November 17, 2009
Limited effect seen in abortion clause
by Stephanie Simon
The Wall Street Journal
Restrictions on abortion coverage approved in the House version of the health-care bill likely will affect the affordability of the procedure for only a small minority of women.
Although the bill has stirred passions on both sides of the abortion-rights debate -- which are likely to be echoed when the Senate takes up its version -- the practical effect of the restrictions will be limited, statistics suggest and some experts in family-planning issues say.
"This is very much a political issue and a lot less about the substance of how many women will actually be affected," said Phillip Levine, an economist at Wellesley College who supports legal abortion and is the author of "Sex and Consequences: Abortion, Public Policy and the Economics of Fertility."
The restrictions were introduced as an amendment by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who opposes abortion. They aim to ensure that no taxpayer dollars fund abortion. To that end, the government-run public insurance plan set up by the House bill wouldn't cover abortion, except in the rare cases of rape or incest, or when the pregnancy endangers the woman's life.
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