flewellyn: (Default)
flewellyn ([personal profile] flewellyn) wrote2009-11-09 09:34 pm
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No celebration.

So, yeah, sure, the health care bill passed the House. But, I am not cheering. With the Stupak amendment attached to it, it represents a giant step backward for women's health care. It wasn't enough for him, for the Republicans, or for 64 other Democratic representatives, that the Hyde amendment forbade the use of federal funds for abortions. No, they had to go a step further, and use the public option and the health care exchange to effectively prohibit private insurers from covering abortions, too.

Nor is there any guarantee of covering other women's health procedures, such as pap smears, mammograms, hormonal contraception, and the like. This amendment was a giant, extended middle finger to 51% of the United States population.

It remains to be seen whether the Senate does something similar, or if they act against this odious amendment. And there's always the conference committee, as well. But even the fact that this amendment passed, with the support of many Democratic reps (including my own!), is bad enough.

[identity profile] springheel-jack.livejournal.com 2009-11-10 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
Pap smears and mammograms are mandated to be covered.

The bill is a weird hodgepodge.

[identity profile] flewellyn.livejournal.com 2009-11-10 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
Didn't see them when I read it. Must have changed.

[identity profile] springheel-jack.livejournal.com 2009-11-10 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
It's a weird mix of good and horrible. Women's wellness visits to an obgyn? Not mandated. So if you go and get a pap smear, they pay for the swab and the lab work but not the doctor? Crazy. Really crazy. And birth control? Forget about it.