Objectify This

Palin Doesn’t Convince the Pro-Life Movement, Either:

Stephanie Mencimer at Mother Jones reports that a Pro-life movement, the American Right to Life, believes that Palin is secretly pro-choice.

Dispute Over Repercussions of  Health Care Reform Act?

At the NPR health blog Shots, Julie Rovner explains that neither abortion rights groups nor anti-abortion groups believe that HR3962 will work for their aims. Abortion rights groups believe it is a huge step backwards, while anti-abortion groups believe that women can buy extra coverage or pay out of pocket for their abortions, so their rights are not lost.

Andrea Seabrook Breaks Down the Language of the Stupak Amendment on All Things Considered here. Ah, clarity! She says, “If you get your health insurance through your state, as in Medicaid, your state could buy supplemental abortion coverage for everyone it insures. And 17 states already do this under Medicaid.

“The Exchange: The next section of the abortion amendment deals with the exchange. That’s the government-administered service where people can buy insurance and join a risk pool. One of the reasons health care is so expensive for people who don’t get it through their work is that they’re not in a large risk pool. The bill tries to group them together and cut costs for everyone.

“Private insurance companies that offer a health plan through the exchange are allowed to cover abortion. But if they’re going to, the companies must also offer another plan that is identical in every way, except that it does not cover abortion.

“So, say you’re buying insurance with your own money, and you get it through the exchange. You can choose a policy that covers abortion, or one that doesn’t. But if you’re getting help from the government to buy that insurance—in the form of a tax subsidy—you may not choose a plan that covers abortion. You are still allowed to buy a supplemental policy with your own money.

“Private Insurance: The Stupak amendment does not apply to private insurance bought with private money. It is also not close to becoming law. The Senate bill does not have similar language, though lawmakers on both sides of the debate are now looking at it.

“The question now is how this might play out in a whole new medical system, and what it means in the broader narrative of abortion in America.”