Click here to let us know you’re coming to our first event! PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!
When: November 18, 2009 from 3:30-5:3o PM
Where: the Pit (T-stop in the center of Harvard Square, on the Red Line)
Why: Because you’re angry and reproductive healthcare IS healthcare
What can you do, you ask? There are a couple of things you can do right now, from the comfort of your own home:
1) Call your senator and express your opposition to the amendment. Tell him or her you don’t want anything like the Stupak Amendment in the Senate version of the health care bill. The number of the Senate switchboard is: (202)-224-3121 (ask for your senator). You can reach Speaker Pelosi at (202) 225-0110 and Majority Leader Reid at (202)224-3542. Please call. The more pressure they get from constituents, the better. Ask your friends to call.
It is especially important you call if you are from the following states: Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Dakota, Nevada, Missouri, Maine, Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia, and Nebraska. It is crucial that these senators hear that their constituents want to preserve reproductive rights for women. Tell your friends and family!
2) Sign some petitions! Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and CREDO all have petitions going. We’d like to present the Senate with as many signatures as possible in support of reproductive rights!
Stay tuned: we’ll be posting additional ways you can contribute and scheduled events in support of reproductive freedom. Don’t let anti-choice Republicans OR Democrats roll back women’s rights!
What Is It
The Stupak-Pitts Amendment (widely referred to as simply the Stupak Amendment) was included at the last minute in the House’s Health Care bill. This amendment effectively bans abortion coverage in all plans, both public and private, in the new insurance exchange. No plans in the exchange may cover abortion under this amendment.
What It Does
Proponents of this amendment claim that it simply enforces the Hyde Amendment (which is already on the books and prohibits federal funds from being used to subsidize abortion). In reality, however, the Stupak Amendment goes further. It would effectively ban abortion coverage for both women on public plans AND women who buy private plans through the exchange. Not only would women receiving a federal subsidy not be able to get abortion coverage, but women who are paying their entire premium out of pocket (that is, not receiving federal subsidies) would be denied coverage. It is a ban on coverage. It would restrict coverage for women who currently have coverage through their private insurance plans.
Why It Needs To Go
The Stupak Amendment bans abortion coverage completely within the exchange. Its purpose is not to maintain the status quo of abortion coverage, but rather to deny abortion services to millions of women, whether they are receiving federal subsidies or not. It would prevent women from paying for abortion coverage out of pocket. This amendment represents a severe restriction on women’s reproductive rights and as such cannot be allowed into the final bill.
The House of Representatives recently passed their version of the health care reform bill. In order to understand the effect the Stupak Amendment has on abortion rights, it is important to understand the House’s version of reform.
The House’s Health Care bill would create an “exchange”: the exchange is basically a marketplace where health insurance policies, both public and private, can be sold. The purpose of the exchange is to provide affordable health coverage to the majority of currently uninsured Americans (36 of the 46 million uninsured Americans would be eligible for federal subsidies) as well as the millions of Americans who are self-employed or have small businesses with 100 or fewer employees. Individuals with incomes up to 400x the federal poverty level (roughly $88,000/year for a family of four) would be eligible for subsidies on a sliding scale that would go towards private plans. Those making more than $88,000/year would not be eligible for subsidies. Because of the Stupak Amendment, all women who fall into these categories are in danger of losing coverage for abortion that they have in their current private insurance plans, since 80% of private plans cover abortion.
The next step is for the Senate to pass their version of the bill. Once the Senate version has passed, the two bills will go into the conference process, where the differences between the two will be resolved. The final version of the bill will then be voted on by both the House and the Senate. So, the bill has a long way to go and there are going to be many opportunities to change its contents.
