Michelle Obama Pitches Health Care Reform As A Women's Rights Issue

Michelle Obama discussing women and health care at the White House on Friday. Hyungwon Kang/ReutersNot only did First Lady Michelle Obama step up to the podium for health care today, she positioned it as a women's rights issue, part of "the next step" in women's "long quest to assure full opportunity aned equality".

photo via Huffington Post“Women aren’t just disproportionately affected by this issue because of the roles that we play in families,” Mrs. Obama said. “Women are affected because of the jobs that we do in this economy.”

Speaking to several women's groups at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Mrs. Obama reminded women that they:

• tend to work part-time or in small companies that provide no insurance

• often work in states that still permit gender-based discrimination, denying a woman insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition like ahving a C-section or having had a baby.

“These are the kind of facts that still wake me up at night,” Mrs. Obama said.

Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and First Lady Michelle Obama pitch health care as a women's rights issue. Photo via Huffington Post.