Blogs and Stories
The Wedge Dividing Obama's Health Coalition
Alex Brandon / AP Photo
Many Democrats cheered when the health bill passed the House, but pro-choice groups denounced a last-minute amendment to ban coverage of abortions. Now the issue is tearing apart health-reform supporters in the Senate.
“Horrifying.” “Outrageous.” “Incredible.” “A nightmare.” “Strange.”
Those are the words pro-choice leaders are using to describe the outcome of the health-care vote in the House of Representatives, in which a sweeping reform plan passed—but one that would outlaw coverage of almost all abortions in the new insurance market known as the exchange.
As the Senate continues to debate the final details of its own health-care bill, including provisions on abortion, Planned Parenthood and the National Organization for Women said Monday they would oppose any final health package that includes the abortion ban, which would apply both to private and public insurance plans. And some pro-choice leaders said they expect other influential women’s groups to follow suit, potentially driving a wedge through the coalition that elected President Barack Obama and brought the Democratic Party to majorities in both the House and Senate.
“We want [the abortion ban] stripped. And I think everybody is extremely serious about this. It’s been a very strong and very quick reaction. It’s the feeling that you’ve been rolled.”
“I believe, frankly, that the women’s movement as a whole will go there,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of Feminist Majority. “We want [the abortion ban] stripped. And I think everybody is extremely serious about this. It’s been a very strong and very quick reaction. It’s the feeling that you’ve been rolled.”
Leaders from a number of reproductive rights groups told The Daily Beast they were shocked by the outcome of Saturday night’s vote, in which a group of 41 pro-life Democrats, led by Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, refused to support the overall health package unless their antiabortion amendment was included. More moderate pro-life Democrats had negotiated a compromise with the party’s leadership in which government funds would be banned from covering abortion in the exchange, but insurers could still pay for the procedure using funds collected through private co-pays. That agreement fell apart at the eleventh hour.
“We totally believed and thought it was going to be OK, with some assurances,” said Smeal, referring to conversations between pro-choice lobbyists and the House leadership. “And then all of a sudden this happened.”
• Peter Beinart: Why Democrats Were Smart to Bail on Abortion
• Benjamin Sarlin: 6 Senators Stalling Health Care
• Matthew Yglesias: The Next Health Care Minefield
• Paul Begala: Forget BipartisanshipThrough the Hyde Amendment and a number of other regulations, the law already prevents federal funding of elective abortions. “What Stupak does is go beyond current law, so in essence, it’s not about public funding at all, but a ban on coverage for women in the exchange,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)—regardless of whether a woman receives a government affordability subsidy to purchase insurance. Stupak argues that his amendment retains “choice” by allowing women to buy a supplemental “rider” for abortion coverage. But in the five states where abortion riders are currently required, no insurance company offers them. An abortion typically costs between $300 and $400.
The Stupak language would allow customers of the exchange to access insurance-covered abortions without a rider only in cases of rape, incest, or when a pregnancy threatens a woman’s life. And because new individuals and businesses are expected to join the exchange each year, pro-choice advocates worry that Stupak could set the new standard for abortion coverage throughout the insurance industry, even in the private, employer-provided market. “It’s certainly possible that insurance companies could be dissuaded from covering abortion,” as 87 percent of plans currently do, said Adam Sonfield, senior public policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, which researches reproductive health.
Nevertheless, in a meeting following Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to allow the Stupak amendment to come to a floor vote, pro-choice legislators reportedly vented their frustration, but then decided not to let the issue deter them from supporting the health bill. Pelosi reassured them the Stupak ban would be moderated by the Senate, and, it was hoped, spiked entirely by the conference committee, in which the House and Senate will work together to come up with a final piece of legislation.
Now the focus is on the upper chamber, where pro-life Democrats Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Kent Conrad of North Dakota are preparing legislative language modeled on the Stupak ban. Pro-choice lobbyists say they are optimistic about a better outcome there, since the blueprint Senate Finance Committee health-care reform draft, spearheaded by Max Baucus—who is known to have the ear of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel—is “abortion-neutral.” In the Finance draft, abortion cannot be federally funded but remains available to customers participating in the exchange, paid for by individual insurance co-pays.
“Historically, the Senate has been known as the cooling-off place,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood. “I believe these issues will really be thought through in a calmer fashion there than what happened at the 24th hour in the House.”
The Right Dumps Carrie
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
Sarah Drops the Act
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
Palin's Gold Mine
Duff McDonald is a contributing editor at New York magazine and a former contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio. His book, Last Man Standing, about Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was published by Simon & Schuster in October.
Carly's Cancer Warning
Dana Goldstein is an associate editor and writer at The Daily Beast. Her work on politics, women’s issues, and education has appeared in The American Prospect, Slate, BusinessWeek, The New Republic, and The Nation.
Hollywood's Sex-Slave Crusade
Dana Goldstein is an associate editor and writer at The Daily Beast. Her work on politics, women’s issues, and education has appeared in The American Prospect, Slate, BusinessWeek, The New Republic, and The Nation.
Abortion Under Fire
Dana Goldstein is an associate editor and writer at The Daily Beast. Her work on politics, women’s issues, and education has appeared in The American Prospect, Slate, BusinessWeek, The New Republic, and The Nation.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
"I have to stop posting and prepare my petition for the court."
Promises, promises.
It's the sad fact of life with hands-free adapters. Before they came out, you tell the crazy people a block away. Now it's much harder.
