Holding on to health reform and what we have gained for reproductive health.

Amid all the debate and hysteria around abortion in health reform, one of the crucial truths obscured is that the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010 [1] brought with it the promise of substantial improvements in insurance coverage of other reproductive health services in the United States. Expanded insurance coverage generally and new protections for the scope of services covered and patients' access to care have the potential to make family planning, maternity and sexually transmitted infection services more affordable and accessible. Yet, implementation of the overhaul faces several major, intertwined challenges, including a historic budget crisis affecting Medicaid and other health programs and an equally historic shift in political power with the November 2010 elections. As a result, we stand to lose these major gains even before they are fully realized.