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I have received so many messages of support from across the country - women and men speaking out because they agree that contraception needs to be treated as a basic health care service.

There are many types of preventive health care services that are covered, things like blood pressure medication, for example. And women are merely asking that their health be taken just as seriously.

And under Obamacare, insurance companies can no longer discriminate against women. Before, some wouldn't cover women's most basic needs, like contraception and maternity care, but would still charge us up to 50 percent more than men - for a worse plan.

It's easier to lecture women on sexual morality than it is to explain why all Americans shouldn't have comprehensive, fair, and equal health care coverage.

Half of all women who are sexually active, but do not want to get pregnant, need publicly funded services to help them access public health programs like Medicaid and Title X, the national family planning program.

Because we spoke so loudly, opponents of reproductive health access demonized and smeared me and others on the public airwaves. These smears are obvious attempts to distract from meaningful policy discussions and to silence women's voices regarding their own health care.

The public likes to think that women only care about contraception.

What we're really trying to do is level out the health care system. It has gotten so one-sided as more and more people have been put into managed care; in fact, about 70 percent of the patients in the country.

Women know the financial, social and physical costs of not having access to basic health care.

We need to stop trying to restrict access to lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, and well-woman exams.