10 reasons abortion must be covered

[babylonsister]

10 reasons abortion must be covered
Opponents of choice would have you believe it's a complicated issue. It's not
By Lynn Harris


Abortion should be covered by health insurance. We say this, we sense this, we assume this. We insist that abortion is simply a medical procedure -- and that it, therefore, merits coverage. (By "we," I mean you people over there in the choir loft. You people humming Dies Irae.) As we watch the healthcare debate go on/devolve/offer sudden, faint hope, we see an appalling, though unsurprising, level of specious posturing about the matter of abortion coverage, most of which amounts to calculated opportunism by, as Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards told Broadsheet, "some very hard-line anti-choice individuals who would like to overturn Roe have been unsuccessful and therefore are using healthcare reform as an opportunity to relitigate the legal right to abortion in the United States." And in the push against insurance coverage for abortion -- that is, the push to remove coverage that already exists -- opponents of abortion are exploiting what is for some people a very real, gut-level (if deeply misinformed) hesitation: I guess abortion should be legal, but should we "sanction" it by "paying" for it? Isn't it, like, "elective"? Can we really say that abortion is "just" a medical procedure?

The answers are: yes; technically yes but that's a red herring; and yes. Yes. "There should simply be no question that abortion must be covered, as should other reproductive healthcare -- according to the judgment of the patient and clinician," Gloria Feldt told Broadsheet. Yet like it or not, for right reasons or wrong, there is a question. So since a large part of the debate hinges on the above concerns, and since many of the people we elected in large part for their pro-reproductive rights stance are blowing it big-time, we thought it would be useful to -- with the help of some luminaries in the field -- go over the why, the concrete, on-the-ground, real-life WHY of why abortion care must be covered. After all, a recent survey by the National Women's Law Center revealed this: After hearing strong arguments both for and against covering abortion under reform, two-thirds (66 percent) support coverage, agreeing that healthcare, not politics, should drive coverage decisions. And this time, from a policy standpoint, we're dealing not with annual spending bills, but with permanent law; as Julie Rovner noted on NPR, both sides are "playing for keeps." So here goes.

1. Abortion is legal medical care. "Abortion is a legal right, and it takes medical care to exercise that right," says Judy Waxman, vice-president of health and reproductive rights at the National Women's Law Center. (For their healthcare reform campaign, click here.) The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also chimes in here (PDF).

2. Abortion is common, mainstream medical care. It is one of the most common surgical procedures in America.

3. Abortion is already broadly covered. Between 50 and 85 percent of women who have private insurance, including employer-sponsored plans, have coverage for abortion care.

4. Covering abortion does not raise the abortion rate. As Gloria Feldt points out, "Countries like France, Germany and the Netherlands routinely cover abortion in their national health plans, and have some of the lowest abortion rates in the world."

5. Covering abortion makes abortion safer. Out of pocket, abortion can be expensive, all the more so as the pregnancy progresses. Yet women who take time to "save up" only wind up paying more -- and taking more risk. Feldt: "When abortion is covered, women who choose abortion do so earlier in their pregnancy, and with less risk to their health." Seventy-five thousand women die each year worldwide -- and many times that suffer lifelong disability -- due to unsafe abortions, usually obtained where abortion is illegal or highly restricted. "These are public health issues that also have economic ramifications beyond the cost of abortion," says Jodi Jacobson, senior political editor of RH Reality Check.

more...

http://www.salon.com/news/abortion/index.html?story=/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/10/28/why_abortion_must_be_covered

[polichick]

1. "Countries like France, Germany and the Netherlands...

...routinely cover abortion in their national health plans, and have some of the lowest abortion rates in the world.

How wonderful it must be to live in a country that is not flooded with right-wing religious zealots.

Democrats should be making these arguments instead of pandering to these throwbacks.

[comtec]

2. That would be wonderful, let me know if you can find one

because I can tell you that is sooo N O T the case here in The Netherlands!

RW hatred, thy name is wilders.

the asshole was interviewed in religiousosity, and let me tell you mahr is a fucking moron for doing so!
i generally like him, and i liked the point of the film over all but he totally missed the boat talking to wilders.

[polichick]

4. Apparently your right-wing religious zealots aren't powerful enough...

...to keep people from getting decent healthcare ~ that's one up on us!

[comtec]

7. actually all that happened in the 60's and 70's

what we have is left overs ... trust me, if they completely got their way...

[barbiegeek]

3. ADD IT LATER!! DON'T SINK HC REFORM CUZ OF ABORTION

4,500 die a year cuz of HC insurance, DO NOT let it continue because of an abortion debate. Let it ALONE

[babylonsister]

5. Abortion is legal; there is no debate, except in some wobbly minds. But

I do agree that this shouldn't be 'the' issue right now. Let's get HCR done.

[Sirveri]

6. Hyde Ammendment.

I agree, just saying, until that goes out the window it's really pointless to discuss. I'd rather not have any language in any HCR bill talk about abortion at all, so when Hyde gets repealed we don't have to fight the legislative process.

[niyad]

8. can't rec--will kick, and thank you for posting this.

I am so damned sick of hearing the screaming about covering abortions-- and hearing obama talk about how it wouldn't be funded, caving in to the reichwing fundies. shameful.

when are women and their health care needs going to be taken seriously in this country?