Pingree vows to vote "No" on health reform bill that includes Stupak-Pitts amendment

Another interesting piece of info (0.00 / 0)

I just heard on NPR that "some say" that most of the private insurance coverage billed for abortions is actually for later term procedures, when the fetus is compromised or the woman's health is in danger.  These usually take place in a hospital and cost thousands.  There would be no coverage for these procedures under Stupak.

The reporter also asserted that most first trimester abortions are "inexpensive, a couple of hundred dollars".
That's not my experience here in Maine, and I doubt that's true in most parts of the U.S.  The fees I've heard about are $500 - $700, not an insignificant sum if you're young, single, and/or poor.  

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by: marisol @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 17:32:07 PM CST

Jon Walker, writing at FDL, (0.00 / 0)

notes that Stupak-Pitts goes much further than most realize:

The Stupak amendment reaches far beyond any of the reporting so far. It could effectively stop many employer-provided health insurance plans from covering abortions for tens of millions of Americans. It reads:

In General - No Funds authorized under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) may be used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion, except in the case...[of a risk of death of the mother, rape, or incest].

The big problem is that HR 3962 touches many insurance plans directly and indirectly.

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by: Gerald Weinand @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 20:22:45 PM CST

Good for her! (0.00 / 0)

But why did she vote Yes on Saturday?

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by: Dan Billings @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 21:20:17 PM CST

From the press release sent out (0.00 / 0)

Saturday night:

This bill moves us much closer to a time when no one can be denied health care coverage because of a pre-existing condition, no one can be told you can't have health care coverage, no one will have to go into personal bankruptcy.

This bill will help seniors by reducing prescription drug prices and closing the donut hole, it will help those who have coverage by cracking down on the worst practices of the insurance industry, and will provide subsidies to nearly 360,000 Maine individuals and nearly 40,000 Maine small businesses to make insurance more affordable.

You know how legislation is crafted - if Stupak-Pitts makes it through the Conference Committee, then H.R. 3962 will have a greater negative impact than the positive ones cited above.

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by: Gerald Weinand @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 05:57:16 AM CST

[ Parent ]

The House vote was the key (0.00 / 0)

If abortion restrictions were to be kept out of the bill, it was going to happen in the House.  By voting for the bill last Saturday that incuded abortion restrictions, Pingree made it extremely likely that the final bill will include abortion restrictions.  

What is going on now is just for show.

Pingree decided protecting the President's agenda was more important than abortion rights.

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by: Dan Billings @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 18:06:21 PM CST

I disagree. Where will the Senate (0.00 / 0)

come down on this? Will it send a bill with Stupak-Pitts to the Conference Committee? Will it send a bill with even a public option?

I think that the time for the progressive Dems to have made their stand was after Stupak but before the final vote. I am not privy to what was agreed to in the cloakroom - but if the deal is for a bill to be sent to the WH with these restrictions, then the Dems are just really fucking stupid.

But hey - look how they voted on the AUMF Iraq, the Patriot Act, Bush's tax cuts, etc. Look how Pelosi and Reid worked after taking power in January 2007.

As much as I like to hope that Dems will find again the populism that Defined the Party in the 1930's, I understand that for the most part they are bought and paid for by the special interests behind the money.

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by: Gerald Weinand @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 18:14:10 PM CST

[ Parent ]