I know a feminist's work is never done, but once in a while, we should stop to celebrate our victories.
Published on RHRealityCheck.org (http://www.rhrealitycheck.org)
Anti-Choice Amendments Fail in Senate HELP Committee
By Emily Douglas
Created Jul 13 2009 - 4:18pm
Chalk up a second win for women's health on the road to health care reform: today, the Senate HELP Committee defeated a handful of anti-choice amendments to the Affordable Health Choices Act, its version of health care reform legislation (the first win, remember, was passage of a Sen. Barbara Mikulski-sponsored amendment to increase access to basic preventive care for women, including cancer screenings and contraceptives, and prohibit the practice of gender-rating among insurers).
Senators Hatch (R-UT), Ensign (R-NV) and Coburn (R-OK) were behind the anti-choice amendments, which were intended to hamper women's access to comprehensive health care in any number of ways. They would have prohibited any public funding of abortion including through private plans made available through a health insurance exchange; would have expanded provider refusal clauses (we've been through that fight before [1]); and would have pre-emptively stated that the bill, if passed in final form, would not supercede existing state laws, such as parental notification statutes, restricting access to abortion care.
Each amendment failed along a nearly-straight party line vote, with Sen. Robert Casey of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to vote for the amendments.
This may not be the last we see of amendments like these, however -- the Senate Finance Committee will soon mark up its own version of health care reform, and the tri-Committee House bill is another avenue through which anti-choice amendments could be trotted out.
Posted by,
Jerin Alam
National NOW Young Feminist Task Force
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Published on RHRealityCheck.org (http://www.rhrealitycheck.org)
Anti-Choice Amendments Fail in Senate HELP Committee
By Emily Douglas
Created Jul 13 2009 - 4:18pm
Chalk up a second win for women's health on the road to health care reform: today, the Senate HELP Committee defeated a handful of anti-choice amendments to the Affordable Health Choices Act, its version of health care reform legislation (the first win, remember, was passage of a Sen. Barbara Mikulski-sponsored amendment to increase access to basic preventive care for women, including cancer screenings and contraceptives, and prohibit the practice of gender-rating among insurers).
Senators Hatch (R-UT), Ensign (R-NV) and Coburn (R-OK) were behind the anti-choice amendments, which were intended to hamper women's access to comprehensive health care in any number of ways. They would have prohibited any public funding of abortion including through private plans made available through a health insurance exchange; would have expanded provider refusal clauses (we've been through that fight before [1]); and would have pre-emptively stated that the bill, if passed in final form, would not supercede existing state laws, such as parental notification statutes, restricting access to abortion care.
Each amendment failed along a nearly-straight party line vote, with Sen. Robert Casey of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to vote for the amendments.
This may not be the last we see of amendments like these, however -- the Senate Finance Committee will soon mark up its own version of health care reform, and the tri-Committee House bill is another avenue through which anti-choice amendments could be trotted out.
Posted by,
Jerin Alam
National NOW Young Feminist Task Force
National Organization for Women (NOW)
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