnerving because, according to Vox, the group was contemplating whether the bill should include a repeal of 10 essential health benefits that insurers in the individual marketplace must cover. Among those benefits is pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care. In other words, the dozens of men pictured -- some of whom seem to be more tuned into their phones than the conversation -- were discussing cutting millions of womens access to these critical, potentially life-changing benefits.As Vox reporter German Lopez puts it, the absenc e of women in this photo isnt a coincidence. As my colleague Sarah Kliff has explained, he writes, research shows that when women are put in positions of political power, theyre more likely than men to speak to womens issues. That said, why would Pence and his team shy away from bringing womens perspectives to this conversation? A Politico article indicates that Pence has been trying to make Trumps health insurance plan more appealing to those on the far right, some of whom have long argued that insurers should be able to sell skimpier coverage that, for example, wouldnt cover maternity or mental health services. Despite the evidence that paid parental leave is beneficial notlage only for womens health and happiness -- but also for all parents, AND for employers, the U.S. lags far behind other developed countries in offering comprehensive care. Many companies have begun to offer more generous and gender-neutral parental leave plans, and politicians like U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibra nd (D-NY) are pushing hard to pass paid leave legislation. Yet the photo of Pence and his team is a grim reminder of how hard we must continue to work to get women (and men) the parental benefits they deserve. If you want to help but youre not sure of where to begin, you can start by (anonymously) reviewing employers policies on Fairygodboss, where we have a crowdsourced maternity leave database. While you may still feel entirely absent from Pences table, helping to increase transparency is an important step in the right direction.Fairygodboss is committed to improving the workplace and lives of women.Join us by reviewing your employer