Between the Lines Q&A

A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
on national and international issues
under-reported in mainstream media
for release Jan. 4, 2010

Home | Broadcast-Quality MP3s | Archives | Search BTL Archives
About | Broadcast Schedule | | Squeaky Wheel Productions


Abortion Restrictions
in Health Care Reform Bills
Could Derail Passage

RealAudio MP3

Interview with Terry O'Neill,
president of the National Organization for Women

abortion

When the U.S. Senate passed their version of health care reform on Christmas Eve, President Obama and the Democratic Party leadership hailed the vote as historic, moving the nation closer to providing medical coverage to millions of Americans currently without health insurance. But as the House and Senate now prepare to negotiate a merger of their two bills into one for a final vote, many progressive health care activists are angry that the Senate legislation was considerably weakened by excluding a public government-run health insurance option and other reforms that were part of the House bill.

But another major obstacle to final passage of health care reform are provisions in both the House and Senate bills that restrict a woman's right to abortion. The Stupak - Pitts Amendment in the House bill prevents anyone who receives public subsidies from purchasing a health insurance plan that covers abortion. In the Senate, Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska tried, but failed to win support for the Stupak - Pitts language, but after threatening to join Republicans in a filibuster, Nelson succeeded in forcing inclusion of anti-abortion provisions.

Nelson's amendment allows states the option of prohibiting abortion coverage in exchange plans and mandates that insurance companies create two different systems if they provide women comprehensive coverage. Individuals who choose a health plan that includes abortion would be forced to write two separate checks, one for abortion care and one for everything else.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, who explains why many pro-choice groups like hers will oppose passage of any health care reform legislation that includes restrictions on women's rights.

TERRY O'NEILL: The so-called manager's amendment, the Reid-Nelson compromise, actually has different language than the Stupak-Pitts amendment which did pass in the House. The effective Stupak-Pitts amendment is to make it so onerous for insurance companies to provide for abortion coverage that ultimately there would be no market even for private insurance coverage for abortion, which is a real step back. Currently, 87 percent of private insurance companies do cover abortion care. And that's what passed in the House with the Stupak-Pitts amendment. The pro-choice organizations organized immediately, and were very vocal and lobbied the Senate very hard, and we defeated an attempt to put the Stupak-Pitts language into the Senate bill.

But after we won that battle, the manager's amendment came back and essentially has, in different language, the same effect as the Stupak-Pitts amendment. Under the manager's amendment that passed in the Senate, any exchange that provides abortion insurance, if you're in that exchange and you're in a plan in the exchange and the plan contains abortion coverage, you have to write two checks every month. You have to write one small check for the coverage of abortion care, and then a large check for everything else. And near as I can tell, reading the language, that applies whether you are male or female, whether you think you'll ever need to have that abortion or not. So, it's pretty clear that people will not write two checks, and therefore, they won't opt into any plan that covers abortion. So the exchanges are probably not even going to have abortion care coverage, and it's also true under the Senate plan and the manager's amendment that every state would be permitted to completely bar any exchange in that state from covering abortion services.

According to the George Washington University School of Public Health, the manager's amendment -- like the Stupak-Pitts amendment in the House -- both will ultimately have the same effect of shutting down any market for private insurance as well as publicly-supported insurance of abortion care. So it's a terrible blow to women and from the view of the National Organization for Women, the bill should be killed.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Is there a way around it? Do you have an alternative that could, if not satisfy both sides here, at least move this issue off the table as to not be destructive to women's rights here in this health care reform battle?

TERRY O'NEILL: Well, no. Understand that one of the sides here is the Catholic bishops and extremist ideologues like Bart Stupak and what they see is an opening where they can make abortion care unavailable to women across the board. This is their goal.

And by the way, the Catholic bishops are not stopping at abortion. Their next goal will be emergency contraception and other forms of birth control. I'm not making this up. All you have to do is go to the Catholic directive that control the kinds of care that Catholic hospitals are permitted to provide to women and to same sex couples and to people at end of life and to men who want to have vasectomies. There's a whole range of health care that Catholic hospitals under the Catholic directive are required to provide nonstandard care. In other words, substandard care. Preventing women from having access to abortion is just the first step. In the Catholic bishops' overarching goal to really control what kind of health care can be provided in this country according to their own religiously informed light of what it means to be, in their view, pro-life.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Your allies in the House and Senate, are they prepared to derail health care legislation as a whole over this particular issue of abortion?

TERRY O'NEILL: I certainly hope they are. I know some of them are. I've been very busy. My NOW leaders around the country have been calling their representatives and what we are asking our representatives in the House and what we're asking our Senatores, our allies in the Senate to do is to vote against the entire packet, at least vote against the entire packet if it goes against current law. I have had so many conversations with legislators on the Hill and frankly, I have not been able to convince them to vote against the entire packet because it contains the Hyde amendment. But I have made headway in saying, well at least will you vote against it if goes against current law. And I have had quite a few legislators who say, "Yeah, I will vote against the entire packet if it goes beyond current law."

BETWEEN THE LINES: In the House, there's some margin of votes they can play around with. But in the Senate, if one senator in the Democratic caucus votes against it over the abortion restriction provisions, that could be the trigger that would derail it in the Senate. Are you having any votes in the Senate that could accomplish that goal for you?

TERRY O'NEILL: I think what we really need is leadership from the White House at this point to show that we did elect a pro-choice president, a man who understands that it doesn't really do you any good to have a constitutional right if you are prevented from exercising that constitutional right. He is pro-choice; he campaigned as a pro-choice candidate. I think that it's really important for him now to step up and show leadership, which is the reason we elected him.

For more information on the group's campaign to oppose abortion restrictions within health care reform, contact NOW at (202) 628-8669 or visit their website at www.now.org

Related links: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott Harris is executive producer of Between The Lines, which can be heard on more than 45 radio stations and in RealAudio and MP3 on our website at www.btlonline.org. This interview excerpt was featured on the award-winning, syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine,Between The Lines for the week ending Jan. 8, 2010. This Between The Lines Q&A was compiled by Anna Manzo.

To donate to Between The Lines, please send your check made payable to "The Global Center" and mail to:
Squeaky Wheel Productions
P.O. Box 110176
Trumbull, CT 06611

To get details on subscribing to the radio program or to publish this column in print or online media, contact us at (203) 268-8446.

Home | Broadcast-Quality MP3s | Archives | Search BTL Archives
About | Broadcast Schedule | | Squeaky Wheel Productions

(c) Copyright 2010 Squeaky Wheel Productions. All rights reserved.