In the final push for a health-care bill, Democratic leaders in the House are working behind the scenes with anti-abortion members to try to get them to drop their opposition to the Senate bill's language on abortion, the Washington Post reports. The Senate bill adopted language from Sen. Ben Nelson that would only allow clients in the exchanges to get abortion coverage through a special rider paid for separately, in order to prevent federal dollars from paying for abortion. Many fear this provision would prevent the plans in the exchanges from offering abortion coverage at all. Despite the fact that this is about the only medical procedure Americans can prevent their federal tax dollars from funding, preserving the status quo seems the only real way forward.
Bart Stupak and his ilk, of course, don't think it goes far enough. The National Right to Life Committee already thinks a direct appropriation of $7 million to Community Health Centers will go to fund abortion. It's his crew Nancy Pelosi is working to convince, but it's hard to see what their incentive is for backing down.
While this ridiculous fight continues, there is not a push for the bills to require health insurance plans to cover commonly used forms of birth control and help prevent unwanted pregnancies. There's no acknowledgment that, since women of childbearing age spend more on health care than men, helping motherhood be more affordable might mitigate the need for abortions. And there's no concern for women's health overall, since about 4,000 women still die each year from cervical cancer, a cancer that is almost entirely preventable as long as women have regular gynecological care. So, it's good to know anti-abortion advocates have their priorities straight.
-- Monica Potts
