Here's an interesting argument from Double X: Assuming that a Stupak-style amendment isn't included in the final health-care reform bill, it could end up increasing access to abortion for low-income women across the country.
It works out that when the bill's Medicaid expansions go into effect, they'll cover women in 13 states -- including biggies like California, New Jersey and Massachusetts -- where Medicaid is legally obligated to cover abortions. This would expand abortion access to roughly 3 million women who might not have been able to afford it before. (This doesn't violate the Hyde amendment because the programs are jointly administered by the state and federal governments.) At first glance, the argument makes sense, and it's the first bit of good news about the bill -- and about the bill's treatment of women's health -- that I've heard in a while.
-- Tim Fernholz
