As I write this, I must admit I'm a little afraid to write a piece like this. To quote Alan Jackson, "I'm not a real political (wo)man." Personally, I usually tend to avoid talking about politics because, in my experiences anyway, it always seemed to lead a classic "why your beliefs are wrong and why mine are right" all-out screaming match and ending more divided then before. But with the recent less-than-stellar political developments, I find I have been forced into the political arena, whether I like it or not.

When I first heard that Donald Trump wanted to "repeal and replace" Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, I became nervous. Why would people want to get rid of a law that gave the option of affordable health insurance to millions of people? When my dad lost his job, it wasn't the only thing lost; my family and I lost a source of health insurance. My parents turned to private insurance companies and fought tooth and nail to find something that would cover everybody in my family. This insurance company would only cover these members and not those, and that insurance company would only cover certain members and not the rest. For a good portion of my life, I saw how much it weighed on my parents, struggling to find something. And when my parents did find something, the premiums were so high that it almost wasn't worth it. To quote my mom, "we were insurance poor and still scrambling to find ways to make the financial ends meet." When Obamacare was suggested to them, they looked into it and decided to give it a shot after all they went through. It saved my family. There are many out there who can relate to a similar situation, especially those with pre-existing conditions.

To those who want to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act: why do you want to take away affordable health care from millions? Sure, the law might not be perfect, but isn't it helping more than it's hurting?

As pointed out to me, among the healthcare issue, there are other bills to cut millions from community colleges, to cut mental health, to cut access to pap smear and birth control. Why is it when it comes to cutting funding it's for programs and institutions designed to help people and actually succeeds most of the time? My mom will graduate this December from Northeast Iowa Community College with her AA degree after 10 years of taking classes. I suffer from a mental illness myself and know plenty other people who do too and many rely on help paying for prescriptions, counseling, mental health groups, and more to be able to function "normally". Pap smear screenings and birth control? Screening for any abnormalities in the female plumbing will limited, if not gone completely. To those who suffer extremely painful menstrual cycles won't have access to something that makes that week a little more bearable.

Your voice matters.

Please contact Iowa's Senators and Representatives and express your 1st amendment right to free speech.