Health Care Reform does not Sufficiently Protect Women's Reproductive Rights

I said that I would focus on health care reform and women; now that health care reform has reached the Senate for reconciliation, I have some feminist objections.

But first, good things in health care reform that help women's reproductive rights:
--contraceptives are covered under a package with required basic benefits that include maternity care and preventative care, such as mammograms
--more women have access to family planning
--limits on gender and age rating

OBJECTIONS:
--no public option
--the Nelson Compromise severely restricts women's right to choose: federal money will only go to abortions in the case of rape, incest, or fatal danger to the mother's health. Those who want an abortion option in their health care plan have to pay two different payments. Also, states can choose to not have abortion covered if they pass a law restricting their Insurance Exchange from including plans that offer abortion coverage.

What Women's Rights Organizations are Saying:
"[W]omen were forced to pay a price. Abortion was the only medical procedure singled out with punitive restrictions. We must repeal the Hyde Amendment"--Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation

"The legislation includes an onerous provision that requires Americans to write two separate checks if the insurance plan they choose includes abortion coverage. This unacceptable bureaucratic stigmatization could cause insurance carriers to drop abortion coverage, even though more than 85 percent of private plans currently cover this care for women."--Nancy Keenan, NARAL Pro-choice America

Articles and Blogs about Health Care Reform and Women:
Feminist Wire
Ms. Magazine Blog
Bitch Magazine
Frances Kissling

Women's Rights Organizations and Activists Statements:
Nancey Keenan on the Executive Order
Nancey Keenan on Health Reform
Planned Parenthood
Eleanor Smeal

Image Courtesy of the National Women's Law Center's Being a Woman is not a Pre-existing Condition Campaign

Health Care for All Genders

Hello! My name is Nona Gronert; I am from Albuquerque, NM and will be the Tuesday blogger. I am currently a first-year at Occidental College. I am a liberal and a feminist; I support the public health care option without the Stupak/Pitts Amendment (in the House version of the bill; "Affordable Health Care for American Act" H.R. 3962) or the Nelson Compromise (in the Senate version of the bill; "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" H.R. 3590) (Health Insurance Reform & Women).

How Health Care can Discriminate Against Women:



While the above ad cannot be considered "objective," it does give a good summary of how women are mistreated by the health care industry through gender rating and classifying acts like rape and domestic violence as preexisting conditions. At A Woman is not a Pre-Existing Condition other videos easily summarize other discriminatory practices in private health insurance coverage.

Overall, the current health care reform proposals do treat the genders equally in health care coverage. However, as mentioned by Alexis, abortion coverage is the exception; it is severely limited in both of the bills.

For a very comprehensive overview of the current status of women's health care and the House and Senate health care reforms' affects on women go to: Health Insurance Reform and Women.

The bipartisan Health Care Summit is scheduled for February 25 (The Foundry).

Sources:
Health Insurance Reform and Women
Kaiser Family Side-by-Side Comparison of House and Senate bills (available at above source)
Reform Matters
A Woman is not a Pre-Existing Condition