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.
Water infrastructure across the country is vulnerable as climate change makes storms more unpredictable and destructive, flooding low-lying drinking water treatment plants and overwhelming coastal sewage systems.
Iran has transferred five Iranian-Americans from prison to house arrest in exchange for billions of dollars frozen in South Korea, U.S. and Iranian officials said Thursday, in a deal that comes after months of heightened tensions between the two countries.
