babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Tighter Restrictions on Abortion Access Could Be Coming
Social conservatives gain ground in Congress
This weekend, The New York Times pointed out that the House of Representatives gained 45 opponents of abortion rights in the midterm elections this year — and that could have implications for women and family planning down the road.
According to the Times, the newly chosen chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, Republican Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, is as anti-choice as they come — he was the top pick of the National Right to Life Committee for the position. Now he has jurisdiction over private health insurance, Medicaid, much of Medicare, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health.
Gulp. Here’s what this could mean for access to abortion:
Rep. Pitts heads a Congressional group called the Values Action Team, made up of 70 social conservatives. Last year, he voted for a Republican proposal to cut off federal money for Planned Parenthood. He and the next speaker, John Boehner, get a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee and a 0 percent scorecard from Planned Parenthood.
Although we won’t see any sweeping changes to abortion rights while Obama is in office (given that Obama and many senators support the right to choose), Pitts and his crew are looking to make tighter restrictions on access to abortion in the meantime.
They’re starting with health care reform. The agenda is to enact a bill that would ban the use of federal subsidies “to pay for any abortion, or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion.”
Many private insurance plans currently provide some coverage for family planning, and this bill would cut off money to those plans (not just cut off money for the procedures themselves — as Obama already conceded to do — but for the whole plan entirely if it helps with family planning costs).
What’s your take? Is the tone in Washington going to be more hostile to reproductive health in the coming years?
Image: flickr/alexandralee
Go Back To Strollerderby
0 Comments
Lindsay Q. commented on Dec 13 10 at 2:01 pmI wonder if D&Cs are considered “abortions”. I know that it’s a procedure that’s rarely used for first-trimester abortions, but I’ve read that it’s also used sometimes in the event of a miscarriage. I know that most private insurance companies will pay for the procedure if you have a miscarriage, but I wonder if these new politicians will cut funding for medically necessary D & Cs since it can also be used for abortions?
Lula commented on Dec 13 10 at 7:03 pmD&C is a medical procedure that’s used to remove retained endometrial lining and placental tissue after childbirth or miscarriage. It’s also often done as the last step in an elective abortion procedure for the same reason – to make sure no tissue is left behind to cause infection/bleeding. Since it’s not an abortion procedure in and of itself, I don’t see how it could be restricted anymore than laminaria insertion or pitocin augmentation can be. Both of those can be used as part of 2nd and 3rd-trimester abortion procedures, but they’re also used for inducing labor in childbirth. I’d hope folks would be so stupid as to start restricting any OB/GYN procedure or tool that could possibly be used during the course of a pregnancy termination. That’d be disasterous to women’s health in general.
not a scientist but... commented on Dec 13 10 at 7:40 pmI keep telling myself it’s wrong to hate these people, but I’m so sick of conservatives telling me what to with my body and my family. Or for that matter, what my daughter will be able to do with her body and family when she grows up.
heatherturgeon commented on Dec 13 10 at 11:09 pmSo far it seems to just be related to abortion procedures themselves, but i agree, it’s a slippery slope. Don’t like the idea one bit.
Maman A Droit commented on Dec 14 10 at 12:26 amI’m glad. My taxpayer dollars and the $ I pay to my insurance plan shouldn’t be paying for others to murder their babies.
I’ve always been pro-life, but I just had a miscarriage & am feeling particularly unsympathetic to people who have no regard for human life.
At the very least, pay for it yourself-I don’t want your child’s blood on my hands. Or even better, realize how lucky you are and keep or adopt out your baby.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0