Take Action: Last Chance to Support Access to Abortions in Comprehensive Health Care Reform

A few weeks ago, we asked you to contact your elected officials to voice your support for health care reform that includes access to comprehensive reproductive health services including abortion. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on health care TOMORROW! We need your help in the final push to ensure that health care reform legislation includes adequate coverage for reproductive health services. A small group of Representatives are using religious objections to abortion to push for an amendment to pending legislation (the Stupak amendment) which would prevent any health care reform bill from including coverage of reproductive health services, including abortion. We must not let them succeed! Please take a few minutes to contact your Representatives and urge them to support health care reform that includes access to reproductive health services including abortion! Send the email below, or go to www.house.gov and type in your zip code to find your Congressperson's phone number. We want to inundate these offices with pro-choice advocacy, so call and email ASAP! Tell me more

Talking Points

- In one proposed amendment to H.R. 3962,if a woman wanted reproductive health coverage that included abortion services, she'd have to purchase an additional insurance rider. This rider would have to be purchased far in advance, so by the time a woman had an unplanned pregnancy, even as the result of abuse, she would not be able to buy the insurance at that point in time. This means that women in abusive relationships would have to negotiate coverage with their spouse, and young women who are under their parents' health care plan would have to negotiate with them in order to access reproductive health services.

- Voters overwhelmingly support the broad outlines of reform and requiring coverage of women's reproductive health services. Seven-in-ten (70%) favor a proposal that establishes a National Health Insurance Exchange with a public plan option. If the reform were adopted, voters overwhelmingly support requiring health plans to cover women's reproductive health services (71% favor-21% oppose).

- Absent coverage for women's reproductive health services, majorities oppose reform. If reform eliminated current insurance coverage of reproductive health services such as birth control or abortion, nearly two-thirds (60%) would oppose the plan and nearly half (47%) would oppose it strongly.

- Supporting coverage of comprehensive reproductive health services would benefit Members of Congress. A plurality (45%) would feel more favorably toward their Representative if they voted to cover reproductive services, while 24% would feel less favorably, and 32% said it would make no difference.

- Voters would feel much less favorably about their Representative if they voted to cover services like Viagra for men, but excluded reproductive services for women.

- Voters overwhelmingly reported that they would feel less favorably toward their Member of Congress if they voted for reproductive services for men and not for women (71%), while only 9% would feel more favorably toward their Representative.

- Even in the face of opposition arguments, majorities support requiring coverage of abortions under reform. After hearing strong arguments both for and against covering abortion under reform, two-thirds (66%) support coverage, agreeing that health care, not politics, should drive coverage decisions. A majority of voters (72%) reported that they would feel angry if Congress mandated by law that abortion would not be covered under a national health care plan.

- Voters want rules to stop insurance companies from discriminating against women. Even in the face of industry claims of too much government interference, 62% agree that reform should establish new rules to treat everyone fairly and stop discrimination, while far fewer (32%) side with opponents' claims.