What Has Hillary Done for Women’s Health?

The unhealthy political jabs just keep on comin’.

During a speech on Friday now that she’s resurfaced after her bout with pneumonia and her collapse in lower Manhattan last Sunday, Hillary Clinton tried to take a swipe at Republicans for the attention they’ve paid to her recent illness.

Related: Hillary’s ‘Fit to Serve’ Report: Unbelievable

“I’m thrilled to be with you. I’m thrilled to be associated with you. I’m also thrilled to be back on the campaign trail. As the world knows, I was a little under the weather recently,” Clinton said at the start of her remarks on Friday at the Black Women’s Agenda Symposium workshop in Washington, D.C.

“The good news is,” she continued, “my pneumonia finally got some Republicans interested in women’s health.”

This is disingenuous at best, since it somehow suggests she herself has done wonders for the health of American women.

As most people know, Hillary’s biggest claim to fame in the women’s health arena is her vigorous support and defense of Planned Parenthood — the country’s biggest provider of abortion services in this country.

“The — the — the unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights,” Clinton said recently on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

[lz_ndn video=31401868]

“Now, that doesn’t mean that we don’t do everything we possibly can, in the vast majority of instances to, you know, help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy, to have appropriate medical support. It doesn’t mean that you don’t do everything possible to try to fulfill your obligations,” Hillary added during that interview. “But it — it does not include sacrificing the woman’s right to make decisions. And I think that’s a — an important distinction, that under Roe v. Wade we’ve had enshrined under our Constitution.”

Progressive feminist groups as Emily’s List, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Planned Parenthood have publicly endorsed her, as LifeZette previously reported. Yet the networks of these powerful groups in America haven’t been able to help generate much interest in the presidential race — a race they believe jeopardizes women’s health and rights if Clinton does not assume the presidency.

Related: Hillary’s Health Issues: They Go Way Back

Republican nominee Donald Trump recently released detailed new proposals for child care and elder care in this country. Trump is advocating paid leave for mothers and changing the tax code to help families. These steps are critical for children because they will help mothers be at home more with their babies and not worry about income during maternity leave.

Restructuring the tax code, too, will help keep the government from acting as a surrogate father.

Trump also advocates for fathers — something rare in 2016, even as more and more fathers contribute to the raising of their children and the running of their homes.

Trump has also spoken about the opioid crisis in this country, and the need to do more to help struggling families whose children and loved ones fall victim to the draw of addictive drugs. He’s talked about the Zika virus and much more — all critical health issues in this country, for women as well as men.

Related: Foster System Flooded with Orphans of Addiction

While she was secretary of state, Clinton traveled the world and spent a lot of time talking about global women’s rights issues. She focused mostly focused on gender-based equality and on reproductive rights.

She has boasted about her efforts on family friendly workplaces and work-life balance. But where are her health initiatives for American women? Where are the policy proposals that could truly make a difference? Rather than taking a pot shot at people who have very appropriately focused on the serious health conditions of a major candidate for the highest office in the land, this candidate would be wise to focus on serious health initiatives that don’t saddle the government with further debt problems. Those would be worth a discussion.