Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

For the 13th #HERvotes blog carnival, we’re celebrating National Women’s Health Week.  The federal government launched National Women’s Health Week ten years ago in an effort to improve women’s health by building awareness about things like exercise, healthy eating and the importance of regular check-ups.

It’s nice to have our government speaking out about the importance of our health, but we know that it takes more than just awareness to insure that all women are healthy. It takes access to high quality affordable health care services. For too many women, health care hasn’t been affordable, especially reproductive health services. That’s starting to change, thanks to the new health law. This week’s #HERvotes blog carnival will focus on the importance of the preventive well-woman services of the Affordable Care Act.

You may already know that the Affordable Care Act requires new health plans to cover contraceptive counseling and methods without any co-payments. But did you know that plans will also be required to cover breast feeding supplies? And screening for domestic violence? These are just a few of the new preventive services that will be covered for women starting later this year.

The #HERvotes blog carnival will feature stories about how real women and their families are already benefiting from the new women’s health services and information on new parts of the Affordable Care Act that will be implemented in August 2012.

You can participate by telling your own story and by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes) and other social media.

#HERvotes, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the major advances of the women’s movement, many of which are at risk in the next election.

Read More:

New Reasons to Celebrate Women’s Health Week– Beth Scott, American Association of University Women

National Women’s Health Week: Pledging to Take Care of Ourselves– Ann Rose Greenberg, Jewish Women International

Celebrating Women’s Health Week as a Grandmother– Nancy K. Kaufman, National Council of Jewish Women