Love + Sex
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
What You Need to Know About the Stupak Amendment
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There's been a lot of self-congratulatory back-patting
around the House's passing of the Health Reform Bill
this past Saturday -- but if you ask us, it's come at a
huge price. The Democratic Congress pretty much abandoned
women's reproductive rights by including the last-minute
Stupak-Pitts Amendment to appease some religio-conservative members
of Congress, including several male conservative Dems. Don't be
fooled: it's not just simply ensuring that there will be no
federal funding for abortion care (which was already in
the bill) -- it goes much further. According to Reproductive Health Reality Check:
- It effectively bans coverage for most abortions from all public
and private health plans in the Exchange (i.e. the reformed health
insurance market).
- It includes only extremely narrow exceptions (rape, incest) and
excludes cases where the health but not the life of the woman is
threatened by the pregnancy, where there are severe fetal
abnormalities, etc.
- It allows for a ridiculous and useless abortion rider, which
means women would have to buy stand-alone coverage for a
completely unexpected event (who plans to have an
abortion?!).
- It allows for discrimination against abortion providers.
Abortion is a safe and legal medical procedure
that's currently covered by 87 percent of employer plans and
that one in three women will go through in their lifetime. This
bill, passed with pressure from the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops (hello, separation of church and state?), will
unfairly take away this necessary coverage and financially penalize
women. We should be able to get health reform with a public option
without throwing women under the bus -- and we can do this
if we speak up. We, Em & Lo, are asking people to call on
Senate Leader Harry Reid to stop this abortion-care
ban.
For a lot more important information on how dangerous and
destructive this amendment is, check out these resources:
MORE FROM
EM & LO:
photo by cliff1066™
Related: sex, reproductive rights, reproduction, religion, politics, health reform, health, emandlo.com, em and lo, em & lo, advice, abortion
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Posted by shoaib Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:13pm PST
hy do u like friendship me join us
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Posted by Theresa Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:18pm PST
First of all, I don't beleive abortion should be legal except in the extreme cases you mentioned. Life does begin at conception and it is the duty of the government to protect our lives. When a woman gets pregnant she forefits the right to do anything to her body that would harm the child, since she's responsible for their life. Humans GROW with HUMAN DNA from the time they are concieved, so abortion is murder. The government is simply doing everything in their power to save lives with that addition to the health care bill.
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Posted by AnotherREPUBLICRAT Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:28pm PST
I am a typical pro-lifer. I understand both sides and empathize with the women who unfortunately end up pregnant. I feel however that the time to prevent pregnancy is before sex not after. If you tried to prevent before and the measure failed then I feel for you but do not believe in terminating a new person's life because of it. That is the gist of the debate and it all stems from upbringing. I was brought up to respect the life of everyone and that the only exceptions to taking a life are in self-defense where someone is going to die and the death penalty for a person who has aggregiously extinguished someone else's. I am only talking about personal responsibility not social responsibilty. That is reason enough for me to fight against a funding for abortion in an insurance policy.
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Posted by AlexandraF Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:36pm PST
If abortion is murder then miscarriage would be considered involuntary manslaughter. Just saying.
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Posted by Cindy Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:03pm PST
I'm pro-choice and I know most women don't get pregnant with the intention of getting an abortion, but I don't think abortion should be covered. People need to be responsible and do everything they can to not get pregnant in the first place if they don't want a baby. If people aren't careful then they should have to pay for it and hopefully they won't do it again. I don't want anyone to treat abortion casually as if because it is covered you don't have to be as careful.
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Posted by PennyK Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:14pm PST
I have to wonder what is worse: a womans choice to choose being revoked and therefore forcing her to give birth, or a child being born into a situation in which they were not expected; and therefore have the potential to lead a life of neglect and recieve less love/attention than they deserve.
I agree that you should prevent unwanted pregnancies beforehand, but it doesn't always work out that way. If abortions become basically outlawed and these women choose to turn their unwanted offspring over to adoption, think about how many children will lead unstable and confusing lives in the welfare system. This is not even considering the financial drain that would ensue to care for all these children from taxpayer dollars. And don't even try to tell me abortion care from tax dollars now exceed what the cost would be to care for all these children from birth to age 18..Just saying.
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Posted by Jaime Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:16pm PST
I tend to take the pro-life stance with regards to babies being "human" at the time of conception. I think what outranges me the most and what the Insurance Rider is meant to do it to make sure that “Federal Dollars” (i.e. tax monies) are not used to fund abortions. I believe that ending a life is totally wrong, but it is also a personal decision. If someone wants to end their pregnancy and kill their unborn child, they are the ones who have to live with the consequences of their choices. I also think that if someone makes that choice, they alone should have to pay for it. I don’t want my tax dollars going to pay for it! This is not about denying abortion at all, it is about who is responsible for paying for it. I for one, think that the person making the choice to end a life should have to pay for that decision. The government should not have to force those who disagree with abortion to pay for it (which is what would happen if abortion coverage was included in the Health Care Reform Bill).
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Posted by M.J Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:47pm PST
its called adoption, and yes, its a much better option.
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Posted by Ellen Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:05pm PST
"abortion is a safe and legal medical procedure..." This 'safe' procedure kills hundreds if not thousands of women every year from complications, infections, and uncontrolled bleeding. There is also studies that prove that it can affect a woman's fertility and increases the risk of a miscarrage in future pregnancies. I am glad that this bill will help make this "safe and legal medical procedure" less acessible to scared women who think this is the only choice they have. Its wonderful that the goverment is finally doing something :D
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