An unsaid future for access to Affordable Care Act

To be honest, I hadn’t really been concerned about the political state of affairs until the summer of 2016. And even then, I only had a passing interest in the sparse 2016 presidential election posts that littered my Tumblr dashboard. I didn’t even know about most of the candidate line-up – only Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were familiar. But I was paying more attention next time a list of their stances popped up on Tumblr, since it had their positions on the health care system.

It mattered to me at the time, since my persuasive speech topic was about the American health care system. I know that our system is lackluster compared to other health services in other countries, but there are a few perks, such as a shorter wait-time to see a doctor. And apparently, this guy by the name of Trump wanted to repeal Obamacare which made me do a double-take.

Today, most Republicans are against  the Affordable Care Act, but some of the non-controversial provisions detailed are appreciated by them. Few members of the party just want to move ahead with getting rid of it without drafting up a replacement plan.

Getting rid of Obamacare is less likely than one would think. Drafting a new plan, getting eight necessary votes from Democratic senators; a Republican-controlled house and senate is not enough to push their health care agenda no matter how much they disapprove of it.

At this point, 22 million Americans have coverage under Obamacare, but it could still change at any given time. Not to mention the infamous pro-life agenda is gaining a foothold, with Planned Parenthood’s budget being slashed in certain states. Abortion statistics have been pretty low compared to in the past, but outlawing abortion will only increase the dangerous lengths women would go to for the sake of removing a fetus.

Instead of making abortion illegal because of ethics dictating that the fetus is more important than the mother – no matter how dangerous the birth could be – sex education taught in school is a better and safer bet of avoiding any surprises. But I wouldn’t count on a group of men deciding the issue of women’s reproductive rights simply because they don’t even understand the ramifications.

America’s health care may be in the gutter even without the new presidential administration meddling, but it’s one thing to remove something countless Americans are dependent on, and another thing to promise a better version when there are no plans for what that could be.