http://tinyurl.com/yebzfau
The article presents the changes that are being made to smooth over the abortion issue in health care reform. Many of the people who would otherwise support the bill but are currently having trouble because of the possible funding of abortions with tax payer dollars seem to be happy with this most recent change. Basically between the House and Senate a compromise has been reached. It goes something like this: If the abortion is legal under the Hyde amendments (this covers abortion in the case of Rape, Incest and to save the life of the mother) then it can be covered with any insurance plan regardless of whether or not it is being federally subsidized. If the person wants coverage for abortion for any other reason then they will have to purchase a separate abortion coverage policy that cannot be funded by tax dollars (to ensure that this happens the folks who want the coverage will have to physically write 2 checks to the insurance company. This, according to the 2 staunchly anti-abortion congressmen who wrote it, is an acceptable compromise because it doesn't change the status quo of abortion. People who do not want to fun abortion can chose an insurance plan that either does not offer such coverage or at least know that their tax dollars are not funding abortions (unless they are covered under the Hyde laws).
I think this seems like a fair compromise. It prevents people who have a moral objection or simply do not need abortions (single men, older women etc) from having to pay for them. Yes there are going to be those who claim immediately that there is no way to ensure that only money from the separate abortion premiums is being used, but with modern technology and effective oversight I think it will work.
As a final thought I will leave a quote:
"You can't be blanket pro-life and not address those things that encourage women to make the choice of having an abortion, If you are really looking to reduce the number of abortions in America, one of the things that will make that happen is to have comprehensive health care coverage." Rev. Derrik Harkins, National Association of Evangelicals