Between the Lines Q&A

A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
on national and international issues
under-reported in mainstream media
for release March 20, 2010

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Rep. Stupak, Insurance Industry
Use Abortion Issue to Kill
Weakened Health Care Reform

RealAudio MP3

Interview with Eleanor Smeal,
president of the Feminist Majority Foundation,
conducted by Scott Harris

stupak

What some pro-choice activists describe as an effort to enact the most sweeping legislative abortion restrictions in 30 years may well be the last major hurdle supporters of a compromise health care reform bill will need to overcome in order to win passage.

Although the Hyde amendment adopted by Congress in 1976 prohibits any federal funds to be spent on abortion services for poor women, U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., wanted to go further. With both Democrat and Republican allies, Stupak succeeded in amending the House health care reform bill to extend the abortion ban to cover subsidized insurance policies which women buy with their own money. However, the Senate refused to adopt Stupak's anti-abortion language in their version of health care reform legislation, but nevertheless included provisions that make it nearly impossible for women to access abortion coverage.

Now with President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders pushing to pass a final health care reform bill before Easter, Rep. Stupak and possibly 11 other Democrats, have pledged to vote against the legislation unless it includes the more restrictive anti-abortion language found in the House bill. With Democrats planning to first pass the Senate bill, and then quickly amend that legislation to terms agreeable to both chambers via the budget reconciliation process that cannot consider abortion issues, it's likely that Rep. Stupak will not prevail.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Eleanor Smeal, a lifelong activist for women's equality, and former president of the National Organization for Women, who currently serves as the president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. Smeal assesses the attempt to make health care reform a vehicle for eroding women's access to legal abortion and what this debate says about the strength of the pro-choice movement.

ELEANOR SMEAL: We now know that the national conference of Catholic bishops kept on insisting on more and more. The reality is, this bill does not fund abortion anyway. In fact, it cuts back the rights of women. And then he (Stupak) or the bishops wanted to cut it back even further by saying a woman couldn't even pay for it with her own money. The whole thing is so outrageous. And they say they care about people, and that he really wants health care reform and the bishops want to help the poor. But in reality, they've stood in the way and they've used this as a hammer, even though (the health care reform bill) never did cover abortion. And now the Senate bill even cuts it back more by putting in a requirement that you have to segregate the money even if the person -- the person has to pay for it in two payments, any abortion coverage. The whole thing is preposterous. And we just have to get more more pro-choice votes in Congress and I think we have to say no to the really, violations of separations of church and state that the bishops have been pulling.

BETWEEN THE LINES: You and others have made the case that the Catholic bishops' conference here in the United States played a very important role in lining up Rep. Stupak and others to use the health care reform legislation as a vehicle to further restrict abortion rights for women.

ELEANOR SMEAL: That's right. I mean, it was pretty blatant. They didn't hide it. They were definitely in the back rooms, pushing, pushing, pushing. In fact they got, in all their fighting on the House side, in other words, they fought the fought the House side and put the Stupak amendment in. And then they pushed on the Senate side, and even though the Senate bill clearly did not fund abortion, they pushed more and they got the provisions in for adoption because basically they have contracts for adoption. They are constantly pushing for things that benefit them. And I think that more people should know that.

This whole business of separation of church and state -- I don't the American public is aware of how much taxpayer dollars go to things like Catholic charity. They do all the time. So basically, they pushed like there is no tomorrow and demanded. And they did one more thing, and I've had several members of Congress tell me this: that they threatened ex-communication if you voted against them, and they threatened that they were going to score it. I just can't get over it. But the ex-communication, I say it goes one step too far. I mean, this is ridiculous, because obviously, a religious principle is also taking care of the poor. And a lot of this measure takes care of the poor and these representatives are elected to represent their districts, to represent people of all faiths and those who are nonbelievers. I mean, this is not the religious representatives in Congress.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Eleanor Smeal, what is the current debate about health care and the inclusion of abortion say about the strength of women's equality and the pro-choice forces as well as the strength of the anti-abortion movement.

ELEANOR SMEAL: Well, I personally feel that abortion is being used as an issue to stop women's rights and also to stop progress. The business interests use it, and I really feel that that this bill, the reason why the health care reform has had so much trouble is maybe this issue, but primarily is the insurance interests. And, I believe the reason the Republicans have been voting as a bloc is those insurance interests. So they'll use the religious issues to hide behind, but this is a bogus issue because basically, there is no federal funding of abortion in this bill, period. Black and white, right in the writing.

And what worries me, is that instead of discussing the issue, some opponents of bills now make everything that pertains in the least to women, an abortion bill so we don't have to really discuss whatever is apparent in the bill; "we now will just discuss this issue (abortion)." So it's being used unfortunately, and I think that political people and a lot of people have had it. It can't be whipped around, every issue can't be made an abortion issue on one side.

On the other side, women's advocates must get a pro-choice Congress. This is just awful. Some people say they're for us. They run on tickets saying they're for full women's rights and then they vote against us. And that happened here. We lost people who said they were pro-choice. This bill could have been so much stronger. We have to do something about the business interests and I do feel very strongly. When I say business interests, I should say it more specifically. The large corporations, these big multi-insurance corporations, in some areas, there is no competition at all -- there's just one insurance company or two for a whole state. We have to see through these scare tactics that are being used to defeat real progress for people. And it's a shame. We're one of the richest countries in the world and we're the only one without full insurance coverage. There are so many lies and so many distortions. They get away with it because there are too many people who are not active and so I hope that people who are listening to this debate, if you become upset over this debate, first let your representatives and senators know that you want this finished, you want health care reform. It's not perfect, but at least it's a step.

And that two, that you vow that you will get active so this can't continue.

Contact the Feminist Majority Foundation at (703) 522-2214 or visit their website at www.feminist.org

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Scott Harris is an executive producer of Between The Lines, which can be heard on more than 45 radio stations and in RealAudio and MP3 on our website at http://www.btlonline.org. This interview excerpt was featured on the award-winning, syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine, Between The Lines for the week ending March 26, 2010. This Between The Lines Q&A was compiled by Anna Manzo.

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