To everyone who is up in arms about the increasingly remote possibility of “taxpayer subsidized” abortion in the public plan, think about this: Eighty-seven percent of existing private health insurance plans offer some abortion coverage. That means you’re already subsidizing other people’s abortions, through your employee contribution and co-pays. That’s how insurance works — we pool our money to socialize risk.

—Dana Goldstein

Dana Goldstein, a former associate editor and writer at the Prospect, comes from a family of public-school educators. She received the Spencer Fellowship in Education Journalism, a Schwarz Fellowship at the New America Foundation, and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellowship at the Nation Institute. Her journalism is regularly featured in Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Beast, and other publications, and she is a staff writer at the Marshall Project.