I don’t know the current state of the law, but most people who get their medical care through a government run program are either too old or too young to be of reproductive age. I’m guessing that’s why you don’t hear Republicans foaming at the mouth about Medicaid or SCHIP or Medicare providing funding for abortions. But a public plan for all Americans is apparently another story:
The Senate Finance Committee (SFC), in an effort to make health care into a bi-partisan effort, is considering a restriction on abortion funding with the passage of health care reform. This could mean not allowing a public health insurance plan to cover the cost of abortions for women. It is still unclear under what circumstances this provision would apply, but we want to make sure that you all are aware of what’s going on in the SFC!
The GOP gets a lot of mileage out of the argument that people shouldn’t be forced to indirectly finance a medical procedure that they consider immoral. Here’s hoping that sixty members in the Senate can overcome that argument, because a public health care plan should cover all medical procedures that a woman might need.
Update [2009-7-7 17:11:7 by BooMan]: Here’s the facts about Medicaid and abortion.
so fucking stupid and something we can’t compromise on. Abortion is a legal medical procedure, and unless/until it becomes illegal it should not be left to the whims of the moral pontificators.
What about vasectomies? Hysterectomies? Tubal ligation? All of these things fuck around with one’s fertility, which of course belongs to God.
Why don’t they just call it the public plan for men, and the second-class-citizen plan for women?
I’m still thinking that anything that does get passed will be useless to anyone except the insurance companies.
I was surprised to learn this:
That’s a lot of people getting reamed by the Hyde Amendment. On the other hand, it should be no surprise to see them looking to extend the Hyde Amendment to the public option.
this is a poison pill, pure and simple. the committee slips in an abortion ban into the public plan. then the health reform bill becomes “anti-choice”, which creates pressure on the most progressive members of the senate to oppose the plan–the very same members who would otherwise be the plan’s chief advocates.
it’s not really about abortion. this is about kneecapping meaningful reform.
I consider war and occupation to be just about the most immoral things on earth, and I am forced to finance those. If those who consider abortion immoral should not be forced to finance it, then I whould not be forced to finance wars and occupations.
I’ve been saying the same thing for years. If the wingers can pick and choose what they want to fund, so should I.