Talking with actress Kyra Sedgwick in Colorado Springs about Women’s Issues in this election.

I feel really lucky, considering all the awesome things I get to do because of this blog.  One of the most special ever happened this past weekend when I headed down to Colorado Springs to meet with Kyra Sedgwick. (Does this now make me two degrees of Kevin Bacon?!)

Kyra was in town to talk about why she supports Barack Obama, and meet with people from Colorado to talk about issues in the 2012 election. Specifically, of course, she is most concerned about women’s issues. Kyra was incredibly well-spoken, and she worked on the Obama campaign in 2008 as well.

We both attended a small gathering of Democratic women and then I was honored to have a one-on-one interview with her before she moved on to her next event in the area.

I asked Kyra why she came to *Colorado* to speak about Obama.

She answered that first and foremost, she felt that Barack Obama was the clear choice for reelection – and she was proud to work for his campaign again. But specifically, she has a sister who lives in Boulder and she has been visiting Colorado regularly for at least 20 years. She commented on the loveliness of our state, and really appreciates how much we care about the environment – a concern that is very near and dear to her heart. (Of note: On Obama’s watch, wind production in Colorado is up 49%, and there are at least 18 major manufacturing facilities currently producing components for the wind industry here.) Good news for my best friend who just went back to college for an environmental engineering degree.

We then talked about women’s issues and the 2012 election.

One thing Kyra said has stayed with me. “I am so surprised, in this day and age, that I am worrying about whether my daughter will have the right to discuss her health and her body privately in her doctor’s office.” Meaning these are the things that are at risk in this election.

I understand not everyone is pro-choice. But Romney/Ryan have stated they will work  to repeal Roe vs. Wade. Personally, I find this incredibly scary. I will be flat out honest. I have never had an abortion. I feel for people who have faced that choice, I know it is not easy. Either way, I *do* want that choice available for future generations, particularly in the instances of rape and incest. I also know that if I had to face that choice, I would prefer to have that discussion privately with my doctor. Wouldn’t you? I love this line from a very detailed Guardian article on this subject. “Republicans, who accuse President Barack Obama of putting government bureaucrats between doctors and their patients, were trying to mandate a medically unnecessary procedure that required the insertion of a wand into a woman’s vagina.”

So, yeah, we talked about healthcare.

This is probably the single most important issue to me in this election. As I mentioned before, I went uninsured this summer until I was forced to go on COBRA for an exorbitant amount of money.

Kyra was very sympathetic. She mentioned that she was lucky to have amazing insurance through the Screen Actor’s Guild, but she watched her brother struggle to find insurance due to pre-existing conditions. That he ended up paying large amounts of money for insurance that didn’t cover very much.

We both agreed how important preventative care is, that perhaps we can shift our thinking regarding insurance? I mentioned that I am a good example of both sides of that coin. That I work hard to control my diabetes, but was declined for insurance. Then – my life-threatening ear infection! Bam! Something that could happen to anyone, anywhere! Yikes.

Kyra went on to talk about the other things that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is important for... providing access to birth control (which is medically necessary in quite a few cases, as opposed to Viagra which *is* covered by most insurance), making it illegal to charge women more for insurance (I still can’t believe that was happening!), removal of the pre-existing conditions denials (woot!) and strengthening Medicare.

Medicare is really important to me as well, because several family members need it. Here in Colorado, 631,400 adults depend on Medicare… that’s a lot of people who need protection. Kyra described what Romney & Ryan would like to do with Medicare: vouchers. Personally, I think that is a very scary proposition for our seniors and people like myself who are, gulp, middle-aged. (Is 42 middle-aged? Close enough.)

P.S. I find this timeline from Healthcare.gov helpful in figuring out what is happening when for Obamacare.

After health, we talked about education.

“We can do better! Education is a building block for future generations!” Kyra felt pretty strongly, and as her children are just entering their twenties, she is a good position to understand this. She talked about how Obama is working to protect Pell grants to college students, creating tax credits to help middle-class families send their kids to college and expanding access to community colleges and skills training programs. Plus, I loved the story of  a project in Eastern Colorado that will improve high speed internet for over 1,000 households, 270 businesses, and 40 critical community facilities, including five schools.

The most important message: VOTE.

“It’s a birthright! Women who came before us fought for this right, the right to vote for our choices. Women give birth to the future, we need to get out there and VOTE for it.”

I loved how passionate Kyra is on all these topics and it was such a joy to talk to her. She was very nice, approachable and… OK! – super pretty! She even tolerated me telling her how often I actually think of her – that scene from Singles when she reaches over to unlock the door for Campbell Scott. Every time I lean over for my husband… Oh hi, Kyra!

Many thanks to Obama For America – Colorado for inviting me to this event, and to Kyra Sedgwick for being so lovely.

October 9th is the deadline to register to vote, so PLEASE. 
MAKE YOUR VOICE COUNT.

GOTTAVOTE.ORG

This article has 20 comments

  1. Everyfann

    An incredibly thought provoking post Aimee! And Colorado will make a real difference in this election!

  2. ZDub

    I just love her. And you. And Obama.

    Trifecta of awesome.

  3. Anonymous

    Well done Aim -m

  4. Stevie

    I am so scared about these issues. Romney is going to guy some many things I hold dear. We must protect women in this election!!!

  5. Sizzle

    I love that you got to meet her! So much rides on this election and I’m worried about what could happen if Obama doesn’t win another term- especially for women and health care. I think about my mom who just recently got Medicare and still can barely afford her appointments.

