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There’s a lot at stake in the 2016 election, and it’s important to get the facts before you vote. Harlem United and Fenway Health have partnered to show you where the candidates and political parties stand on six key issues: LGBT equality, HIV/AIDS, healthcare, substance use, mental health, and housing.
You can also read excerpts from the party platforms and candidate statements below and download our report, The 2016 Presidential Candidates On Important Health Equity Issues, for more details on the candidates’ and parties’ stances.
LGBT Equality
“In keeping with the Green Key Values of diversity, social
justice and feminism, we support full legal and political equality for
all persons, regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender
identity, characteristics, and expression.”
“Democrats will fight for the continued development of sex
discrimination law to cover LGBT people. We will also fight for
comprehensive federal nondiscrimination protections for all LGBT
Americans, to guarantee equal rights in areas such as housing,
employment, public accommodations, credit, jury service, education, and
federal funding.”
“Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage
between one man and one woman is the foundation for free society and has
for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instill cultural
values.”
“Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender
identity should have no impact on the government’s treatment of
individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption,
immigration or military service laws.”
“All people are entitled to full civil and human rights in
America…regardless of race, religion, culture, gender, or sexual
preference.”
“As President, I will fight for passage of the Equality Act to secure full federal equality for LGBT Americans.”
When asked if he would appoint Supreme Court justices to
overrule the decision on same sex marriage, he said, “I would strongly
consider that, yes.”
“It has become clear to me that denying [marriage] rights and benefits to gay couples is discrimination, plain and simple.”
HIV/AIDS
“An all-out campaign must be waged against AIDS/HIV and
other blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis. The AIDS epidemic has not
been adequately addressed at the local, state, federal, or international
levels. All people in all countries, including those with AIDS/HIV,
have a right to medical care, protection from discrimination, and
confidentiality.”
“Democrats believe an AIDS-free generation is within our
grasp. But today far too many Americans living with HIV are without
access to quality care and too many new infections occur each year.”
The 2016 Republican Party Platform does not explicitly
address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S, but it does state support for
President George W. Bush’s health initiatives, including AIDS relief
under PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria.
The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform does not mention HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
No quote available
“An AIDS-free generation is within our grasp”
No quote available
“Needle exchange programs in states that reduce HIV and
Hepatitis C, you know, very controversial, but the bottom line is that
it saves lives.”
Healthcare
“The Green Party supports single-payer universal health
care and preventive care for all. We believe that health care is a
right, not a privilege.”
“We took a critically important step toward the goal of
universal health care by passing the Affordable Care Act, which has
covered 20 million more Americans and ensured millions more will never
be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition.”
“Our goal is to ensure that all Americans have improved
access to affordable, high-quality healthcare, including those
struggling with mental illness.”
“We favor a free-market health care system. We recognize
the freedom of individuals to determine the level of health insurance
they want (if any)…”
“We can create health care as a human right through an
improved Medicare for All system of everybody in, nobody out, and you’re
covered head to toe and cradle to grave. You get your choice of doctor
and hospital, and you and your doctor are put back in charge of your
health decisions, not a profiteering insurance company CEO.”
“I would absolutely get rid of ObamaCare. I want to keep
pre-existing conditions. It’s a modern age, and I think we have to have
it.”
“There should be a safety net out there regarding health
care, and in no way are we saying that the safety net should be
eliminated. At the end of the day, I’m going to sign onto any
initiatives, really, that bring a free-market approach to health care. “
Housing
“Preserve and increase affordable housing supply.”
“Enforce and
strengthen the federal Fair Housing Act and other federal and state
fair-housing laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color,
religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, familial status and
national origin.”
“We will preserve and increase the supply
of affordable rental housing by expanding incentives to ease local
barriers to building new affordable rental housing developments in areas
of economic opportunity.”
“We will reinvigorate housing production
programs, repair public housing, and increase funding for the housing
choice voucher program and other rental assistance programs.”
“We must scale back the federal role in the housing
market, promote responsibility on the part of borrowers and lenders, and
avoid future taxpayer bailouts.”
