Griper Blade: Missing the Point

The weekend's big news is being overshadowed by what legislators probably had hoped would be a minor story. In passing healthcare reform in the House of Representatives, a bit of last-minute horsetrading gave us the Stupak-Pitts amendment. Worried that maybe a nickel of taxpayer dollars might wind up in some abortion provider's pocket, the amendment attacks the "problem" with a handgrenade, making it all but illegal for insurers to cover abortion services. No plan that competes for subsidized customers would be allowed to provide abortion coverage and, as a result, it's nearly impossible to see a way in which insurers would provide coverage at all.

And so now, the big sticking point going forward has become -- pretty much out of the blue -- abortion rights and coverage. The always insightful Greg Sargent explains the situation:

One side point: It will be much tougher for pro-choice Dems to cave and support the bill with Stupak than it was for House progressives to cave and back the bill despite its lack of a robust public option.

Here’s why: Because the public option had initially been written off for dead, the version liberals did secure allowed them to claim they had won something. By contrast, Stupak is a significant step backward for advocates of abortion rights and women’s health issues. So it will be much tougher for pro-choice House Dems to back a final bill with Stupak in the end. This will intensify.

In other words, giving up a real public option is one thing, since it involves losing something that never got beyond the conceptual stage anyway. But giving up ground on abortion rights is another, since it involves losing something people have fought long and hard to gain and would hurt women most in need of reform. Additionally, in a battle where "being a woman is not a preexisting condition" has become a slogan, adding yet another hurdle in front of women seeking adequate health coverage would not be what you call a win... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]