Wrangling Over Abortion Hinders Health Care Reform
Some Dems Push for Tighter Abortion Restrictions
Tuesday November 3, 2009 4:07 p.m.
Anti-choice Michigan Democrat (far right) celebrates the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals with some wings.
Photo Credit: Bart Stupak for Congress
Once again, the health care debate is stuck on abortion. In the pending House bill, anti-choice advocates are preemptively striking down any hint at the possibility of a woman getting an abortion while using a government-supported health plan. Pro-choice advocates, meanwhile, are struggling to defend increasingly precarious abortion rights. And a lot of people outside Washington just want health care.
Yet, as Amie Newman at RH Reality Check points out, the polarization in Congress is more light than heat for progressives, since oppressive federal policies will likely remain on the books for years to come. In the end, conservatives are simply looking to keep incrementally eroding Roe v. Wade through the political horse trade.
The Hyde Amendment essentially bars federal funding for abortion services, with only narrow medical exceptions, under programs like Medicaid, which leaves poor women deeply disadvantaged when it comes to their freedom to choose. But conservatives basically have won this one, even though states can still use their own taxpayer funds to cover abortion, and the ban is subject to annual renewal in appropriations legislation. The battle has now shifted to outright control of a woman's body, writes Newman, even if she buys her own insurance:
Anti-choice legislators and advocates will not accept that since some private insurers (well, most) cover abortion care for women, if we have a government-funded/government-run, public option of some kind, some Americans will need to rely on a combination of both private insurance and public insurance to meet their health care coverage needs. So, for instance, if a woman who receives federal tax dollars to assist her health coverage is also a part of the private insurance pool which covers abortion, this is essentially the same as the federal government paying for abortion services.
The opposition's philosophical leap from health care reform to national abortion trust fund might not be all that shocking to pro-choice advocates. Perhaps more surprising is that the shrill cries of Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and other "concerned" Democrats appear to be setting the terms of the debate. As House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) tries to shepherd the embattled health care bill to the floor, CQ Politics reports:
Anti-abortion Democrats want language added that would specifically prohibit any federal funding of abortions, meaning that plans bought using government subsidies would not be able to cover the procedure.
Democratic leaders may consider extending existing federal abortion restrictions, known as the Hyde amendment, to the health care bill.
Looks like the war on choice is turning into a war of attrition. And while legislators spar, tens of millions of Americans who won't be getting abortions anytime soon, with or without federal money, just want to know how they're going to pay for their next check-up.
There are 11 comments
#9 Bob Whacksit
Conservatives love the idea of being uneducated inbreds, and putting it proudly on display.
@9, and that was our local Faux nooz affiliate, giving us the newest neo-con inspirational messages.
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Anti-choice people complain they don't want their tax money to fund abortions. Well, I don't want my tax money to fund faith-bases initiatives, but that was shoved down my throat anyway. I, along with millions of others, didn't want our tax money spent on invading Iraq and then handing tens of billions to Halliburton to rebuild it, with billions more going to Blackwater to shoot up and kill anyone they wanted, but that was shoved down our throats too. So, to those who whine about not wanting abortions to be funded by taxpayers, I have just one thing to say: STFU! Your whining is nothing short of hypocritical.
Also, what's worse: Do-Nothing Obama will be handing the country over to cave dwellers like jacob1973. If you thought Bush was bad - just wait until you see the next nutcase the neocons will try to deposit in the White House...
DUMB LIBERALS: They don't understand what is really going on. Nobody in Washington wants health care reform. He was put in power to act as a safety valve - people were about ready to riot after 8 years of Bush. Obama is a do-nothing because his job is to hand the treasury over to the banksters and quiet down the more radical members of our society who would rally the sheep into action. This health care debacle has proceeded as planned: Stall, stall, stall then stall some more. In the end we will get nothing.
Sadly, the powers-that-be are only postponing the inevitable - the coming revolution will be very unpleasent indeed.
Now, maybe the libs will take off their rose colored glasses and see Obama and his cronies as the banker slaves that they are..
The reason why is that you have ultra liberals like Obama, Reed and Pelosi that want to push Abortion into every corner of our laws and society! They truly believe that what that they are doing is right for the woman, nevermind that unborn child that is going to die! I think that we can all agree that it should be available to a woman should the pregnancy develop into a situation where it would cause the death or severe injury to the woman, but that should be it! If someone wants to be able to have an abortion, then they should have to pay extra for that "feature" in the plan. But dont make me pay for your unethical practices that violate my own conscience that the fetus is in fact a baby, just as much alive as a 1year old, 10 year old, or 30 year old person.
#1 SpareChange
Don't be silly.
As evidenced through the SFC bill, it's just as important to continue killing actual, living, breathing human beings by failing to provide them access to quality, affordable healthcare.
Blending blastocysts is but the cherry on top.
Why is abortion such a pivotal issue? There are so many things in the health care bill to be opposed to, why is abortion the only issue raised? Why is it so important that we kill unborn children?
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