Let’s Make a Deal: Women’s Health, for Your Vote
A Congressional staffer recently reprimanded me for suggesting that Democrats might be in the business of compromise despite their solid majority in the House. “Show me,” she demanded, “how have we compromised?” Well, for starters, Democrats have continuously turned their back on their largest voting block—women—by repeatedly holding out access to abortion as a sacrificial lamb. Case in point: the Stupak Amendment Dems offered last night to pave the way for passage of the House’s health care reform bill.
The Amendment, which passed 240-194, not only bars a public option plan from providing abortions, but prohibits individuals from using government subsidies to purchase a plan that provides abortions. Those familiar with current restrictions on federal funding for abortion might think this amendment just preserves the status quo. They’re wrong. Most available healthcare plans currently provide coverage for abortions. The Amendment has the potential to push such plans out of the market—or at least to unaffordable levels—by prohibiting their purchase with federal subsidies.
It seems paradoxical that a reform effort aimed at increasing access to affordable, quality health services could exclude access to comprehensive reproductive health care. It’s more than a little bittersweet that clearing the first hurdle in the race toward national healthcare reform has come at the expense of women’s health. It’s even harder to stomach that our nation’s pro-choice champions manufactured the deal.
Lauren R. S. Mendonsa