“We call for a comprehensive review of federal
regulations, especially those dealing with the environment, that make it
harder and more costly for Americans to rent, buy, or sell homes.”
“As respect for property rights is
fundamental to maintaining a free and prosperous society, it follows
that the freedom to contract to obtain, retain, profit from, manage, or
dispose of one’s property must also be upheld.”
“Libertarians would free property owners
from government restrictions on their rights to control and enjoy their
property, as long as their choices do not harm or infringe on the rights
of others.”
“We will honor the right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions.”
“Housing can and should be a springboard to opportunity.
But to get there, we need to make rental housing more affordable, open
up more pathways to sustainable home ownership, and invest in
communities that have been left out and left behind.”
“There’s no industry, other than probably the energy industry, that is more overregulated than the housing industry.”
“There are currently two [programs] that I advocate
abolishing: the Departments of Education and Housing and Urban
Development (HUD).”
Mental Health
“Enact a universal, comprehensive, national single-payer
health plan that will provide…with no increase in cost… A mental health
care system that safeguards human dignity, respects individual autonomy,
and protects informed consent.”
“We must treat mental health issues with the same care and seriousness that we treat issues of physical health, support a robust mental health workforce, and promote better integration of the behavioral and general health care systems.”
“Recognizing that maintaining good mental health is critical to all people, including young people’s health and development, we will work with health professionals to ensure that all children have access to mental health care.”
“The current federally dictated mental health care regime is wasteful and ineffective, and moving to a block grant approach would allow for state and local governments to create solutions for individuals and families in desperate need of help in addressing mental illness.”
“We need to reform our mental health programs and institutions in this country. Families, without the ability to get the information needed to help those who are ailing, are too often not given the tools to help their loved ones.”
Does not specifically address mental health care
“We have to address the other drivers of community
violence. That includes ensuring that mental health services are
available to everyone. Mental health services have been cut back in a
major way with all the cuts to healthcare.”
“I believe that together we can make sure that the next
generation gets quality mental healthcare without shame, without stigma,
without barriers.”
“I feel that the gun-free zones and, you know, when you
say that, that’s target practice for the sickos and for the mentally
ill. They look around for gun-free zones.”
No quote available
Substance Use
“Greens call for an end to the “war on drugs”,
legalization of drugs and for treating drug abuse as a health issue. The
‘war on drugs’ has been an ill conceived program that has wasted
billions of dollars misdirecting law enforcement resources away from
apprehending and prosecuting violent criminals, while crowding our
prisons with non-violent drug offenders and disproportionately
criminalizing youth of color.”
“We will continue to fight to expand access to care for addiction services, and ensure that insurance coverage is equal to that for any other health conditions.”
“We should help state and local leaders establish evidence-based, age-appropriate, and locally-tailored prevention programs. These programs include school-based drug education programs that have been shown to have meaningful effects on risky behavior.”
“The progress made over the last three decades against drug abuse is eroding, whether for cultural reasons or for lack of national leadership.”
“In many jurisdictions, marijuana is virtually legalized despite its illegality under federal law.”
“We favor the repeal of all laws creating ‘crimes’ without
victims, such as the use of drugs for medicinal or recreational
purposes.”
“Substance abuse should be treated as a health issue, not as a crime.”
“We’re not just now ‘discovering’ this problem. But we
should be saying enough is enough. It’s time we recognize as a nation
that for too long, we have had a quiet epidemic on our hands. Plain and
simple, drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, not a moral failing—and
we must treat it as such.”
“It’s very hard to get out of that addiction of heroin. That’s the other thing we’re going to do: We’re going to take all of these kids — and people, not just kids — that are totally addicted and they can’t break it. We’re going to work with them, we’re going to spend the money, we’re gonna get that habit broken.”
“We are not espousing the legalization of any drugs outside of marijuana.”
Don’t forget: Download our report, The 2016 Presidential Candidates On Important Health Equity Issues, for more details on the candidates’ and parties’ stances.
Read more articles from Harlem United, here.
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