It's an early Christmas for Republicans. Tax reform has passed, which means the Obama-era individual mandate has officially been eliminated. Jacqueline Ayers, Director of Legislative Affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, joins Cheddar to discuss how the new bill will impact women's health.
Planned Parenthood believes attacks on health coverage have no place in any legislation, especially not in a tax bill. Ayers explains how the move could result in 13 million people losing access to healthcare coverage. Thanks to the ACA, nearly 10 million women gained coverage, and the number of uninsured women was cut nearly by half. This bill threatens to reverse that progress.
Ayers talks about what Planned Parenthood will do as soon as this legislation is signed. The organization worries most about low-income women, who most likely won't voluntarily sign up for healthcare unless they're forced to, because of the cost.
The court’s ruling applies to higher education institutions and other entities that receive federal funding and doesn’t directly change private employer obligations, but business leaders might pull back diversity, equity and inclusion programs to avoid lawsuits.
The IRS is showcasing its new capability to aggressively audit high-income tax dodgers as it makes the case for sustained funding and tries to avert budget cuts sought by Republicans who want to gut the agency.
A First Amendment group sued Texas Governor Greg Abbott and others on Thursday over the state’s TikTok ban on official devices, arguing the prohibition – which extends to public universities – is unconstitutional and impedes academic freedom.
