About
Looking Back: IWV’s Fight Against the Government Take-Over of Health Care
IWV has been proud to fight the battle against a government take-over of health care. Working with our sister organization, the Independent Women’s Forum, we have tried to highlight the consequences of government-run health care: mandates, loss of choice and control, higher health care costs, more bureaucracy, higher premiums, higher taxes, fewer job opportunities, less access to care and lower quality of care. We’ve also tried to raise awareness that there are other, better ways to reform the health care system and make it more affordable without compromising quality and choice: reforms that put power in the hands of the people, trust patients and doctors to make individual life-and-death health decisions, and use market forces to control costs and encourage efficiency.
Starting late last summer, IWF ran an ad nationally about breast cancer survivor Tracy Walsh and complimented that with earned media to talk about the superior survival rates in America and the importance of treatment options.
In October, IWF commissioned a national poll of women, and found that a majority were opposed to what Congress was proposing.
IWV was active in the Massachusetts special election, where we wanted to shrink the gender gap and elevate healthcare to indisputably being the primary issue in the campaign, and to that end used radio ads, physician-recorded robo-calls, and live calls.
IWV then commissioned a detailed Massachusetts poll to understand better what the state’s voters thought about the top issues of the hotly contested special election.
During the February recess, IWV ran radio commercials, paired with doctor-recorded calls, in key Districts against Members who had voted for the House passed bill, urging the public to call their Representatives and encourage them to vote against another health care bill. [LINK to page with radio ad and call]
In March, IWV conducted a survey in 35 U.S. Congressional Districts, which registered how deeply opposed constituents were to the proposed health care legislation when one didn’t just talk about benefits but put them in the full context of cost, both financial and personal.
The weekend of the House vote on the Senate health care bill, IWV hosted 10 hours of tele-town hall meetings covering 23 crucial districts, reaching more than 150,000 voters and leaving messages for nearly as many more.
Additionally, IWV created a number of websites to vividly illustrate to members and their staffs exactly what voting for the bill would mean for their reelection prospects, including BarackHatesThis.com, which provided an updated list of those most critical to call or fax and how to reach them, CoburnsPromise.com , YourBossVotedYes.com, and www.speakerpelosihatesthis.com .
In the immediate aftermath, IWV created SomeAreMoreEqual.com, to highlight the corruption of the politics of connection and pull: the Congressional leadership, their committee staff, and the President and Vice President exempted themselves from the legislation which they are happy to impose on the rest of us. That will now be specific legislation, and we will do what we can to advance the awareness that the practice of “some are more equal” is as contemptible here as it was in “Animal Farm”.
Publications: Throughout this healthcare battle, IWV and IWF wrote about just about every aspect of this health care debate, and continues to do so.
Looking Forward
IWV is dismayed that this terrible legislation that sacrifices so much of our individual freedom and gives so much power to Washington bureaucrats has now become law. Yet this is just one battle in what will be a long war over the future of our nation’s health care system.
At the signing ceremony, President Obama remarked that he was signing this bill “after almost a century of trying.” The Left should be warned that just as they fought for a hundred years to radically transform our health care system—and with it our nation and national character—we will fight for as long as it takes to reclaim our health care system and reestablish our more than 200 year old ideals that made America great, prosperous, and a beacon for the world.
The new battle starts today. IWV firmly believes that this country, the greatest nation on the history of Earth, deserves the world’s best health care system. We will work tirelessly to reverse this devastating legislation and to enact real reform that returns power to the people.
About IWV
Independent Women’s Voice is a 501(c)(4) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization for mainstream women, men and families. IWV is the sister organization of the Independent Women’s Forum.
Like IWF, IWV is dedicated to promoting limited government, free markets, and personal responsibility. Our most significant efforts include advocating for authentic feminism that embraces children and respects men; school choice and education reform; and, sound, non-politicized science; and, fights against higher taxes and wasteful government spending. IWV believes that too often the media assumes that all women are represented by liberal organizations that push to expand government. IWV seeks to ensure that right-of-center women’s voices are heard in the media and before state and national policymakers, and to educate the public about how our principles benefit women, men, and families, and are critical to the future of our country.
Directors
- Heather R. Higgins, President and CEO
- Michelle D. Bernard, Director
- The Honorable Carol T. Crawford, Director
- Ron Crawford, Director
- Regina Truslow, Secretary & Treasurer
