RNC Planning Immediate Review of Its Abortion Coverage

[cal04]

Source: ABC News

Ken McKay, the chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, has prepared a memo to all 168 members of the RNC informing them that party chairman Michael Steele has called for the party's 27-member executive committee to conduct an immediate review of the elective abortion coverage contained in the RNC’s health insurance policy.

“I can assure you that the Chairman takes this issue very seriously,” writes McKay.

Cigna offers its customers the opportunity to opt out of abortion coverage but the RNC chose not to opt out in 1991. The RNC’s current leadership says that it was not previously aware of the abortion coverage under its Cigna plan until a Politico reporter contacted the press office on Wednesday.

Even though the decision to include an abortion service was made 18 years before Steele took the party reins, the abortion issue is a politically sensitive one for him because although he describes himself as pro-life, he parts with some fellow Republicans by believing that the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision upholding a federal right to abortion should be left in place under the principle of stare decisis.

Read more: http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/11/rnc-planning-i...

[cliffordu]

1. Why do I think this is going to be extremely funny for a little while???

Can't make this shit up.

[Kber]

3. Because when it's their wives or daughters at risk, well - that's different, isn't it?

[cliffordu]

13. If it isn't, they do not have souls.

I doubt they do, anyway.

[WolverineDG]

2. So, for 18 years, no one at the RNC actually read their insurance plan?

Oh dear.

I don't know whether to or .

dg

[Kber]

4. No one except those who needed (or their dependents needed) an abortion

and presumably were more than willing to let the RNC policy pay for it.

[WolverineDG]

5. But I thought they were all against it

SURELY they would have said SOMETHING....oh wait, I get it...it's okay for THEM to get abortions, but not anyone else.

dg

[slackmaster]

26. I admit I haven't read every word of mine

Have you?

[mac56]

28. No, probably not.

But I'm not trying to deny coverage to anyone else, either.

[WolverineDG]

29. No but I'm not trying to take people's civil rights away nt

[lunasun]

6. What hypocrisy!!

Pro=lifer party having insurance aided abortions, that is. Med files are private.

Put your womb where you mouth is or something like that!

[WolverineDG]

7. That scurrying sound you hear is the RCC going through its insurance documents

I'm gonna go to hell for this, but OH how I hope the RCC has abortion coverage too.

dg

[Chan790]

9. I know we did on the student plan...

when I was an undergraduate at Catholic University in the early 2000's. Beyond that, I have no idea. It'd be par for the course though to find out the the employee health plan for USCCB or JP2C (both literally across the street from campus) do cover it.

[eleny]

8. Yeah, now that they've been found out

Like they didn't know. Spare me.

kr

[defendandprotect]

10. And what about Congress' coverage . . . whattayathink?

What about the DNC?

[waiting for hope]

11. Just shows you how incompetent they are -

they have had months to come up with an alternative and this is the best they can do? Probably no one read the fine print - reminds me of this:


Boehner holding GOP budget ..

[populistdriven]

12. Please DIGG this!

http://digg.com/politics/RNC_Planning_Immediate_Review_...

[onehandle]

14. How many abortions did their families have?

Among what must be thousands of people over 18 years?

How many?

[truthisfreedom]

16. HOW MANY SECRET REPUBLICAN ABORTIONS WERE PAID FOR WITH US TAXPAYER DOLLARS?

That's the way to word it.

[cal04]

15. GOP chairman ends abortion insurance for employees

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091113/ap_on_re_us/us_repu...

A chagrined GOP Chairman Michael Steele has told Republican National Committee staff to immediately stop providing RNC employees with insurance for elective abortions — an option that Republicans strongly oppose as Democrats try to pass a health care overhaul bill.

"Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose," Steele said in a statement late Thursday after learning of the abortion coverage from a news report. "I don't know why this policy existed in the past, but it will not exist under my administration. Consider this issue settled."

Steele instructed staff to inform the insurance carrier that the RNC wanted to opt out of elective abortion coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said. She said the policy has been in effect since 1991.

A memo earlier from RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay to the organization's members said Steele was taking the matter very seriously and "has been engaged by phone on this issue."

[BadgerKid]

17. Oooh, buuuuurrned!

The hypocrisy is to be expected, but this also shows why "opt out" clauses are bad.

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Well, this should prove interesting.

This probably isn't true of a lot of other states but I know in California, most Republican women (hypo-Christians notwithstanding) are pro-choice. There could very well be a significant backlash here and not from us. Hmmmmm.

[Renew Deal]

19. Why do they need to opt out? A republican would never have a abortion.

[maxrandb]

20. When does something become so much of a political issue

that privacy laws need to get thrown out the window?

I'm not asking for names, addresses or phone numbers, but CONSIDERING THE LIMBAUGHLICAN PARTY'S POSITION ON ABORTION, I would just like to have the TOTAL NUMBER OF ABORTIONS THAT THE RNC INSURANCE COVERAGE PAID FOR

I think it is extremely relevant to today's health care debate...don't you?

Dems should hammer this little nugget everytime they are within 100 yards of a microphone...HOW MANY ABORTIONS DID THE RNC INSURANCE PAY FOR???

[mac56]

21. Once again I say

Republicans are less troubled by hypocrisy than normal people are.

[mac56]

22. "The RNC’s current leadership says that it was not previously aware of the abortion coverage"

Bullshit.

[maxrandb]

23. They were for it, before they were against it! n/t

[justiceischeap]

24. I'll got out on a limb and state that not all REPUGS are against abortion...secretly

I'm sure there are some that took advantage of this portion of their policy. I'm sure, some will be upset about the RNC trying to tell them what to do. Isn't that one of those things Repugs like to rail on? Big government telling them what to do? Hmmm, hypocritical much?

[mac56]

25. ding ding ding we have a winnah!

"Isn't that one of those things Repugs like to rail on? Big government telling them what to do?"

Yeah, they don't like big government telling THEM what to do. They don't have any trouble with telling the rest of us.

[slackmaster]

27. That's correct - Until recently my mom was a life-long GOPer

She's always been pro-choice because she remembers very well what things were like before Roe v. Wade.