Opinion Pieces Address Abortion Coverage Issue In Health Reform Debate

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Opinion pieces published recently in four newspapers addressed the issue of abortion coverage in health reform legislation and the antiabortion amendment by Reps. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) included in the House health reform bill (HR 3962). Summaries appear below.

~ Michelle Wright, Charleston Gazette: "Stupak's amendment is a cynical attempt to push an anti-choice agenda that imperils badly needed reform," Wright -- the Charleston, W.Va., field coordinator for Planned Parenthood Health Systems -- writes. "In addition to undermining the reform effort, the amendment would impact more than one in four American women who have at least one abortion during their reproductive years," she continues. Wright notes that "President Obama repeatedly stated that under health care reform, 'no one will lose the benefits they currently have.'" She writes that the "House bill now embraces a lesser ideal: No man will lose the benefits he currently has." She adds, "If Congress is capable of enacting health care reform, it is capable of treating women as equals." Wright concludes, "Abortion politics should not scuttle health care reform. That is why the Stupak Amendment must be eliminated" (Wright, Charleston Gazette, 11/26).

~ Brian Dickerson, Detroit Free Press: Although "[i]t's true that women will be hurt disproportionately if [the Stupak-Pitts amendment is] signed into law," women also will "suffer most if the intransigence of either side in the abortion debate kills health care reform outright," according to Free Press columnist Dickerson. He cites an argument by Phillip Levine of Wellesley College that even if a health insurance coverage expansion is limited to plans that restrict abortion coverage, many unintended pregnancies could be avoided. That is "not an argument for accepting the Stupak restrictions without a fight," Dickerson writes, adding, "But it may be a way for lawmakers [who support abortion rights] to win the war for reproductive rights even if they lose the battle for abortion coverage" (Dickerson, Detroit Free Press, 11/27).

~ Heather Long, Pennsylvania Patriot-News: "To those vocal in the pro-life movement," it is "time to recognize that 'birth control' and 'basic women's health' do not mean abortion," Long, the Patriot-News' deputy editorial page editor, writes. She adds, "It's about getting proper pelvic exams and affordable birth control pills, the single largest contributing factor to the fall of abortions." Long continues, "To those in the pro-choice movement: There are many important issues at stake for women's reproductive health in the reform debate at the moment. To focus solely on the Stupak Amendment and abortion is to lose a bigger battle that impacts a large chuck of the voting age population." She concludes that her "one hope for reason in the Senate is that [the] four 'moderate' female senators" who "are considered the critical swing votes on health care reform" -- Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) -- "can use their sway to ensure that basic women's reproductive health is part of all insurance plans" (Long, Pennsylvania Patriot-News, 11/28).

~ Deborah Ortiz, San Jose Mercury News: Abortion coverage through private health insurance "is now in grave jeopardy" as the health reform debate moves forward in Congress, according to Ortiz, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. The Stupak amendment "would undermine the ability of millions of women who receive federal subsidies to purchase private health insurance that covers abortion -- even if they pay for all or most of the premiums with their own money," Ortiz writes. Obama and Congress "have moved us closer than any of our past leaders to achieving affordable, quality health care for everyone," she continues, adding that reform legislation that includes language like the Stupak amendment "will not be fair -- and it will not succeed -- if it comes at such a steep cost to women." Women "need a new health care policy that does not leave us worse off," and "[a]ny plan that eliminates coverage and care for women is not reform," Ortiz concludes (Ortiz, San Jose Mercury News, 11/29).

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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