Abortion Debate Rekindled By Health Reform Efforts

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"Efforts to reform the healthcare system have added new spark to America's long-running abortion debate," the Christian Science Monitor reports, despite lawmaker's efforts to make the overhaul bills "abortion neutral." A version of the House bill would allow publicly-operated insurance plans or subsidized insurance policies to cover abortion, so long as the actual procedures were paid for out of premiums. Anti-abortion advocates call that compromise meaningless, since the subsidies could allow the uninsured to buy new plans that allow abortion. "This bill would be the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade," a talk-radio host said. However, so far, no bill specifically says what services would be covered under the public plan. Anti-abortion activists want specific language forbidding coverage for the procedure (Feldmann, 8/21).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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