When it comes to OK, if the post is more than 500 words, I'm flagging them.
Unless something has changed in Washington since my birth, the Senate is going to essentially create their own Bill. Whatever issues in this Bill that are passed thru from the House will be talking points and fodder for Senate debate. I think that the Democrats were just trying to get a Bill thru. It's never been done before.
I'm certainly no expert on on the workings of Congress, but I have a long memory. I wonder how many realize that when they read "This Bill is Dead!" or "This Issue is a Deal Breaker!" that the real lawmaking process in Washington is very complex. It involves committees, procedures, etc. just to get to a final vote!
tbones: Getting a Senate bill passed will be a real mess, with filibustering a possibility at several points, and no assurance that Reid can get the 60 votes necessary to break a filibuster. If breaking a filibuster fails, Reid could use reconciliation to avoid a filibuster and pass a bill with only 50 votes, but there are limits as to what kind of bill can use reconciliation.
Once the Senate passes its bill, the House and Senate bills got to conference to resolve any differences - and there will be lots. Getting the right people in the conference is rather important.
The final bill from conference goes back to the House and Senate for final votes. At this point, nobody can make any changes to the bill, so it should go pretty fast. If both chambers pass the bill (can the Senate filibuster at this point? I don't know), it goes to Obama for his signature (he will almost certainly sign it) and health care reform is finished!
Thank you for an informative article Ms. Goldstein. This subject is a complex one and I appreciate that you were able to write about it in a way that was void of a political agenda or wrought with emotion. Maybe your fellow blogger, Ms. Siskind, who is trying to use this amendment to incite discontent and rage against a President she has clearly despised since the Democratic Primaries last year, could learn a thing or two about quality writing from you.
To TDB- more Goldsteins and less Siskinds will up the quality of your website.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
It is a good article. I used to be a pro-choice Democrat. I supported Obama with my money and my feet. I have supported pro-choce women Democrats through Emily's List for years. Having been around before abortion was legal, I know the heartbreak that my friends and family have suffered.
I'm through with the Democratic party. I can't be a Republican, of course, so I'm independent. No more money for betrayers.
No abortions at taxpayer expense, or maybe I should be blunt. NO ABORTIONS PERIOD.
I am sick and tired of feminists. I hope they take the right to vote away from you.
You abortionists are disgusting.
You are murderers.
Unfortunately for women, there will Never be a time when there are no abortions; all you are stopping is SAFE abortions. Just as there will never be a time when there are no rapes, no abuse. Perhaps if men could see women as equals....
Maybe they can provide free condoms as an alternative?
According to Obama, he said he was going to put patient safety first, and he would not let some government bureaucrat or some insurance bureaucrat get between you and the care that you need. The women at the top like McCaskill, and the women who voted for this, are making themselves to look like they are working for the anti- emale democratic party, rather than working to bring benefits for all, not just some.
In any reform there will be inadequacies, but good lord, does it always have to been about women's bodies, and their rights?
When that happens it is more prone to fail.
UglyRed: Controlling women and abortion has always been a priority with Republicans (and conservative Democrats), so it is not completely surprising that this issue showed up.
Personally, I think the Stupak amendment is unlikely to make it into the Senate bill or survive the conference which resolves differences between the House and Senate bills.
This is the women's own fault. they had a chance to put a woman in the white house and blew it. That's right. You females had the power at one time and you got sucked in. I'll bet Hillary is getting a kick outta this LOL.
Everyone knows this abortion grandstanding is a largely republican deal so everyone should know who to blame if this"poisen pill," survives to mike it on to the final draft. Republicans have took this ridiculous position before so I say fine let them have it when people are put in jail for personal matters you know who to blame.
Thanks for your article, but your statistic on the cost of abortion is quite low is only the range for abortions done in the first trimester. According to the Guttmacher Institute, "In 2005, the cost of a nonhospital abortion with local anesthesia at 10 weeks' gestation ranged from $90 to $1,800; the average amount paid was $413." Abortions done in the second trimester, though rarer, can reach up to $10,000 in cost. Low-income women are more likely to have later term abortions due to the time needed to gather money for the procedure, as well as to possibly fund a trip to a provider. As 87% of counties don't have an abortion provider, many women have to travel long distances to find a provider. In addition, in states with a mandatory waiting period, an extra night's hotel cost has to be added on. Plus the cost of child care, as most women that have an abortion already have other children.
This adds up to a huge cost for women! Health reform is supposed to help women obtain the health care they need. Allowing the government to prohibit funding for abortion is horrible! Abortion is a legal medical procedure in this country that one in three women will have in their lifetime. Abortion should be a covered procedure in health care. End of story.
With the Republican Party doing everything they can to wreck Obama, wreck the country (again), and wreck any chance of national, affordable healthcare, I'm beginning to think that even those Democrats who have fought long and hard to produce a bill, will wind up with something that is so compromised as to not be worth signing.
My feeling is that the American people should call on the richest altruists we have in America to help set up a private healthcare insurance company that is NOT FOR PROFIT.
This company would accept everyone, not deny claims for pre-existing conditions, and set rates that would be far lower than the piratical, profiteering private companies we have today.
This could be done, and it wouldn't require the vote of any Republican or Blue Dog Dem, and the people could eventually reduce the private insurance industry to financial bankruptcy, which would match their moral bankruptcy.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.