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There has been a great deal of discussion about the Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts amendment in HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Let me be clear: Our amendment maintains current law. Despite claims by pro-abortion groups that our amendment goes beyond current law, no one has been able to show where the actual language in our amendment is different from language in the Hyde amendment that has been in effect for 33 years.
Under our amendment, individuals who receive federal subsidies will be prohibited from using them to pay for abortions or insurance policies that cover abortion. The amendment does not prevent private plans from offering, or individuals from obtaining, abortion services with their own money. Our amendment specifically states that those who receive federal subsidies can purchase a supplemental policy with private money to cover abortions.
In short, our amendment applies the Hyde language -- which has prohibited the federal funding of abortion in every federal health program for the past 30 years -- in the new health care system.
Abortion supporters continue to argue that the Capps amendment originally included in the health care bill was a sufficient compromise in line with Hyde language. However, the Capps proposal would set a new precedent by mandating that at least one plan in the exchange provide abortion coverage, requiring a minimum $1 monthly charge for every enrollee in the public option that would go toward paying for services that include abortion, and allowing individuals receiving federal subsidies (affordability credits) to purchase insurance plans that cover abortion. These provisions would, in essence, overturn Hyde language and establish abortion as a federal benefit.
Opponents of our amendment have also argued that it would effectively end health insurance coverage of abortion. This argument is unfounded speculation and runs counter to how insurance companies operate today.
For example, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program provides insurance through a variety of companies to more than 8 million Americans, but it does not allow abortion coverage in any of its policies. Yet the same companies that offer abortion-free plans to federal employees also offer plans with abortion coverage to nonfederal employees. Given that insurance companies find it feasible, and profitable, to offer separate plans now, it is only logical that they would continue to do so on the health insurance exchange.
Bart Stupak
Source: Freep.com December 2009
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