WASHINGTON--For some years, Democrats have denounced parodies casting their party as utterly closed to the views of those who oppose abortion. Last weekend, Democrats proved conclusively that they are, indeed, a big tent--and many in the ranks are furious.
From the outraged comments of the abortion rights movement, you'd think that Rep. Bart Stupak's amendment to the House version of the health care bill would all but overturn Roe v. Wade.
No, it wouldn't. The Michigan Democrat's measure--passed 240-194, with 64 Democrats voting "yes"--would prohibit abortion coverage in the public health care option and bar any federal subsidies for plans that included abortion purchased on the new insurance exchanges.
Stupak argues that the federal government has stayed out of the business of financing abortion since passage of the Hyde Amendment in 1976 and that none of the policies available on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program cover elective abortion. The structures that reform would create, he says, should carry the same restrictions, which do not apply in cases involving rape and incest or when a mother's life is in danger.
Abortion rights supporters counter that, at the very least, individuals who pay part of the cost of their policies should be allowed to choose abortion coverage.
Whatever else is true, Stupak's amendment is unlikely to have a significant effect on the availability of abortion, since most abortions are not paid for through health insurance. The Guttmacher Institute, for example, reported that only 13 percent of abortions in 2001 were directly billed by providers to insurance companies--although the institute cautioned that this figure did not include "women who obtain reimbursement from their insurance company themselves."
The odd thing is that everyone in this fight insists that the only goal is to maintain the status quo on abortion. But defining the status quo has been a legislative and negotiating nightmare.
