No abortion coverage for high risk pools

This came to me in my ask box and I thought it should be able to be reblogged in case other people have the same question or if any of my tumblr pals would like to add anything to it that I might have missed or been wrong about.

The Question from accordingtosami:

So you seem to be the most knowledgeable, so I’m taking this to you… Why are lifers so up in arms about the new high-risk pools covering abortions? What legislation are they using to cite that, exactly, and what the fuck is going on. I’m lost and I can’t find anything non-biased that addresses their accusations…. Help?

My Answer:

I’ve linked to an article that tries to break this down (I think it’s pretty unbiased). The pro-lifers obviously don’t want women to have abortions so they don’t think state funding should be able to go towards the procedure under government funded health pools (since their tax dollars are included in that). They know that the majority of women who get abortions live under the poverty level and that they won’t be able to afford an abortion (or the future child, but hey, not their problem as long as she births it, amirite?) if it isn’t covered by insurance, so this is really a way for pro-lifers to force women to give birth.

These high-risk insurance pools were made for people who have pre-existing conditions or health issues that would basically bar them from being able to get “normal” health insurance coverage. The problem is that women who fall into this category are more likely to have a dangerous pregnancy and therefore will need access to abortion services that aren’t covered by their insurance.

Unfortunately, when the health care reform was passed a few months ago the Stupak amendments (without which the Health Reform would not have been passed) barred any federal funding to be used for abortions among other stipulations, which includes the high-risk pools (since they are government funded). In addition, President Obama signed an Executive Order stating that no federal funds would be used for abortions in order to get the health reform passed. An insurance company can offer abortion services but the process they have to go through in order to make sure federal funds aren’t used makes even me wonder who would really bother to jump through all those hoops to offer something that is, unfortunately, frowned upon. And if it’s a government-funded insurance program, abortion services coverage won’t even be considered due to these federal stipulations.

This is truly unfortunate. These high-risk women now have access to health insurance they truly need but if they become pregnant and can’t carry the baby to term due to their health, they have to pay out of pocket for the abortion (and mandated ultrasound, depending on what state they live in).

Love,

Rabble

http://rabbleprochoice.tumblr.com/post/820601748/no-abortion-coverage-for-high-risk-pools-q-a-7