Health-Care Reform and the Stupak Amendment
What is the Stupak Amendment? The Stupak Amendment is an anti-choice provision that has been included in the House's version of the health-care reform bill. Introduced and advocated for by Bart Stupak (D-MI), the Stupak Amendment is the most sweeping federal abortion restriction we have seen in a generation. The amendment makes it so that women who already have abortion coverage in their private insurance plans will lose that coverage, since the Stupak language prohibits all plans on the Exchange (even private ones) from offering abortion coverage. Functionally, this means that a woman cannot have an abortion as a covered procedure for any reason – even if she pays for it with her own money. This ban radically restricts the coverage that many women currently have, as 80-90% of private plans offer abortion coverage now. The Stupak Amendment only bans federal funds from being used for abortions, right? Wrong. For 33 years, the Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal tax dollars from being used for abortion care. Though Bart Stupak and his supporters often say that the Stupak Amendment simply extends the Hyde Amendment into the new health-care system, it actually goes far beyond the Hyde restrictions. On the Exchange, a woman could not purchase abortion coverage from a private company even with money out of her own pocket. Women can purchase a “rider” for abortion coverage – what's wrong with that? The abortion “rider” system is not a compromise, but rather, a cynical attempt to make the Stupak Amendment appear neutral and even-handed when it's not. Because women do not plan their unplanned pregnancies, abortion “riders” are useless. Research in states that provide “rider” policies shows that they are seldom used and oftentimes not even written by companies that claim to write them. Why should I have to pay for other people's abortions with my tax dollars? Abortion care is an integral part of comprehensive women's health care and should be considered “regular” health care in the new system. It should not be subjected to such extreme restrictions. Not one of us has the luxury of picking and choosing what our tax dollars go toward at the federal level. Regardless, no one's tax dollars will be used to pay for abortions while the Hyde Amendment remains in place, as it has since 1976. Even without the Stupak Amendment, the health-care bill has never contained a repeal of Hyde Amendment restrictions. Reform Process House bill passed with Stupak Amendment (11/7/09) -- Senate rejected similar Nelson-Hatch Amendment (12/8/09) -- Senate will vote on its version of the bill, now containing anti-choice language through Sen. Nelson's (D-NE) manager's amendment -- Conference committee will reconcile the two bills -- House and Senate will vote on reconciled bill -- President Obama has ten days to sign the bill.
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