Yesterday the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” passed in the House. It’s a pretty odd name considering taxpayer funding for abortion has ALREADY been banned for 40 years under the Hyde Amendment. (Is it rly only Wednesday?…)
The House is hoping we don’t notice what’s really going on. HR7 is a recipe to cook up a total ban on insurance coverage for abortion, even insurance purchased privately. It has 3 parts:
1) Permanently bans people who get their healthcare through Medicaid, the US Military, the Peace Corps, and the Indian Health Service from having abortion services covered by their insurance. It also bans federal employees and their family members from coverage.
2) Revokes a small business tax credit for employers offering plans with coverage.
3) Prevents people who purchase insurance PRIVATELY from purchasing plans that cover abortion if they receive Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Therein lies the trickery. Because many Americans will be met with unaffordable rates on plans that do offer coverage, HR7 effectively incentivizes insurance companies to drop abortion coverage altogether.
It’s a pretty deliberate attack on women, and more specifically, a deliberate attack on low-income women. Anti-choice extremists can’t make abortion illegal, so they are doing anything in their power to make it as expensive and unobtainable as possible. This will hit struggling families the hardest.
So hey Congress, here’s a radical thought: women are human too. We are taxpaying citizens. We have a right to the insurance coverage we pay for. We have a right to our own bodies and our reproduction. And our medical decisions are nunya-damn-business. Kapeesh?
Now the bill goes to the Senate. I know phone calls are annoying. I know human contact is UGH. But calls are a CRITICAL tool rn. PLEASE ask your senator to reject HR7 and protect women’s & all uterus owner’s reproductive healthcare. For extra credit, shame your reps that voted for it in the House. Let em know we’re paying attention.
I found my rep’s phone # here: www.whoismyrepresentative.com
Text of HR 7: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr7/summary