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Kris Krossed: One Step Closer

By Kristoffer Munden, Gavel Media Team, on November 8, 2009 10:40 PM

By Kristoffer Munden –

Late Saturday night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009, which brings our country one step closer to achieving quality, affordable health coverage for every American.  Like millions thousands hundreds tens several others across the country, I stayed in to watch the momentous voting take place.  It was political drama at its finest—watching the vote tally edge up slowly to the magic 218, waiting for the final uncommitted Democrats to register their votes.

Surprisingly, a lone Republican chose to vote for the health care reform bill—Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA).  Cao’s vote was courageous—he set aside partisan politics to vote on the side of history, and more importantly, on the side of Americans everywhere who desperately need health insurance reform.  It’s truly refreshing to see a Republican who’s actually willing to view legislation rationally and from the standpoint of what the country needs, rather than what astroturfers and talking heads think we need.

While the passage of the bill is a tremendous step in the right direction, to ensure its passage entailed the inclusion of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment.  The Stupak-Pitts amendment bans any private insurer that provides coverage for abortions from participating in the new health insurance exchange.  This means that some women would have to purchase insurance outside of the exchange, effectively discriminating against those who are able to afford health insurance otherwise (read: poor and lower-middle class women).

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment needlessly takes abortion rights many steps backward.  Further, the stated purpose of the amendment—to provide the use of federal funds for abortions—is already achieved through the Hyde Amendment, which was passed more than 30 years ago in 1976.

One of the biggest criticisms of Democratic plans to reform health insurance launched by conservatives has been that government bureaucrats would be placed in between patients and their doctors.  Ironically, the Stupak-Pitts Amendment does just that.  In fact, abortion is the only legal medical procedure that is singled out in the Affordable Health Care for America Act for rationing and unnecessary government intervention.

Thankfully, we are still waiting for the Senate to move on its version of a health insurance reform bill.  I hope that Senators will have a the level-headedness to be able to reject any provision similar to the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, and that it continues to respect existing laws in place for more than 30 years.

We can’t let abortion hijack the larger debate on health insurance reform.  Congress should focus on what can bring us together and not on what will inevitably divide us.  It should pass a bill that will provide affordable, quality health insurance coverage to all Americans without being mired in questions over fundamental women’s rights.