Reform cannot come at a cost to women

Chances are, you have abortion coverage in your private health insurance plan - the majority of health plans currently do. While the Hyde Amendment restricts the use of federal dollars for abortion, most private insurers have covered abortion as a standard benefit.

A recent amendment to the U.S. House of Representatives health reform bill threatens to take away private health insurance benefits that women have by placing unprecedented restrictions on women's ability to purchase private health insurance coverage for abortion under health care reform.

The amendment, known as the Stupak Ban, would severely restrict access to abortion coverage in the newly created health care exchange, undermining the ability of millions of women to purchase private health insurance that covers abortion, even if they pay for all or most of the premiums with their own money. Also, the Stupak amendment would ban insurance coverage for abortion, which can cost anywhere from $350 to $10,000, in the new public option, which would compete with private health plans in the exchange. Enrollees in the public plan would also pay premiums with their own money, yet the public plan would be forbidden from offering abortion care as part of its benefits package. In all, this amendment reaches much further than the Hyde Amendment, denying the use of private money, rather than just public money, for abortion.

Women face greater barriers than men do in finding and purchasing affordable health insurance, and they pay more out of pocket for their health care. This amendment would force women to pay additional out-of-pocket costs.

According to a 2009 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 15 percent of women in Illinois report not visiting a doctor due to high costs or because their health plan did not cover a comprehensive set of health benefits. We cannot allow this number to increase under health care reform.

Steve Trombley

President & CEO

Planned Parenthood of Illinois