DeLauro Bill Would Curb Unintended Pregnancies |
Site last published: 01/06/10
DeLauro Bill Would Curb Unintended Pregnancies
July 23,2009
New Haven
Register
Ed Stannard
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro will introduce a bill today that she believes will reduce abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies and supporting parents and families.
The bill, which DeLauro, D-3, is co-sponsoring with U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, arrives amid debate about whether the president’s health care reform bill should include abortion coverage.
The “Preventing Unintended Pregnancies” bill focuses “on finding common ground to reduce the need for abortions,” DeLauro said in a statement. “It is strong on prevention and contraception and strong on family support, because absent these supports, you simply cannot reduce the need for abortion.”
She added the bill “helps move us forward on this issue, beyond the question of the legality of abortion and toward actually reducing the need for abortion and providing critical economic investments for families.”
The numerous programs included in the bill include:
ÇGrants for education to prevent pregnancy by encouraging teens to delay sexual activity and use contraception; to support parents of teens in communication “about sex, values, and healthy relationships.”
ÇRestoring contraception as a mandatory facet of Medicaid plans, expanding prenatal and post-partum care under Medicaid and increasing funds for reproductive health care for low-income women.
ÇExpanding Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, including children within 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
ÇProhibiting insurers from considering pregnancy a pre-existing condition when adding members, requiring maternity care coverage and offering grants for community health centers to buy ultrasound equipment.
ÇCreating a domestic violence screening and treatment program.
ÇIncreasing support for pregnant students and those who are parents.
ÇProviding grants for a National Information Campaign on Adoption and increasing the adoption tax credit from $10,000 to $15,000.
ÇIncreasing support for the Women, Infants and Children program and expanding eligibility for food stamps from 30 percent to 85 percent of the poverty line.
While the Ryan-DeLauro bill aims to reduce unwanted pregnancies, anti-abortion advocates, including the Knights of Columbus, charged Wednesday that President Barack Obama’s health care bill will increase abortions unless it excludes coverage of the procedure.
The Knights of Columbus, the Roman Catholic men’s organization based in New Haven, issued a statement saying the bill “contains an abortion mandate that is a grave threat to human life.”
Andrew T. Walther, a K of C spokesman, pointed to a letter by 19 conservative Democratic House members to Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying they won’t support the bill unless abortion is “not funded through any health care reform package.”
“The mandate is that the (health) plans will be forced to cover abortion and there will be forced abortion (coverage) in places where it doesn’t exist,” Walther said.
Abortion rights supporters say prohibiting abortion coverage would take away a right women now have.
Federal law prohibits government money from being used to pay for abortion in most cases, but nearly 90 percent of employer-based private insurance plans routinely cover abortion.
Another group of lawmakers, including Ryan, wrote Pelosi urging a compromise that would leave the decision on abortion coverage up to insurers involved in the government plan, but forbid the carriers from using federal dollars to pay for the procedure.
Ed Stannard
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro will introduce a bill today that she believes will reduce abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies and supporting parents and families.
The bill, which DeLauro, D-3, is co-sponsoring with U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, arrives amid debate about whether the president’s health care reform bill should include abortion coverage.
The “Preventing Unintended Pregnancies” bill focuses “on finding common ground to reduce the need for abortions,” DeLauro said in a statement. “It is strong on prevention and contraception and strong on family support, because absent these supports, you simply cannot reduce the need for abortion.”
She added the bill “helps move us forward on this issue, beyond the question of the legality of abortion and toward actually reducing the need for abortion and providing critical economic investments for families.”
The numerous programs included in the bill include:
ÇGrants for education to prevent pregnancy by encouraging teens to delay sexual activity and use contraception; to support parents of teens in communication “about sex, values, and healthy relationships.”
ÇRestoring contraception as a mandatory facet of Medicaid plans, expanding prenatal and post-partum care under Medicaid and increasing funds for reproductive health care for low-income women.
ÇExpanding Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, including children within 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
ÇProhibiting insurers from considering pregnancy a pre-existing condition when adding members, requiring maternity care coverage and offering grants for community health centers to buy ultrasound equipment.
ÇCreating a domestic violence screening and treatment program.
ÇIncreasing support for pregnant students and those who are parents.
ÇProviding grants for a National Information Campaign on Adoption and increasing the adoption tax credit from $10,000 to $15,000.
ÇIncreasing support for the Women, Infants and Children program and expanding eligibility for food stamps from 30 percent to 85 percent of the poverty line.
While the Ryan-DeLauro bill aims to reduce unwanted pregnancies, anti-abortion advocates, including the Knights of Columbus, charged Wednesday that President Barack Obama’s health care bill will increase abortions unless it excludes coverage of the procedure.
The Knights of Columbus, the Roman Catholic men’s organization based in New Haven, issued a statement saying the bill “contains an abortion mandate that is a grave threat to human life.”
Andrew T. Walther, a K of C spokesman, pointed to a letter by 19 conservative Democratic House members to Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying they won’t support the bill unless abortion is “not funded through any health care reform package.”
“The mandate is that the (health) plans will be forced to cover abortion and there will be forced abortion (coverage) in places where it doesn’t exist,” Walther said.
Abortion rights supporters say prohibiting abortion coverage would take away a right women now have.
Federal law prohibits government money from being used to pay for abortion in most cases, but nearly 90 percent of employer-based private insurance plans routinely cover abortion.
Another group of lawmakers, including Ryan, wrote Pelosi urging a compromise that would leave the decision on abortion coverage up to insurers involved in the government plan, but forbid the carriers from using federal dollars to pay for the procedure.