by Nicole Cheetham, Director, International Department

It is hard for me to believe that it is almost 2010, we have a democratic-controlled Congress, a Democratic in the White House and a health care reform bill that may compromise women’s health. Granted, creating a health care plan that includes all Americans is daunting and requires compromises, but why is the concept of health care for all, to begin with, so difficult to embrace?  And why should fifty-one percent of the population carry the full weight of these compromises?

During a recent stay in Sweden, I had a long conversation with a taxi driver who simply could not fathom why providing health care for all Americans is even a debate in the first place.  He did not understand our need to negotiate something he saw as a fundamental right. Of course, he lives in a country that ensures access to health care for all of its citizens. So the idea of Americans going into debt, having to skip doctor’s  appointments, or cutting pills in half because they can’t afford to take their medicines as prescribed, seemed ludicrous to him.  I wouldn’t be surprised if many other people around the world living in countries that provide health care for their citizens, such as Chile, Jamaica, Switzerland, or Canada, among others, aren’t just as baffled by our ongoing and agonizing debate as my taxi cab driver was.

It’s worth noting that I had this conversation with the taxi driver in Sweden before I even had a full grasp of existing limitations in the bill with regard to women’s reproductive health services.  Not only that, but it was before the Stupak Amendment, which limits women’s rights to purchase abortion coverage with their own funds, was added to the House bill. Besides stripping coverage for abortion services ---basically taking away what we already have ---the House bill also fails to provide adequate coverage for key reproductive health preventative care services, such as mammograms, HPV screening, and family planning. 

The Women’s Health Amendment, introduced by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) fortunately expanded the Senate health care reform bill. Passed on a 61-39 vote, the Mikulski amendment guarantees access to life-saving preventive services and screenings by lowering insurance co-pays and deductibles for such services.  Additionally, Mikulski’s amendment allows family planning services to be considered preventive services, thereby exempting them from co-pays.  

Meanwhile, the current Senate bill preserves the status quo restrictions on federal funding for abortion except in the case of rape, incest and life endangerment.  The bill also includes a “conscience clause” for health care providers. Just recently anti-choice Senators introduced their own version of the Stupak Amendment, the Nelson Amendment, which would have prohibited private health insurance plans from offering abortion coverage to both subsidized and unsubsidized individuals.  Fortunately, the Nelson amendment was defeated yesterday 54 to 45. 

The elimination of the Nelson Amendment gives me hope that our policy makers can stand up to protect women’s lives and prevent expanding restrictions on abortion beyond current, already restrictive policy.   But it’s not over till it’s over and we, as a reproductive health and rights community, need to stay vigilant and make sure that our policy makers know that we will not accept any last-minute attempts to further compromise half the population’s health.