How Does Effect Of Abortion Restrictions In Health Bill May Be Less Than Advocates Fear?
Despite widespread debate, abortion restrictions in the House health reform bill could affect only a small number of women. Meanwhile, Catholic bishops weigh into the debate and abortion rights group plan a rally to contest the restrictions. The Wall Street Journal reports that the restrictions were included “to ensure that no taxpayer dollars fund abortion. To that end, the government-run public insurance plan set up by the House bill wouldn’t cover abortion, except in the rare cases of rape or incest, or when the pregnancy endangers the woman’s life. Individuals getting federal subsidies to buy insurance on a new health-care exchange — a potentially large group, reaching from the working poor well into the middle class — also would be barred from buying policies that cover abortion, unless they do so with their own money. Supporters of legal abortion fear that insurers will stop offering abortion coverage for all their customers to streamline their plans, meaning millions of women
Despite widespread debate, abortion restrictions in the House health reform bill could affect only a small number of women. Meanwhile, Catholic bishops weigh into the debate and abortion rights group plan a rally to contest the restrictions. The Wall Street Journal reports that the restrictions were included “to ensure that no taxpayer dollars fund abortion. To that end, the government-run public insurance plan set up by the House bill wouldn’t cover abortion, except in the rare cases of rape or incest, or when the pregnancy endangers the woman’s life. Individuals getting federal subsidies to buy insurance on a new health-care exchange — a potentially large group, reaching from the working poor well into the middle class — also would be barred from buying policies that cover abortion, unless they do so with their own money. Supporters of legal abortion fear that insurers will stop offering abortion coverage for all their customers to streamline their plans, meaning millions of women
