Capps Amendment 'Radical Departure' From Status Quo On Funding For Abortion Coverage, AUL President Writes In Opinion Piece

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 16 Oct 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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"Aggressive negotiations are under way" over funding for health insurance coverage of abortion services in the various health reform proposals in Congress, Americans United for Life President and CEO Charmaine Yoest writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. Yoest claims that although Democratic leaders have said they want to "maintain the 'status quo'" on abortion coverage, the "reality" is that "maintaining what we have now isn't even on the table."

According to Yoest, to maintain the status quo, "a health care bill would have to explicitly prevent federal dollars from being used for elective abortions," but such provisions "were killed by all five committees that have handled health care reform bills this year." The "compromise in the works" on abortion coverage is a provision authored by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) that was included in the House Energy and Commerce Committee's health reform bill, she says. Yoest argues that the Capps amendment is "being sold on the false premise that it would maintain the status quo" because "otherwise the American people would not go along with it."

Yoest claims that the Capps amendment "would sidestep" current federal laws regarding funding for abortion coverage and "would make abortion coverage part of the public option, funnel tax dollars to private health plans that cover abortion, and ensure that every area of the country will have at least one health insurance plan that covers elective abortion." She also says that the amendment's "accounting mechanism that is supposed to make sure that federal dollars do not directly pay for elective abortions" is "a dodge" (Yoest, Wall Street Journal, 10/14).

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