Thursday, November 12, 2009

Insurance Coverage For Abortion: IOKIYAR!

POLITICO.com:

Leading up to passage of the House health care reform bill last week, 176 House Republicans joined 64 Democrats in voting for the so-called Stupak amendment, a measure that prohibits federal funds from being used to buy health insurance that covers elective abortions.

But the Republican National Committee’s health insurance plan covers elective abortion – a procedure the party’s own platform calls “a fundamental assault on innocent human life."

Informed of the coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho told POLITICO that the policy pre-dates the tenure of current RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

The current policy has been in effect since 1991, and we are taking steps to address the issue,” Gitcho said.


Wonder if the Blue Dog Dems who voted for Stupak have coverage for elective abortions in their goverment sponsored health care policies as well?

The mantra of the opponents of Health Care Reform: "coverage for me, but not for thee."

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Nope, the lawmakers don't have abortion coverage in their own health plans. You see, they get their insurance through the same program that provides health insurance to Federal employees and you can be assured that Congress took that (abortion coverage) away decades ago. As long as they get to screw over other people, they don't seem to care if they too pay a price.

JD Rhoades said...

Susan, the plan referenced isn't the Federal one, it's the one covering the Republican National Committee's employees.

Unknown said...

I know. (And I'm appalled but not surprised by pretty much everything the RNC does.)

I was answering this question --
Wonder if the Blue Dog Dems who voted for Stupak have coverage for elective abortions in their goverment sponsored health care policies as well?

Beth said...

I'm really confused by this - not your blog- but the idea of "elective" coverage. We have fairly good health insurance but no medical procedures are covered if they are elective, not deemed "necessary." Is the Stupak amendment directed at just abortion or at elected procedures in general? Thanks for blogging about this, I hadn't read about it prior...

Charlieopera said...

I, too, am confused, JD. Are you upset the RNC bought a more progressive policy than the Dems or that the Dems are more Republican than the Republicans?

IOKIYAD?

Dana King said...

I think every reporter who interviews a politician who's against health insurance reform should ask if they think everyone should be allowed to get the same coverage that elected representative has available to him or her. That might change the perceptions of the voters back home on quite a few of them.

LongHairedWeirdo said...

Beth, the complicated thing about abortion is that every pregnancy is a huge burden, and contains real risks to long term health (and a not-insignificant risk of death). So, if a woman does not voluntarily choose to carry those burdens, and accepts those risks, is an abortion "elective"? It's avoiding a lot of physical pains, and significant risks.

If I had a self-limiting condition that exposed me to the same burdens and risks, I wouldn't consider a surgical procedure to eliminate them "elective". If I *chose* to continue to bear that burden, and take those risks, that would be my choice, but I don't think that makes the choice to remove them to be an elective choice, like a nose job or getting liposuction.