I am a 57 year old divorced women who became disabled in 2013. Until the ACA went into effect in January 2014, I had no health insurance after losing my employment. With a pre-existing condition of migraines compounded by bilateral neuropathy, I had no affordable options. Without the ACA I will not be able to afford treatment or medication.

Having been a teenager in the 70s I watched as our rights changed. As a young women with no insurance, Planned Parenthood was my go to for birth control and yearly checkups. They provided me with an education about my own body that had previously not been afforded to me by my parents or school. 

My grandmother in 1918 was forced to marry a 62 year old man. Her father owed him money. To pay off the debt the man was allowed to choose one of the 8 daughters to be his wife. I raised my daughter to be independent, to believe in herself, to not count on a marriage or man to support her. All the rhetoric and insults about women and their place in society make me fear for my granddaughter’s future, that once again women will become chattel, like my grandmother.