Roundup: On Waivers, Prenatal Care, Personhood and Slavery

Mar 15, 2010, 9:44am

Robin Marty

Stupak's stance could deny prenatal care for his own suffering district, the rhetoric of abortion waivers and slavery, and other stories.

Today, it’s follow up time on some of the stories and themes we’ve been following this year across the country.

Remember when Wake County in North Carolina decided it wanted to do away with abortion coverage in its employee insurance plans? They may get their coverage back now, or at least have a chance to discuss it rather than have it rammed through by one commissioner.

Commissioner Stan Norwalk doesn’t think Cooke should have moved unilaterally. He said Sunday that the board should have voted on whether to drop the coverage.

“I don’t want to be bullied into doing something that we wouldn’t have otherwise done,” Norwalk said.

The Democrat also said fewer than 20 women have had county-funded abortions in the last five years.

“By in large, tax dollars aren’t being used to pay for abortions,” Norwalk said.

In light of the anti-choice claim that women who need abortions can just get a seperate policy to cover that procedure, the Washington Post takes a look at states that provide “abortion riders” for people who have insurance plans that don’t cover abortion. Surprise! No one ever purchases them.

Amid a high-stakes debate over abortion that could determine the fate of President Obama‘s health-care initiative, North Dakota’s law offers a test because it is much like the language favored by antiabortion lawmakers on Capitol Hill, notably Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.).

“There’s not a lot to tell. We have no member who elected to have abortion riders,” said Denise Kolpack, vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, which covers about 80 percent of the North Dakota market. “We would be legally bound to provide an offering, but we have no groups that have requested it.”

Similar policies are in place in Kentucky, Missouri, Idaho and Oklahoma.

“It is rare that we hear in the market that an employer would request a rider for this coverage,” said Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield spokesman Tony Felts, whose territory includes Kentucky.

…

In the five states where abortion coverage is prohibited except with a rider, it is unclear how customers who purchase group insurance, typically for their employees, learn about the abortion coverage option.

“I’m not sure if an employer would know that or not,” Felts said of customers in Kentucky, when asked whether Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield advertises its policies. He said that if a customer requested abortion coverage, the company would offer it “in compliance” with state law.

Blue Cross of Idaho spokesman Stewart Johnson said, “I don’t know that we would mention it. They would probably ask about it.” He said the company does not track how often a group purchases abortion insurance.

A look at Congressman Bart Stupak’s home district in Michigan reveals that there isn’t even an abortion provider there, and that his overreaching amendment would negatively affect what little prenatal care the uninsured in his district can receive.

“Right now abortion is already restricted,” said Julie McKeiver, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Western and Northern Michigan. “[Stupak’s amendment] would take away any reasonable expectation that they would get coverage of services.”

The regional Planned Parenthood organization has been forced by budget cuts to close clinics and reduce hours but maintains clinics that do not perform abortions in Petoskey and Marquette. Women who live in northern lower Michigan or the U.P. often must travel hundreds of miles to downstate abortion providers or cross into Wisconsin or Minnesota for services.

Unfortunately, abortion is not the only medical service not available to women in Stupak’s district without having to travel a long distance. It may be particularly ironic that if Stupak’s abortion concerns end up killing the health care reform bill, pregnant women in his district may lose access to the pre- and post-natal care that is crucial to the health of their babies. Increasing numbers of uninsured residents are putting a huge strain on hospitals and forcing them to close down their obstetrics departments.

According to the most recent data available from the Michigan Department of Community Health, 15.6 percent of Michigan’s non-elderly adults are uninsured, and northern lower Michigan has a higher than average rate of people who are uninsured.

Cheboygan Memorial Hospital closed its urgent care walk-in clinic last month and announced that it will discontinue its obstetric services this month because the high level of uninsured and Medicaid patients has bankrupted the unit. According to the hospital, in fiscal year 2009 CMH posted a $304,000 loss in the OB department.

In a statement the small hospital explained that its main service area includes not only Cheboygan County but also Presque Isle County, Montmorency County, the northern half of Emmet County, and the eastern half of Mackinac County, and that seasonal unemployment levels in some of these areas tops well over 25 percent.

Florida made the news for attempting to make all abortion criminal earlier this year. Now, as legislation piles up, political experts are noticing the trend of “symbolic politics” as candidates try to cozy up to their anti-choice base.

Creating jobs and cutting spending may be lawmakers’ declared priorities this spring, but that has not dissuaded some conservatives from filing a raft of proposals relating to abortion and the unborn.

About half of the bills come from legislators running for re-election, in a year when Tea Party activists and other GOP malcontents are challenging candidates to prove their conservative credentials. At least one bill was scheduled for a hearing early in the session, by a Republican committee chairwoman who is running for governor.

John Stemberger, of the Florida Family Policy Council, said he’s delighted to see this year’s show of anti-abortion initiatives. Lawmakers’ votes and sponsorship of at least some of the bills, he said, will factor prominently in the guide to political candidates his organization compiles each year for socially conservative voters.

Finally, two weeks ago, Arizona politician Trent Franks stated that abortion was worse for the African American community than slavery. Now, Personhood Nevada is comparing its drive to get fertilized eggs to have full rights to the push to end slavery in the country.

The initiative petition, filed Oct. 21 with the Secretary of State’s Office, would amend the Nevada Constitution to give “the inalienable right to life for everyone, young or old, health or ill, conscious or unconscious, born or unborn.”

The opening brief filed Thursday, signed by Las Vegas lawyer Michael L. Peters, says the Civil War was fought to correct a “terrible wrong” that blacks were considered property and not people.

This petition, Peters said, seeks a constitutional amendment that every human being from the beginning of life shall be considered a person.

Judge Russell said the language in the initiative petition was too general and vague and failed to give adequate notice to residents of what they would be voting on.

Frankly, I think anyone who believes that a fertilized egg is a “person” should take a moment and ask a couple who have undergone a failed IVF attempt how they enjoy being parents. That should make it very clear that pregnancy does not begin at fertilization.

Mini Roundup – It’s a very rare occurrence when the pro-choice and anti-choice get to agree. The Nebraska prenatal funding bill is one of those moments of convergence where everyone gets to be mad at the governor.

March 12, 2010

Anti-abortion campaigner arrested over ‘death threats’ to Elton John – PinkNews.co.uk

Dahlkemper’s health-care reform vote not set – GoErie.com

Pelosi: Stupak Wants Health Care Reform (VIDEO) – Huffington Post

NYT Urges Abortion-Rights Supporters to ‘Make Their Voices Heard.’ The Real … – Newsweek

First thoughts: Trust and the trip – msnbc.com

3 Observations on the Current State of Healthcare Reform -— Counting Votes … – Hospital Review

Survey Shows Closing Gap In Generational Differences Concerning Abortion – RTT News

Bart Stupak: Nancy Pelosi Lacks Votes for Pro-Abortion Health Care in House – LifeNews.com

Michigan: Trucker Guilty in Killings – New York Times

Pelosi Calls Stupak’s Bluff on Abortion – Big Think