Stupak Amendment Would Present Women With Tough Choices On Abortion Coverage, Advocates Say

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 16 Nov 2009 - 0:00 PST

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Millions of women in the U.S. "will face tough choices" about coverage for abortion services if restrictions in the House health care reform bill (HR 3962) are made law, according to advocates on both sides of the debate, the AP/Washington Post reports. Abortion coverage has become a major issue in the health reform debate as both sides argue over how to handle the issue under new structures created through the legislation.

The House last weekend voted to include an amendment prohibiting any public or private insurance plan receiving federal subsidies from offering abortion coverage, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman. Women who want abortion coverage would have to purchase it as a separate rider, the AP/Post reports.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a co-author of the amendment, claims it is not a dramatic change to current law and says it includes enough alternatives for women to obtain abortion coverage, as long as they use their own funds and are willing to purchase a rider. "If you really still want this coverage, you can have it," Stupak said, adding, "The only difference is that more people will have to make that decision that they didn't confront before."

Abortion-rights advocates argue that the amendment would make it more difficult, and possibly impossible in many cases, for millions of women to obtain insurance coverage for abortion services. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 21 million people would purchase individual coverage through the exchange offered in the House bill. Federal subsidies would be given to about 18 million of those people, who would have to choose plans that do not cover abortion services. "Beyond that, it's an open question for individual insurance companies how much of their business is in the exchange or outside it," according to Adam Sonfield of the Guttmacher Institute.

The AP/Post reports that two groups of women are not likely to be affected by the Stupak amendment -- low-income women enrolled in Medicaid who are already ineligible for federally funded abortion coverage and women who have abortion coverage through employer-sponsored insurance plans from large companies. However, there would be a significant number of women who would be eligible to join the federally subsidized plans and would have to give up abortion coverage they had previously carried under a private plan, the AP/Post reports. This group includes self-employed women who purchase their own insurance, divorced women who no longer receive their spouse's coverage and women who work in small businesses whose owners decide to enter the exchange for more affordable coverage.

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the Stupak amendment "a middle-class abortion ban that would impact millions of middle-class women." She added, "It's saying to them, 'You can't get full coverage that meets your needs.'"

Abortion-rights advocates call the option to purchase an abortion rider "a false promise," citing Oklahoma and North Dakota as examples of states with similar laws but have little use of such riders, the AP/Post reports. Donna Crane, policy director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said, "Women don't expect unplanned pregnancies and don't expect their wanted pregnancies to go wrong. ... They don't anticipate needing abortion coverage, so they wouldn't buy the rider" (Crary, AP/Washington Post, 11/12).

NARAL President Keenan Discusses Stupak Amendment, Health Reform on NPR

NPR's "Talk of the Nation" on Wednesday included a discussion with NARAL President Nancy Keenan, who commented on the Stupak amendment and other women's health issues. The Stupak amendment is "an abortion ban" that "goes far beyond the status quo" of current federal law, Keenan said, adding that the amendment is "denying women to access insurance coverage that covers abortion care with their own money in the exchange."

As the Senate prepares to debate abortion coverage in its final bill, Keenan said that NARAL is "going to take this a step at a time," adding that the group will contact members of the Senate "to say [the Stupak] language is not acceptable and it can't be in the bill." She added that "we expect them to stand with us and stand with women in this country to not lose ground under the health care reform bill." During the discussion, Keenan also took questions from the program's listeners (Conan, "Talk of the Nation," NPR, 11/11).

Broadcast Coverage, Online Chat

MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" on Thursday included a segment examining the Stupak amendment's impact on the "political rift" in politics. Maddow points out what she calls the "hypocrisy" of the Catholic Bishops, who argue that separation of public and private dollars in the context of abortion services is difficult, although Catholic church accepts federal dollars for many social services that are kept separate from their religious activities. The segment includes comments from Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) (Maddow, "The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, 11/12).

Also on Thursday, MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" included a segment examining the Catholic Church's threatened opposition to health care reform -- despite its history of advocating for universal health care -- because of abortion issues. The segment includes comments from the Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance (Olbermann, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," MSNBC, 11/12).

The Washington Post on Thursday featured an online chat with staff writer Lori Montgomery to take readers' questions on the Stupak amendment and its possible implications for health care reform (Montgomery, Washington Post, 11/12).

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