  6. Aimee Giese

    Melanie,

    I appreciate the civility and kindness of your comments and you are absolutely right there is a whole lot of misinformation out there. Perhaps I need to go back and be sure about the exact phrasing of what I said, but I do think that Romney turning back the power of choice to the states would be considered a repeal of Roe vs Wade? I did actually read quite a but of fact checking on that over the past few weeks (I even have PoltiFact’s Settle It app installed on my phone). The truth is Mitt Romney himself has changed direction on his abortion stance, and Obamacare for that matter, that it is a but hard for even the fact checkers to keep up with where he is. But in general if feel very strongly that he does want to fulfill the GOP desire to control this issue, for reasons that are beyond me. Which are also in line with the birth control issue. In that yes, SOME people (in 28 states that fought for equality for women after Viagra got insurance coverage) had access to it via their insurance or Planned Parenthood (another thing continually threatened by the GOP even though it provides valuable health services) but now you can theoretically get free contraceptions but as this post shows, that isn’t the easiest thing either as yet: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/08/08/my-failed-attempt-to-claim-my-birth-control_n_1755623.html

    Point is yes, it is very confusing and I tried to be as concise as i could about super compleicated things – and if you feel strongly about protecting these rights for women, then I humbly ask you to vote for Obama.

    Best, Aimee 🙂

  7. Aimee Giese

    Excuse my typos! I am on my phone!

  8. Bess

    Great post! And i’m so jealous.. Fantastic opportunity.

  9. Matt in Denver

    Love your points and this post. It is a really important election for this and many reasons!

  10. Melanie

    I totally respect your opinion and I am quite reluctant to take stands (as is my nature), however, in this day of REALLY WEIRD media I feel as though you have misstated Romney/Ryan wanting to repeal Roe v. Wade. I believe (and I’m backed up on factchecker.org) that personally he would want to give the power back to the states, but that is not the will of the people (you and me). Here is the link.

    I also think that we should all remind ourselves that birth control has always been available, whether through insurance or Planned Parenthood, etc. Obamacare just makes it free. No one has ever stated they would make birth control inaccessible.

    I’m just SO tired of the misinformation out there.

    That being said, love you, Kyra, & Colorado!

  11. Aimee Giese

    OMG I forgot to tell you! She is leaving Kevin and making her way to your house RIGHT NOW. 😉

  12. BDGarp

    So what did she say about ME?

  13. Tree

    I totally thought I would now be three degrees from Kevin Bacon.

    Melanie and Aimee, thanks for some civil discourse on this. Just two nights ago, I was at a dinner featuring Mary Matalin and James Carville. Mary stated she did not understand how people could be undecided. I am still undecided. If I vote for my personal freedoms (choice), I am voting against Romney / Paul. If I vote for my economic well-being, I am voting for Romney / Paul. In reality, I am actually more interested in what is going to happen in the Congress.

  14. Angela

    well done!

  15. PunditMom

    So exciting! What sticks with me is her comment —

    “I am so surprised, in this day and age, that I am worrying about whether my daughter will have the right to discuss her health and her body privately in her doctor’s office.”

    That’s one of the things that made me start PunditMom blog and write Mothers of Intention — I cannot believe at this stage of the game, I have to worry about these things for my daughter.

  16. PunditMom

    So exciting! What sticks with me is her comment —

    “I am so surprised, in this day and age, that I am worrying about whether my daughter will have the right to discuss her health and her body privately in her doctor’s office.”

    That’s one of the things that made me start PunditMom blog and write Mothers of Intention — I cannot believe at this stage of the game, I have to worry about these things for my daughter.

  17. Vicki

    You do such good work Aimee, SUCH. GOOD. WORK.

  18. Get Clued In!

    Actually, if there is no doubt about the PLATFORM OF the GOP and the two candidates in question, read this: http://whitehouse12.com/republican-party-platform/ I READ THE ENTIRE THING! Their platform actually talks about wanting to reverse Roe v. Wade.. and keep in mind in a 5-4 court with 2 Justices reaching older age (Ginsberg and Scalia), abortion can be revisited. It’s not that Romney and Ryan don’t like Women it’s just that they don’t “get” it. On all levels. And while people say we should not “fund” birth control, they also say they do not want a mom to go on welfare, food stamps to feed her alleged “army” of kids either- well, you can’t have it both ways, GOP! We either fund preventive programs so women and girls who are underprivileged get education, help they need early on or we help them later – after the kid is born. Sounds like GOP wants the kid to be born but then no help after? Oh but no birth control assistance either? Consistency- it’s never been in their PLATFORM then and now.

  19. Get Clued In!

    Actually, if there is no doubt about the PLATFORM OF the GOP and the two candidates in question, read this: http://whitehouse12.com/republican-party-platform/ I READ THE ENTIRE THING! Their platform actually talks about wanting to reverse Roe v. Wade.. and keep in mind in a 5-4 court with 2 Justices reaching older age (Ginsberg and Scalia), abortion can be revisited. It’s not that Romney and Ryan don’t like Women it’s just that they don’t “get” it. On all levels. And while people say we should not “fund” birth control, they also say they do not want a mom to go on welfare, food stamps to feed her alleged “army” of kids either- well, you can’t have it both ways, GOP! We either fund preventive programs so women and girls who are underprivileged get education, help they need early on or we help them later – after the kid is born. Sounds like GOP wants the kid to be born but then no help after? Oh but no birth control assistance either? Consistency- it’s never been in their PLATFORM then and now.

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