Finding a Common Ground: Abortions and Health Care Reform

The contentious health care reform debate has intensified over the past few months, and, as it has ensued, the issue of abortions under federally subsidized medical insurance plans has emerged.  When discussions about health care reform arose last spring, many anti-choice and pro-choice advocates contemplated staying out of the fray and relying on the notion that the reforms would be abortion neutral; this meant that both sides would not endeavor to change the legal status quo regarding federal financing of abortions. However, this did not play out too well. Instead, the struggle over reproductive rights has fully entered the health care debate.

Recent surveys suggest that support for abortion rights has fallen sharply in the past year, with Americans split roughly 50-50 between those who support legal access to abortion and those who oppose it. For years, supporters of abortion rights have outnumbered their opponents, but this recent shift in public opinion has made the issue of abortion in the health care debate even more difficult to resolve. To recap: the current abortion policy denies the use of federal dollars to pay for abortions (except in the case of pregnancies that result from rape, incest, or endanger the mother’s health). Opponents of abortion rights want to apply similar restrictions to the pending health care reform bill, particularly the provisions that will provide federal subsidies to low and middle-income Americans to buy coverage in the proposed new health insurance exchanges.

Last Wednesday, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah proposed two amendments to broaden current restrictions on federal funding for abortions. The first amendment stated explicitly that the current ban on federal funding for abortions should apply to all aspects of health insurance in the pending bill. The second amendment sought to prohibit government funding for abortions to hospitals and other health care providers. Pro-choice advocacy groups spoke out against the amendments, claiming they would amount to new restrictions on abortion rights in which women with private health insurance would have to purchase supplemental coverage for abortions. Fortunately, these amendments were defeated by a Senate committee with a 13-10 vote.

Although this was one victory for pro-choice advocates, it still does not change the fact that many members in both chambers of Congress are adamantly seeking to prohibit millions of Americans from receiving plans that would cover the cost of an abortion. As the issue unravels and the political jargon filters its way into the debate, we have to ask ourselves: Is there a common ground when it comes to politicians deciding what’s best for a woman facing a very personal decision?

While health care reform is a very complicated matter, it gets even more complicated when placed in the hands of politicians. The reform of health care is not merely another piece of legislation waiting to be passed. It's not just about the pros and cons and the yeas and nays. Health care is about (or should be about) the well being of the American populace. The consensus among pro-choice advocates is that abortion should be treated no differently than any other medical procedure to which all Americans have a legal right. Moreover, if abortion is legal in the U.S. (which it is) it should not only be addressed in discussions of health care reform, but should be a significant factor in the reform as well.

Amy Minor is an advocacy intern at Campus Progress.

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