In response to a call for comments on proposed rules that would exclude coverage for abortion care:
EQUAL Co-Director Ellen R. Shaffer and Fellow, Keely Monroe, stated:
RE: Abortion Restrictions and the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, HHS-OS-2010-0020-0001
Dear Secretary Sebelius:
The announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services on July 14, 2010, regarding coverage in the new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIP) creates a new sphere of restrictions on access to abortion care. It proposes to restrict coverage for abortion care in the PCIPs to cases of rape or incest, or endangerment of the woman’s life. There is no requirement to apply this draconian restriction to abortion care in the PCIPs. The proposal stigmatizes one of the most common medical procedures experienced by women, jeopardizing their lives and health. It should be reversed. (Click above for full statement.)
Raising Women’s Voices Comments Numerous groups including EQUAL signed the statment, which begins:
Dear Secretary Sebelius:
The undersigned organizations – representing diverse women, families, communities and health care providers throughout the United States – are submitting these comments on the Interim Final Rule for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan Program (PCIP) established under section 1101 of Title I of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The intent of the PCIP Program is to provide uninsured people who have pre-existing conditions with a way to meet their urgent and critical health care needs. However, the PCIPs established by this Rule will fundamentally fail women because the Rule imposes a ban on abortion coverage, even when a woman’s health will be harmed by continuing a pregnancy.
Health insurance should safeguard a woman’s health, not impose a politically motivated ban on the health care that she needs. The PCIP Program falls short of the standards and aspirations that the Congress, this Administration and the public committed themselves to with enactment of the new health reform law.
TellWashingtonNow.com presents a compelling video of women’s stories.
Credo Action says: Tell the Obama Administration: No new restrictions on abortion coverage
Click here to submit a public comment
