POSTED: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010

Health care for women includes abortion access

On Nov. 7, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a historic health reform bill. Unfortunately there was an amendment attached to this bill which, if enacted, would effectively ban private abortion coverage for millions of women in America.

The Stupak Amendment - or Stupak ban - is dangerous public policy which infringes on the rights of women to access safe, legal and necessary health care. And while a similar amendment introduced in the Senate was defeated, at the end of December the Senate added language to appease Sen. Ben Nelson which, like the Stupak abortion ban, would create such complicated administrative burdens for health insurers that it is unlikely insurers would offer abortion coverage at all.

Access to abortion should not be a political issue. Nor should it be used to derail the larger health care reform effort. Further restricting access to abortion under health care reform is bad policy and bad for women. Reform shouldn't make women worse off than they are today, but unfortunately, the current language around abortion does exactly that.

Internationally, access to safe abortion services literally saves women's lives. And similarly, in this country, women's lives were saved after Roe v. Wade legalized abortion. In 2007, the United Nations Population Fund, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the World Bank released statistics showing that every minute a woman dies from pregnancy-related causes.

It is estimated that up to 100,000 maternal deaths could be avoided each year if unintended pregnancies were prevented. In its first international report on women's health, released this month, WHO said that women who cannot plan pregnancies face an increased risk of death or illness. The evidence is overwhelming. Access to all reproductive health care - which includes access to safe abortion services - is a major factor in the health and well-being of women around the globe.

Even here in the wealthiest nation in the world, not everyone has access to essential health care. How about the single mom working in your favorite restaurant who doesn't get health insurance from her employer? How about the young nanny who is working her way through college and can't afford insurance? How about the stay-at-home mom whose husband was just laid off who already has 3 children, and can't afford, or adequately care for, another one? In Whatcom County alone there are 15,250 women in need of publicly funded reproductive health care services.

Under the proposed health care reform it's many of these women - your neighbor, your friend, your sister - who would most likely pay a premium out of their own pocket to get low-cost insurance. It's also women who now have insurance through the individual marketplace or a small business that would be served by a new system. These women deserve to be able to access all available health care services.

Current language in the House and Senate bills would deny women access to critical, legal abortion services. Currently, approximately 86 percent of private insurance plans provide women with access to the full range of reproductive health services including abortion. Health care reform could make a difference in the lives of so many women, but denying them critical care under reform will result in a system that falls short of meeting their real health care needs.

Banning abortion does nothing to address the need. Each year 68,000 women around the world die needlessly because of back-alley style abortions. Even Catholic countries like France and Italy - the home of the Vatican - can separate religious idealism from public health policy. These countries allow reasonable access to abortion services because they know it is vital health care for women.

The fact that the Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, already bans any federal funds from paying for abortions for poor women or federal employees is a disgrace. But the Stupak ban and Nelson language go far beyond the Hyde Amendment by dictating abortion coverage by private health insurance plans in an unprecedented and dangerous manner.

When the House and Senate health care reform bills are reconciled, lawmakers need to take a close look at women's real health care needs so half the population is not left without access to critical health care. Health care reform should not upend the status quo on abortion coverage for women in the United States. Women living in all corners of the globe deserve quality, comprehensive reproductive health care to protect their health and well-being, and so do we.

Linda McCarthy is CEO of Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood. Elaine Rose is CEO of Planned Parenthood VOTES! Washington.