Roundup: Remembrances of Sen. Kennedy Highlight Civil Rights Accomplishments

Aug 27, 2009, 9:53am

Emily Douglas

Remembrances of Sen. Ted Kennedy highlight his civil rights accomplishments; Miami appeals court hears arguments on anti-gay adoption laws; will health care reform include coverage for contraception and fertility treatments?

Remembrances of Sen. Ted Kennedy Highlight His Accomplishments on Civil Rights
Among the excellent remembrances of Sen. Ted Kennedy, Nina Totenberg’s on NPR
was one of the most thoughtful and substantive. Totenberg reminded
listeners that Kennedy played a leading role in sinking Robert Bork’s
Supreme Court nomination when the nomination was widely considered
impossible to defeat and that Kennedy, as early as 1965, as chairman of
the Immigration Subcommittee, re-wrote immigration laws to remove the
bias in favor of European immigrants.

Miami Appeals Court Hears Arguments on Anti-Gay Adoption Laws
A
Miami appeals court will rule on the constitutionality of the ban on
gay adoption in Florida, the Miami Herald reports. Lawyers for the
state’s Department of Children and Families are defending the ban,
arguing that the state has a legitimate interest in protecting children
from homosexuality. The Herald explains, "DCF is appealing a November ruling by Miami-Dade
Circuit Judge Cindy
Lederman that declared the 1977 statute unconstitutional. Lederman’s
ruling allowed foster parent Martin Gill of North Miami, who is openly
gay, to adopt two half-brothers the agency placed in his care in
2004." Lawyers for a gay foster parent who seeks to adopt his foster children argue that the ban is rooted in anti-gay bias.

Will Health Care Reform Include Coverage for Birth Control and Fertility Treatments?
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
examines whether contraception and fertility treatments will be covered
post-health care reform. While the Department of Health and Human
Services will ultimately decide which specific procedures are and
aren’t covered, the Plain Dealer reports, "Health care experts say a
revamped system is more likely
to pay for birth control than high-tech fertility treatments
like in-vitro fertilization because it’s more common
for insurance plans to cover birth control." The Plain Dealer cites a
Guttmacher Institute study that found that 90 percent of employer-based
group health insurance plans cover a full range of contraceptive
options: "Private insurance coverage for contraception will continue
after health care reforms pass, predicts Adam Sonfield, a
co-author of the Guttmacher study, who has analyzed the
health care reform bills before Congress." Infertility treatments,
however, are less likely to be covered: "Infertility treatments are
less commonly covered by
insurance, although some plans cover surgery to clear
blocked Fallopian tubes and prescription drugs to induce
ovulation as part of their regular surgical and prescription
drug coverage."