Blogs Comment On Health Reform Prospects, Constitutionality Of Hyde Amendment, Other Topics

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Abortion;  HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 03 Feb 2010 - 4:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

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

~ "Dem Lawmaker: Strong Likelihood of Using Reconciliation To Pass Health Bill," Jordan Fabian, The Hill's "Blog Briefing Room": Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) on Monday said that the need to pass health reform legislation could justify the use of budget reconciliation, a legislative tactic that would require only a simple majority in the Senate, Fabian writes. Engel said that the "likelihood is quite good" that reconciliation would be used, adding, "The vast majority of people on the Democratic side feel that health care needs to be passed and we can't delay." In his State of the Union address, President Obama "promised not to walk away from health care reform legislation that has served as the signature legislative item," Fabian writes. However, "House and Senate Democrats have sparred over alternative ways to circumvent a filibuster of the bill in the Senate since Scott Brown was elected to be the 41st Republican senator last month," he continues (Fabian, "Blog Briefing Room," The Hill, 2/1).

~ "Is the Ban on Federally Funded Abortion Constitutional?" Lee Sarokin, Huffington Post blogs: The Supreme Court "should re-examine the constitutionality of the ban on federal funding of abortion in its current form or as proposed" in health reform legislation, Sarokin, a former federal judge who served for 17 years, writes. "One need not disrespect the pro-life movement by recognizing that is has a strong religious base," but "perceived sin does not the law make," he writes, adding that abortion is a legal medical procedure in the U.S. and "should not be exempted from coverage or funding because of religious beliefs." Sarokin continues that the "underpinning of Roe v. Wade was that a woman had the right to be free of state interference with her choice to have an abortion. The denial of public funds coerces women into giving birth in instances in which they would have elected not to do so." A restriction on federal funding for abortion services, such as the Hyde Amendment, "imposes a political moral judgment on a decision that has been entrusted by law to the woman involved in consultation with her doctor and her family, if she so chooses," Sarokin says, continuing that "in addition to singling out women with these dire consequences, ... the prohibition singles out the poor, those that cannot undergo the procedure without financial assistance." In such situations, the government "is limiting a woman's freedom to choose abortion over childbirth" and "violates the due process rights guaranteed under the ruling" in Roe, he argues, adding that the government "has chosen to provide funding to continue the pregnancy to term, but not to abort," making the legislation "so clearly discriminatory." Sarokin writes that he "believe[s] there is a strong argument that the ban violates the equal protection of the law, the class being indigent pregnant women." The ban "ultimately infringes upon the woman's constitutional right to decide whether or not she will terminate her pregnancy," he says (Sarokin, Huffington Post blogs, 2/1).

~ "The Unhappy Career of the Term 'Choice,'" Carole Joffe, RH Reality Check: Joffe, professor at the University of California-San Francisco, analyzes the use of the word "choice" in the abortion-rights debate. According to Joffe, "Almost from the time 'choice' came into use in connection with abortion, right around the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, some feminist activists strongly criticized it, arguing it was misguided language, implying as it did that all women had the resources to make this 'choice.'" She writes, "Yet another problematic use of this term lies in its evolution into a euphemism for abortion itself," adding, "Even some of the staunchest support[er]s of abortion rights in Congress speak of 'a woman's right to choose,' with the presumption that their listeners know exactly what might be chosen." Joffe continues, "The terms 'choice' and 'pro-choice' are problematic for many of us, though we no doubt will continue to use them sometimes, simply because they have become so widely used by others." She writes, "Women facing unintended pregnancies -- all women, irrespective of income need real options, which implies that there are things that can genuinely be chosen (for example, an affordable, accessible, safe abortion or prenatal care, quality childcare and so on)." Joffee adds, "The term 'reproductive justice' is, for me, a far preferable way to describe" the abortion-rights movement "because it suggests that collectively we have to fight for such options" (Joffe, RH Reality Check, 2/2).

~ "Obama's Global Health Initiative: Getting It Right the First Time Around," Serra Sippel, Huffington Post blogs: The U.S. "has a rare opportunity to stem or eradicate some of the world's most common and fatal health threats," although there is only "a small amount of time to leverage it effectively," Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equality, writes. Obama's Global Health Initiative "has the potential to save lives and improve the health and rights of women globally," as it is "the first comprehensive U.S. policy approach to global health that recognizes that our greatest plagues -- HIV/AIDS, maternal and infant mortality, and poor sexual and reproductive health -- are all interconnected, and they are all preventable," she writes. GHI is "the first government-sponsored initiative that promotes a woman-centered approach to policy and programming," according to Sippel. However, GHI "needs additional funding," and "[r]ealistically, a budget increase will be difficult," Sippel continues. She argues that annual funding would need to double by 2011, from $8 billion to $16 billion, to "mean an additional 35 million women would have a skilled attendant present during birth, 10 million more couples would have access to family planning and 370 million adolescents would get comprehensive sexuality education." Regardless of whether GHI receives the additional funding, the initiative "still needs to be leveraged to achieve all of its possible potential," she writes, adding that it "could catalyze the tipping point of multiple pandemics" (Sippel, Huffington Post blogs, 2/1).

~ "CBS Says Yes to Life, No to Gay Dating," Evan James, Mother Jones' "The Riff": James writes that "after approving an antiabortion Super Bowl ad sponsored by Focus on the Family" starring former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, CBS "found itself in the awkward position of having to review an ad from ManCrunch, a gay online dating site," causing a "bit of drama." According to James, "CBS ultimately rejected the ManCrunch ad, and a number of bloggers on the left are calling it everything from blatant discrimination to reasonably nixing a lame ad that was never worth fighting for anyway." He writes, "For the record, the Focus on the Family ad shows that not having an abortion significantly increases your chances of having a famous football player for a son, and the ManCrunch ad shows that even if you're two straight-ish looking commercial actors, an accidental brushing of the hands in the chip bowl raises your chances of experiencing a spontaneous man-on-man make out session." According to James, it is "[i]nteresting to note that Focus on the Family recently hired 27-year-old Esther Fleece to bring Twitter-savvy millenials -- who, according to Fleece, find some of their older predecessors' anti-gay rhetoric alienating -- into the conservative Christian fold" (James, "The Riff," Mother Jones, 2/1).

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.

© 2010 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations