Blogs Comment On Catholics' Support For Health Reform, Chicago 'Bubble Zone' Law, Other Topics

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 14 Oct 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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The following summarizes selected recent women's health-related blog entries.

• "Survey of Catholics: Strong Support for Health Reform and Women's Rights," Kathleen Reeves, RH Reality Check: A recent survey by Catholics for Choice found that, "lo and behold, the Catholic hierarchy is not in line with [U.S] Catholics" on the issue of abortion coverage under health care reform, Reeves writes. While many Catholic bishops "have voiced unconditional opposition" to any health reform legislation that does not explicitly exclude coverage for abortion services, 68% of Catholics surveyed "disagree[d] with the idea that Catholics should oppose the entire health care reform plan if it includes coverage for abortions," Reeves says. The survey also found that 21% of Catholics believe abortion should be legal in all cases, half of whom said health insurance plans should cover abortion services "whenever a woman and her doctor decide it is appropriate." She continues, "This is one of the survey's most valuable findings -- that is, you don't have to be 'pro-choice' in any traditional political sense to believe in a woman's right to choose an abortion" or "that insurance should cover this medical procedure." In addition, "even if some Catholics don't believe in abortion and don't believe that any health plan should cover abortion, these Catholics don't necessarily wish to sacrifice health care reform for these beliefs," Reeves writes. She concludes, "Perhaps Catholic bishops should look to their flock for a reminder of how religion does what it does best; that is, to fight suffering, degradation and despair" (Reeves, RH Reality Check, 10/12).

• "Roundup: Abortion Clinic Safety Zones in Chicago; Misreading the Pew Poll on Attitude Toward Abortion," Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: In a blog entry, Jacobson highlights recent news relating to abortion rights, including Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's (D) announcement that he will sign an ordinance requiring protesters "to keep a healthy distance from women entering abortion clinics." Daley said, "Everybody has the right to demonstrate and picket," but "to use words and other things to frighten people going in to seek assistance, that is another question." Jacobson also references an American Prospect blog entry by Sarah Posner "argu[ing] that some commentators ... have misread recent polls on abortion," including the recent Pew Research Center poll on abortion attitudes. A commentary in The Politic written by Jonathan McCleod "suggests that U.S. health reform make room for federal funding on abortion care," Jacobson writes. McCleod wrote, "[I]t would be wrong for the government to start dictating the terms of valid insurance coverage, such that a common and basic procedure like abortion would be excluded. If the government is going to take taxpayer's money to create a subsidy, the government has no right to create disincentives to purchase that which an individual considers the optimal insurance coverage" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 10/12).

• "Abortion: A Healthy Choice," Jacob Appel, Huffington Post blogs: Some abortion-rights opponents "have increasingly attempted to scare women away from abortion with specious claims that the procedure is unsafe," including suggesting links between abortion and breast cancer and mental health issues, writes Appel, a medical historian and bioethicist. "Even if these assertions were true -- and years of study have established categorically that they are not -- this data would obscure the larger truth regarding abortion and women's health," which is that "abortion is convincingly far safer for maternal health than bringing a fetus to term," he states. Appel notes that about 500 additional women would have died in childbirth if the 50 million abortions that have occurred since 1973 were carried to full-term deliveries. According to Appel, studies show that the risk of a woman in the U.S. dying in childbirth is approximately one in 7,500, compared with a risk of dying of one in one million for abortions in the first eight weeks of pregnancy, when the majority of procedures take place. The "shell game perpetrated by abortion opponents is quite clever" because they "focus public attention on a comparison between abortion and baseline health, rather than between abortion and pregnancy," Appel writes. He continues that although the "significant risks of childbirth may well be worth enduring for the rich joys of motherhood, ... "[w]hat is harder for me to understand is why anyone would take such risks in order to deliver a baby that they do not want." Appel adds, "That should be a woman's choice too, of course. But if you're going to put your own well-being at risk, you should certainly know all the risks" (Appel, Huffington Post blogs, 10/11).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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