“Republicans in Congress continued their partisan, ideologically driven quest to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), dismantle Medicaid expansion and defund Planned Parenthood today with a reckless and short-sighted House vote to pass the budget resolution. Coupled with the Senate’s action Wednesday night, Congress is threatening the health care of millions of women and families, putting our economy at grave risk and subverting the country’s interests.

It has been less than two weeks since the new Congress was sworn in, and already it is positioning itself as one of the most irresponsible and callous in history. Republican leaders in both chambers have now taken another step to repeal the ACA – the greatest advance for women’s health in a generation and a law that has expanded insurance coverage to tens of millions more people – without offering any indication of what law, if any, will replace it.

We are now poised to return to the days when coverage for essential women’s health services was unavailable to millions, disproportionately harming low-income and rural communities and communities of color. The country is dangerously close to turning back the clock to the days when people with pre-existing conditions were denied coverage, when women paid more than men for the same insurance plans and when birth control and other preventive care was unavailable to millions.

If the ACA is repealed, the wealthy will get millions of dollars in tax breaks while four million children lose their insurance coverage and millions of low- and moderate-income people who gained coverage through Medicaid expansion suffer. If Planned Parenthood is defunded, millions of people will lose access to the health care they need.

For years, the country has waited for the House of Representatives to pass urgently needed measures that would combat pay and pregnancy discrimination, make child care more affordable and ensure that hardworking people can earn paid sick days, are paid a living wage and have access to paid leave when family and medical needs arise. Instead of addressing these issues, Congress is playing politics with women’s health and taking away our health care. These actions will cost our country dearly unless lawmakers reverse course and act quickly to ensure that we all have access to the high-quality, affordable, comprehensive coverage we need.”