Apples & Oranges

Created by: Jillian

Two new polls show that the majority of Americans oppose federal funding of abortion in the health care bill and some people are calling this a victory for "pro-lifers".

And so it goes...more misinformation.

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment has nothing to do with federal funding of abortion, it goes much beyond that and all but prohibits insurance companies in the public exchange from offering abortion coverage in their plan.

Pro-Choice advocates are well aware that the majority of Americans oppose federal funding of abortion, evident by the longevity and strength of the Hyde Amendment--in effect since 1976. Pro-Choice advocates were aware of this when they first started working with legislators on health care reform. They worked with legislators on both sides of the abortion issue to come up with a compromise known as the Capps Amendment, that made a separation of funds used to pay for abortion and federal funds.

Anti-choice advocates and Stupak himself have done a good job of reinforcing that the Stupak Amendment is a debate over federal funding of abortion, when in fact, it is not. The Stupak Amendment will prohibit women who enter the public health insurance exchange who plan on paying their entire premium out of pocket from being able to access abortion because the Stupak Amendment has been contructed in such a way that it will not be financially beneficial for insurance companies to offer abortion coverage, and so, most if not all insurance companies will not cover it.

We need to stop comparing apples to oranges.

The question isn't if Americans oppose federal funding of abortion--we already know that.

We need to know if Americans support the strategic elimination of insurance coverage for abortion over time.