The health care reform debate has moved into the Senate now, and so has the abortion issue.
The bill that passed the House contained the infamous Stupak Amendment that would deny millions of woman any insurance coverage for abortion, a legal medical procedure in the U.S.
The health care reform debate has not stopped for the holidays and it didn’t end with the House bill a few weeks ago. It has moved to the U.S. Senate and there are two senators, Republican Orrin Hatch and Democrat Ben Nelson, planning to introduce an amendment virtually identical to the Stupak Amendment. With both Republican and Democratic support, it is entirely possible that the resulting health care reform legislation will eliminate access to private health insurance coverage for abortion for millions of American women.
The cases for and against the Stupak Amendment and anything like it have been made elsewhere. I’m writing to remind you that the fight isn’t over; it’s just moved to the Senate. The debate is going on right now. Women’s rights and access to a legal medical procedure are still very much in danger.
Please, please, if you care about this issue, write to your senators right now, before you log off, and tell them how you feel about a Stupak/Hatch/Nelson abortion coverage ban. There’s an easy-to-use form on the Planned Parenthood website. Or, if you prefer, Congress.org also makes it easy to write to your elected representatives any time about any issue.
Thank you.
Personally, I think the Stupak Amendment is a bit of political brilliance. And I am a fierce supporter of abortion rights. Don’t be too concerned. Let’s get the healthcare bill passed, let’s get it implemented and let it become popular — and then we can go back and smooth out the rough edges.
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I disagree. Passing flawed legislation and trying to “fix” it later with more legislation is exactly how we got the screwed up mess we have today. Passing anything just so you can say you passed something is a political ploy, not a solution. Let’s not make a bad situation worse; let’s get it right this time. Selling out women’s abortion rights is not getting it right.
Thanks for your post. We need to make sure our representatives in Washington know that they should not play politics with our bodies.
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Thanks for stopping by. If I can get even one other person to write to Washington, this post will have been worthwhile.