Who cares about health care? Women.

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Health—

Women voters say health care is on the line this year — and they aren’t hearing enough about it

Two years ago, women voters drove Democrats to take back the House of Representatives in a so-called “blue wave.” Their top concern? Health care.

That 2018 midterm came on the heels of Republicans’ repeated failed attempts to overturn the Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama’s signature health law.
After those repeal efforts, the once-controversial law gained favorable ratings from the majority of Americans, giving Democrats a winning message about maintaining its health care protections.
That message landed with women — specifically, White women from ages 30 to 64 who identified as Democrats and liberal independents — and fueled the party’s largest gain of House seats since 1974.

Now, with Election Day less than a month away, a Supreme Court confirmation looming, and a pandemic that’s claimed more than 210,000 lives, those same voters could play a critical role in determining who is inaugurated come January. The stakes couldn’t be higher for them.

Women are more likely than men to support the Affordable Care Act, per recent polling by The New York Times and Siena College Research Institute.
Another poll, run at the end of September by the Morning Consult, found 92 percent of women said maintaining and expanding upon the Affordable Care Act was “very important” or “somewhat important” in shaping their vote this year.
Meanwhile, a September survey across 10 battleground states — including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin — found that women were significantly more likely to say maintaining protections for preexisting conditions would play a critical role in shaping their vote.
Women also were more likely to believe Joe Biden would do a better job maintaining health care protections and addressing the coronavirus crisis.

Read the full story by Shefali Luthra here.

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Election 2020—

‘Will you please like me?’: Trump pleads with suburban women

By Mariel Padilla

AP Photo/Aaron Doster

President Donald Trump appealed to suburban women at his campaign rally in Johnstown, Pa., on Tuesday: “So can I ask you to do me a favor, suburban women? Will you please like me? Please. Please. I saved your damn neighborhood, OK?”

The president claimed that suburban women, though they might not like the way he talks, should support him because he is about “law and order” and keeps them safe by keeping low-income housing out of the suburbs.

“Suburban women, they should like me more than anybody here tonight because I ended the regulation that destroyed your neighborhood,” Trump said. “I ended the regulation that brought crime to the suburbs and you’re going to live the American dream.”

The president has made similar statements in the past.

In July, he warned “The Suburban Housewives of America” on Twitter that Democratic candidate Joe Biden would destroy neighborhoods through his housing and zoning proposals. In August, he insisted that the “suburban housewife” would be voting for him.

Suburban voters are a growing part of the electorate, and their support has been critical for electoral success in recent presidential elections. The president’s focus on “suburban housewives” comes at a time when polling predicts a potentially historic gender gap, with Biden leading Trump among women this month by 9 to 29 points, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Read the full story here.

What we’re reading—

Curated by Alexis Lanza. Have something you think we should recommend? Tell us or tweet at us using #19thShares.

What Kamala Harris learned about power at Howard. As a college student, she wanted to have an impact. The answer she landed on — working inside institutions — set her on the path to the vice presidential nomination. (The New York Times, October 14)

Portraits of resilience: How 19 women around the globe face the pandemic. During the coronavirus pandemic, women have taken on the responsibility of holding their families together. NPR photographed and interviewed 19 women around the world about how they are overcoming their challenges and fears. (NPR, October 9)

Sherrilyn Ifill, civil rights superhero. Sherrilyn Ifill, leader of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, is tasked with defending our most sacred freedoms, especially amid renewed calls for racial justice. (Glamour, October 13)

Why Republican women face a bleaker picture in the battle for representation in Congress. Republican women lack support from the Republican party or their communities, especially at the primary level. (ABC News, October 14)

A message from this week's sponsor, the Amended Podcast

Amended, a six-part podcast hosted by historian Laura Free that highlights the diversity of the suffrage movement. Available now!

What we’re streaming—

🎧 Listen: How to protect abortion clinics. Whole Woman’s Health founder Amy Hagstrom Miller discusses the lengths providers have to go to create and sustain safe clinic spaces. Plus, how she took down one of the biggest, baddest anti-abortion laws in the country. (Unladylike, October 13)

📺 Watch: ‘ACB vs. ACA’: Why Democrats keep bringing up Obamacare during Barrett’s confirmation hearing. Amy Coney Barrett’s comments on the Affordable Care Act could reveal how she would rule on future cases. (The Washington Post, October 14)

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