November 14th, 2009:

Re:  Time for Men to Make a Sacrifice | CommonDreams.org
by Katha Pollitt, Published on Saturday, November 14, 2009 by The Nation

You know what I don’t want to hear right now about the Stupak-Pitts amendment banning abortion coverage from federally subsidized health insurance policies? That it’s the price of reform, and pro-choice women should shut up and take one for the team.

Bart Stupak (D?-MI)

I was conversing with a person who’s opinion I respect, last Sunday, about the Stupak Amendment and as I listened I could have been knocked down with a feather by what this person told me. The person with whom I was speaking had always been a progressive Democrat,  and friends tell me, even before I met the person. (Since the name and even pronoun of the person aren’t allowed in my retelling, this will be difficult. I do not have the person’s permission to discuss the private conversation in this venue.)

As I have stated, I voiced my concern that the Stupak amendment was just one more chip off of Roe v. Wade only this time it was a big chip, not to mention it amounts to another right-wing attack in their war on the poor. This person related to me that the loss of coverage of the abortion procedure was something that he/she could live with as long as it was necessary to pass health care reform.

This person could live with it. Well, I find that lump hard to swallow.

I just sat there with my mouth agape, lost for words for once. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from this person who I had thought was totally pro-choice. A million things raced through my head, and above all that clamor, I struggled for words to express my severe disappointment that one, it was a Democrat that pushed for the new restriction on women’s reproductive rights, and two, it was absolutely not necessary to include this right-wing anti-choice amendment in order to pass the bill since there was already laws that restrict the use of federal funds to subsidize pregnancy termination procedures. Even if a woman purchases a policy through the new exchange with her own money, termination procedures will not be covered. This is the biggest restriction on access to termination in a generation, even the Republican National Committee’s health policy covers this medical procedure.

This statement from Reps. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and Diana DeGette (D-Col.), co-chairs of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus states how I feel very well:

“Placing onerous new restrictions on a woman’s right to choose sets a terrible precedent and marks a significant step backwards. This effort will effectively ban abortion coverage in all plans, both private and public – marking a significant scaling back of the options offered under existing laws. Such a terrible, last minute amendment to a critical, historic piece of legislation is a shame. This kind of outrageous interference in health care by the government marks a sad day in this struggle and will result in women across America losing the right to health care.”

A line should have been drawn. If the bill could not pass on it’s own merits without having to bribe conservative Democrats with another attempt to send women back to the coat hanger days, then the bill deserved not to pass at all.

(There should be no such thing as “conservative Democrats”. It is a contradiction. They should go ahead and switch parties.)

I am a man. I am also of the mind that women deserve the same reproductive choices and freedoms that men have. If the specific language of the Stupak Amendment cannot be altered to allow women access to the medical procedure to terminate an unwanted pregnancy that is covered in most private insurance policies, then it must die in committee. It is a shame that we started this conversation on health care reform without the best option, Medicare for all, on the table. Now, to bargain away Roe just to get a bill passed is a bridge too far.

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