Archive for September, 2009
Senate rejects new threat to abortion in health reform!
September 30th, 2009 by janeyThe Senate Finance Committee this morning rejected, by a 13 to 10 margin, a proposal by Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, that would have turned abortion coverage into an optional “rider” that women would have to buy separately when purchasing health insurance through the proposed insurance “exchange” that would be created under health reform. Hatch and his anti-choice colleagues said the purpose of the amendment was to make absolutely sure no public dollars would be used for abortion coverage, even though the Baucus health reform bill already does that in a different way by requiring that public funds be kept separate from private funds when abortion coverage is provided.
“As a woman, I find this offensive,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat who was one of several Senators arguing vigorously against Stabenow called “an extreme amendment” in committee debate. “This is not about tax dollars,” she said, but rather “this is an unprecedented intrusion into what people can buy in the private marketplace.” She and a committee staffer said that the Hatch proposal would ban abortion entirely from all insurance plans offered in the insurance exchange, and thus remove that coverage from private insurance policies women now have and are paying for with their own money.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, said the Hatch proposal would move the health reform bill from one that maintains the status quo on abortion – by maintaining the current prohibition on use of federal funds for abortion – to one “that would change the status quo. ”Also arguing against the Hatch amendment was Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who elicited testimony from committee staff that states which now use their own dollars to fund abortions in the Medicaid program are able to successfully segregate those funds from federal Medicaid funding that cannot be used for abortions.
Please thank the Senators who voted against the outrageous Hatch abortion ban! They include Baucus, Bingaman, Menendez, Cantwell, Snowe, Stabenow, Nelson, Schumer, Rockefeller.
A few minutes later, another proposal by Senator Hatch to insert a new “conscience” or refusal clause was also defeated by 13 to 10!
The truth about the public plan
September 29th, 2009 by janeyPlease view and share these videos. And let your senators know that Baucus’s unfunded mandate is unacceptable. The Baucus bill is bad for just about everyone, and great for health insurance companies.
Oppose Rockefeller’s Ban on Abortion in Public Plan!
September 22nd, 2009 by janeyUnfortunately, in an otherwise well-intended effort to get a public plan option back in health reform, West Virginia Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller filed an amendment (#C6) that includes a ban on coverage of abortions (except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the woman) in the public plan.
This provision would go well beyond the current federal bans on use of federal funding for abortions, because it would mean that even women trying to purchase public- sponsored health insurance with their own money would be barred from having abortion coverage!
Remember, the public plan is simply a government-sponsored insurance option, which people could choose to select as their health insurance and pay for with their own premium dollars. Because it is likely to be cheaper than private insurance being offered through the proposed health insurance exchange, women may want to buy this public insurance. Any public subsidies women might use to supplement their private premium dollars in purchasing public or private health insurance through the exchange already would have a “no-abortion” condition attached to it, under the Baucus plan. Like the Capps amendment (attached to health reform in the House Energy and Commerce Committee reform bill), the Baucus plan would segregate public subsidy funds from private premium dollars to avoid having public money pay for abortions.
We Need Your Help!
Tell Senator Rockefeller and other members of the Senate Finance Committee to take the abortion ban out of any public plan option! Other anti-choice amendments that should be opposed include ones filed by Senator Orin Hatch (C10, C13 and C14) and Senator Michael Enzi (C13, C14, C15 and C21).
If your Senator is not a member of the Senate Finance Committee, ask him or her to contact Senator Rockefeller and the other senators on the Finance Committee to oppose the abortion ban and anti-choice amendments.
