OBAMA ON WOMEN

From NH speech by President Obama, from today's campaigning, some lines I liked:

"Four years ago, I said in this great country of ours, nobody should go bankrupt when they get sick, and so we passed health reform--yes, I like the name “Obamacare”--so your insurance companies can’t jerk you around anymore. So young people can stay on their parent’s plans till they’re 26. So women can’t be charged more than men for their insurance--being a woman is not a preexisting condition. . .

And, by the way, we want our sons to thrive in math and science and engineering, but we also want our daughters to thrive in those fields, too. See, we don’t have to order up some binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women who can learn and excel in these fields right now. And when these young women graduate, I want them to receive equal pay for equal work. I don’t know why this is so complicated. Governor Romney still won’t say whether or not he supported a law to protect that right, no matter how many times he’s asked. This is not -- this is not that hard. I’ve got two daughters. I want to make sure they get paid the same as somebody’s sons for doing the same job. Pretty straightforward. Any confusion there? . . .

You know where I stand. Look, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, this was the first bill I signed into law. And I know you want the same thing for your daughters, or sisters, or moms, or grandmas as I do. And this is not--as I said in the debate, this is not just a women’s issue, this is a family issue, this is an economic issue.
I also believe women should make their own health care decisions. I know you’ve got -- and it’s not just Washington that sometimes deals with this issue. You’ve got a state legislature up here that sometimes acts like it knows better than women when it comes to women’s own health care decisions. My opponent has got the same approach. Governor Romney said he’d end funding for Planned Parenthood, despite all the work it does to provide women with mammograms and breast cancer screenings. . .

We made sure that insurance companies are providing women with contraception. He supported legislation that would turn those decisions over to a woman's employer. Think about that. Do you think, like, your boss, or your insurance company, or some politician in Concord or Washington should get control of your health care choices?