Abortion

Jan. 29, 2010 - Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, today issued the following statement on the conviction of Scott Roeder for first-degree murder in the death of reproductive health care provider Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, KS.

"Today, a jury of Scott Roeder’s peers sent a clear and resounding message to him and all anti-choice extremists: violence and murder cannot be justified by personal beliefs about abortion and will not be tolerated in this country.    » read more »

December 9, 2009 -- Washington, DC – During the ongoing Senate health care debate, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today spoke out the Senate floor in opposition to an amendment offered by Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), which would represent a major setback for women’s rights.

Specifically, the Nelson amendment would prohibit any health insurance plan that accepts a single government subsidy or dollar from providing coverage for any abortion, no matter how necessary that procedure might be for a woman’s health – and even if she pays for coverage herself.

Early this evening, Senator Feinstein joined a majority of the Senate in tabling, or striking down, the Nelson amendment by a vote of 54-45.    » read more »

Praises Senate’s rebuke yesterday of similar Nelson Amendment to Senate health insurance legislation

09 December 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), a leading proponent of women’s reproductive rights and the Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, issued the following statement on Rep. Stupak’s blatantly discriminatory amendment – which would restrict women’s access to reproductive health care – to the Affordable Health Care for America Act:

“I rise to voice my continued opposition to the Stupak Amendment to the health insurance reform bill.    » read more »

December 8, 2009 -- Washington, DC -- Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) today released the following statement in response to the defeat of Senator Ben Nelson’s amendment to the Senate’s version of the health reform bill.

The Nelson amendment, which was similar to the Stupak amendment included in the House of Representatives’ version of health reform legislation, would have restricted private insurers from covering abortion services in insurance plans receiving government subsidies in the proposed health insurance Exchange.    » read more »

8 December 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Vice Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted to table the Nelson amendment:

“I am delighted the U.S. Senate has rejected an extreme amendment that would have turned back the clock on a woman’s right to choose.

"The underlying Senate bill already prohibits federal funding of abortion. The amendment the Senate rejected today was an attempt to use health care reform to restrict women’s access to reproductive health services.    » read more »

Amendment Would Restrict Women's Health Care Access

December 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Congresswoman Lois Capps applauded the U.S. Senate’s vote to reject the anti-women’s health and women’s rights amendment introduced yesterday by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). The amendment was defeated by a vote of 54 to 45.

Capps asserted that the amendment would have marked a significant step back for women’s health by essentially barring coverage of abortion services in the new health insurance Exchange where millions of Americans will soon purchase their health insurance. The Nelson/Hatch amendment was modeled on the Stupak amendment included in the House health reform bill passed last month.    » read more »

Current version of bill already “maintains careful delineation which has been worked out up until this time”

Washington, D.C. -- December 8, 2009 -- Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) last night took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to speak out against the pending Nelson-Hatch amendment to the healthcare bill. The amendment would prevent individuals who receive federal insurance subsidies from purchasing private policies that cover elective abortions.

The amendment also bars insurance plans that cover individuals who receive federal subsidies from offering abortion coverage to individuals privately purchasing their insurance through those plans.    » read more »

Senator says health care reform is the most important social justice vote Senate will cast this decade

07-Dec-2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today spoke on the Senate floor against the Nelson Amendment, describing it as “unnecessary, unneeded and uncalled for.”    » read more »

December 8, 2009 -- Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) today made the following statement regarding her vote on the Nelson amendment. The Senate Finance Committee bill that Sen. Lincoln helped draft – as well as H.R. 3590 that is currently being debated on the Senate floor – both went to great lengths to ensure that pending health insurance reform legislation adheres to current law, which prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion except in the cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is at risk. The Nelson amendment goes beyond current law to impose significant new restrictions on abortion.    » read more »

Dec. 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) today voted against Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-Neb.) abortion-funding amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Nelson amendment would go beyond current federal law and would not only have prohibited the use of taxpayer funds for abortion services, but would also have prevented many Americans from using their own funds to obtain coverage for abortions. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 45-54.

Sen. Landrieu said:    » read more »

"Bipartisan Amendment Preserves Federal Standard Disallowing Public Funding Of Abortion"

December 7, 2009 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson and a bipartisan group of senators filed an amendment to extend the more than 30-year federal standard disallowing public funding for abortion to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, the Senate health care bill.

“As written, the Senate health care bill allows taxpayer dollars, directly and indirectly, to pay for insurance plans that cover abortion. Most Nebraskans, and Americans, do not favor using public funds to cover abortion and as a result this bill shouldn’t open the door to do so,” said Senator Nelson.    » read more »

Dec. 3, 2009 -- Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) today hailed the passage of the important Women’s Health Amendment, offered by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), to the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” The amendment will guarantee health insurance coverage for women’s basic preventive care and screenings at no cost to the patient.    » read more »

“Without Proper Coverage, These Women Will Be Forced to Return to Dangerous Back Alley Providers”

November 16, 2009 -- New York, NY - With the U.S. Senate set to begin debate on health care reform this week, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was joined today by dozens of women leaders to protest Michigan Democratic Representative Bart Stupak's amendment which passed the House of Representatives this month and would deny millions of women access to reproductive care.    » read more »

On the heels of a last-minute anti-abortion provision inserted into the U.S. House of Representatives health reform bill, several U.S. Senators have expressed concern about the Stupak amendment.

Planned Parenthood strongly opposes the Stupak amendment. It is an unacceptable addition to the health care reform bill that, if enacted, would result in women losing health benefits they have today.    » read more »

There has been much discussion about what the “real-life” impact of the Stupak-Pitts amendment would be on women’s access to abortion care. The following is an explanation of what this provision will mean to women, if it is enacted. Essentially, the amendment violates the underlying principle of health care reform, as articulated by President Obama, that no one will lose the benefits they currently have.    » read more »