False Alarm on Abortion
By PHILLIP B. LEVINE
NYT
Wellesley, Mass.
ABORTION financing has become an important stumbling block in negotiations over health care reform. An amendment sponsored by Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan, which was added to the House bill at the last minute, would prohibit both government-run insurance plans and any private insurance plans purchased with government subsidies from covering abortions.
The amendment quickly led to a burst of rhetoric and lobbying on both sides of the abortion debate. But this public battle exaggerates the extent to which the Stupak amendment would really change things for women seeking abortions. And, at the same time, it obscures the other benefits that expanded health insurance coverage could bring to women’s reproductive health. Ultimately, providing greater access to family planning could significantly reduce the total number of unintended pregnancies.
The Stupak amendment’s effect on any individual woman’s insurance coverage for abortion depends on what kind of insurance she has now. About 12 percent of the 62 million American women of childbearing age — ages 15 to 44 — are now covered by public insurance plans like Medicaid. For them there will be no change because current law already prohibits the use of federal funds to cover abortion costs.
Likewise, the amendment would change nothing for women who now have no insurance — about 20 percent of women of childbearing age.
(More here.)
NYT
Wellesley, Mass.
ABORTION financing has become an important stumbling block in negotiations over health care reform. An amendment sponsored by Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan, which was added to the House bill at the last minute, would prohibit both government-run insurance plans and any private insurance plans purchased with government subsidies from covering abortions.
The amendment quickly led to a burst of rhetoric and lobbying on both sides of the abortion debate. But this public battle exaggerates the extent to which the Stupak amendment would really change things for women seeking abortions. And, at the same time, it obscures the other benefits that expanded health insurance coverage could bring to women’s reproductive health. Ultimately, providing greater access to family planning could significantly reduce the total number of unintended pregnancies.
The Stupak amendment’s effect on any individual woman’s insurance coverage for abortion depends on what kind of insurance she has now. About 12 percent of the 62 million American women of childbearing age — ages 15 to 44 — are now covered by public insurance plans like Medicaid. For them there will be no change because current law already prohibits the use of federal funds to cover abortion costs.
Likewise, the amendment would change nothing for women who now have no insurance — about 20 percent of women of childbearing age.
(More here.)
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