Ah, a lovely moment as the Senate subcommittee on Finance debates an amendment that would allow the federal government to define what kinds of health care services are included in private insurance coverage.

According to The Wonk Room, 

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) argued, “I don’t need maternity care, and so
requiring that to be in my insurance policy is something that I don’t
need and will make the policy more expensive.”

To which Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) remarks, "I think your mother probably did." 

Why is Senator Kyl arguing against including pregnant women in his health care plan? 

The Wonk Room notes,

"Kyl’s amendment would prohibit the government from defining which
benefits should be included in a standard benefit package and would
permit health insurance companies to design policies that exclude
higher-cost beneficiaries."[emphasis mine]

So, once again, we are to sit back while legislators and insurance company executives decide that women are just too darned expensive to cover in health care plans if we want to make our own personal decision to get pregnant and have a baby, experience childbirth with the provider of our choice, make the best decision about how one should birth, in consultation with a doctor.  I will say that the health care reform process has been extremely enlightening as it relates to maternal health care. 

Are you a woman who has had a prior or currently planned c-section? Health insurance denied. Have you been a victim of domestic violence? Denied. Are you simply pregnant? Denied. Want to birth with a midwife? Denied. It certainly feels as if just being a woman has become a pre-existing condition on which basis you are likely to be denied health insurance. 

Read more at The Wonk Room and watch the video here: