NARAL Pro-Choice America's Keenan Explains Threat Of 'Stupak On Steroids'

One day after the House passed a bill (HR 2) that would repeal the federal health reform law (PL 111-148), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) "declared a far-reaching anti-choice bill (HR 3) to be one of his 'highest legislative priorities'," NARAL Pro-Choice AmericaPresident Nancy Keenan writes in an opinion piece on The Hill's "Congress Blog." The bill's main sponsor, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), said, "The fact that it is designated as H.R. 3 speaks volumes about priorities" (Keenan, "Congress Blog," The Hill, 1/25).

Keenan notes that the bill's "alleged purpose is to stop federal funding of abortion care under the new health care law, when in reality, the bill is an anti-choice attack that reaches far beyond public funding." She writes, "We call Smith's bill 'Stupak on Steroids' because it goes even further than former Rep. Bart Stupak's [D-Mich.] failed attempt to impose an abortion coverage ban on the new health system." HR 3 "is a very serious threat to women's access to abortion," Keenan says, because it "would force millions of American families to pay more taxes if their health plan covers abortion care, jeopardizing abortion coverage in the private market." She notes that 87% of insurance plans currently offer abortion coverage. Further, the bill would narrow exceptions to the ban on federal funding for abortion care under the Hyde Amendment and deny Medicaid coverage of abortion for survivors of statutory rape or incest, Keenan writes.

"Alarmingly, 'Stupak on Steroids' is just one of many anti-choice proposals on the horizon," Keenan says, noting that Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) has introduced legislation (HR 217) that "would dismantle Title X, the country's family-planning network, which provides basic health care services, including birth control and cancer screenings." She concludes, "Best we can tell, Boehner assigning Reps. Smith, Pence and other allies to advance these attacks on choice is the closest thing to a job this divisive agenda will produce" ("Congress Blog," The Hill, 1/25).

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Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/215135.php