Late yesterday afternoon Michigan Republicans passed controversial legislation making it illegal for insurance companies to include abortion procedures as part of their standard coverage, even in cases of rape or incest, or where the life of the mother might be in jeopardy. Should women in the sate of Michigan require abortion coverage, in the opinion of these legislators, they should have to buy it on top of whatever insurance they might already have and pay for. Clearly the intention, as with last December’s anti-abortion omnibus bill, is to greatly reduce the number of legal abortions in the state of Michigan, without running afoul of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. In other words, as they can’t legally keep women from having abortions, they’ve essentially decided to make those procedures as costly and inconvenient as possible.
The law will take effect 90 days after the Michigan Legislature adjourns for the year.
So, if you think you my may get raped in the new year, you may want to add “abortion insurance” to your Christmas list.
The passage of this legislation should be a surprise to no one… Last year, as you may recall, anti-abortion Republicans in Lansing, in an attempt to further curtail the reproductive freedom of Michigan women, inserted similar language into a Blue Cross Blue Shield restructuring bill (SB 1293). Governor Snyder, in that instance, did the right thing and vetoed the bill. “When I proposed these reforms (to Blue Cross Blue Shield),” Snyder said, “there was no reference to abortion. Regrettably, those provisions were later added. I don’t believe it is appropriate to tell a woman who becomes pregnant due to a rape that she needed to select elective insurance coverage. And as a practical matter, I believe this type of policy is an overreach of government into the private market.” Unfortunately, others in his party did not see it the same way. They regrouped immediately and began looking for other non-electoral means of accomplishing the same thing, knowing that, it it were ever put to a vote, it would be easily defeated.
And, with that, the far right initiated a petition drive to get around Snyder’s veto. And it was successful. The Michigan Right to Life petition was sighed by 315,477 people, or about 4% of the state’s voters. And that, for reasons I still don’t quite comprehend, apparently makes the legislation veto-proof.
It’s absolutely mind boggling to me that just because 4% of Michigan voters signed a petition, victims of rape can now be coerced into carrying the children of their attackers to term. And, yes, I realize that most women who get abortions aren’t the victims of rape. That’s just the most egregious part of all of this. No one, however, regardless of the reason they desire to have an abortion, should be forced to conform to the narrow beliefs of a religious minority. And this is especially true in a country where Roe v. Wade is the law of the land. With all of this said, is it any wonder at all that young, educated women are fleeing our state in droves?
Here, with more background on this new Republican legislation, is a clip from the Detroit Free Press.
…Michigan will join eight other states that have instituted policies prohibiting public and private insurance plans from including abortion coverage in health care policies, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based agency that tracks policies regarding women’s health and reproductive rights. Another 15 states prohibit the coverage in insurance purchased through the health exchanges set up through the Affordable Care Act.
Opponents promised to continue their fight against the bill.
“There will be another initiative to overturn this abhorrent act,” said state Rep. Sarah Roberts, D-St. Clair Shores.
Shelli Weisberg, a spokeswoman for the ACLU of Michigan, said a coalition of opponents of the initiative will gather next week to begin planning for a petition drive to repeal the law. The group did polling in a handful of Senate and House districts represented by Republican lawmakers. The polls showed widespread opposition to the initiative.
“These legislators need to know what they just did,” she said. “Women are mad. It’s like every election cycle, they do something that specifically goes against women”…
If the Republicans cared about democracy, they’d allow the question to be put to a vote. This, however, was never about the will of the people. This was about 4% of our population using tricks and gimmicks to get their way, and force the women of Michigan to conform to their narrow interpretation of biblical law. This is coercion plain and simple, and it’s absolutely shameful.
And, here, lest I forget, is a list of all of our elected officials and how they voted on this issue. Please remember to print this list out and take it with you to the polls come November.
[note: Governor Snyder may have vetoed this legislation in its last iteration, but that doesn’t mean he’s a friend of women when it comes to safeguarding their reproductive rights. As you may recall, he did sign into law the comprehensive anti-abortion omnibus bill referenced above, during the Republican hijacking of last December’s lame duck session.]
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Also, here’s footage of our friend Jeff Irwin on the floor of the Michigan House of Representatives yesterday attempting to stop this from happening.
If you ignore the rape aspect for a moment, doesn’t this mean I can have all kinds of unprotected, promiscuous sex and not be on hook for being a father?
This might be the best Christmas present I’ve ever received since I got that bike when I was 11 years old.
The corrupt bastards also voted to increase the amount of dark money allowed to be donated, prevents us from finding out who the contributors are, and increased the amount a lobbyist can spend on a legislator from $100 to $1000. Amazing how we thumb our noses at “corrupt” government in other countries…
How twisted. Rep. Sarah Roberts thinks the abhorent act is requiring mothers to pay for the slaughter of the innocent children they deem inconvenient, not the act of destroying human life itself.
abhorrent
Planned Parenthood is upset because they know business would boom if abortions could be provided at no cost to their preferred customers. They are mourning because there might be fewer dead babies and more births to Black and Hispanic mothers.
The petition drive got 1.5 times as many signatures as needed in a very short time period without paying any petition circulators. A statewide vote would get nearly 60% support. This doesn’t interfere with a woman’s “right to privacy” in that she can still kill her baby up to the time of birth. This just insures that she pays for it herself.
What if I live elsewhere and I just happen to get raped while on vacation in Michigan?
Does this create jobs?
“Pure Michissippi”
It will create at least a few jobs. I’m going to set up “Rape Insurance” booths at ever Michigan welcome center.
“Coming to Michigan on vacation? Just driving through to Chicago? Whatever the reason, if you don’t want to have to carry the child of your rapist, buy temporary rape insurance here. And enjoy peace of mind during your visit.”
Gretchen Whitmer:
Read more:
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/women-in-michigan-will-now-have-to-decide-if-they-might-be-raped-when-buying-health-insurance/politics/2013/12/12/80134#.UqsYP7ZRY6p
Another quote from Whitmer:
“For those you who want to act aghast that I’d use a term like “rape insurance” to describe the proposal here in front of us, you should be even more offended that it’s an absolutely accurate description of what this proposal requires. This tells women that were raped and became pregnant that they should have bought special insurance for it. By moving forward on this initiative, Senate Republicans want to essentially require Michigan women to plan ahead and financially invest in healthcare coverage for potentially having their bodies violated and assaulted. Even worse, it would force parents to have similar and unthinkably terrible discussions about planning the same for their daughters. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: This is by far one of the most misogynistic proposals I’ve ever seen in the Michigan legislature.”
EOS, you’re a disgusting piece of shit. If a woman chose to have an abortion, why should she pay for it by herself? It’s a valid medical procedure. Fat people don’t pay for medical treatment by themselves. Smokers don’t pay for cancer treatment by themselves. Diabetics don’t pay for treatment by themselves.
People like you have no concept of the term “consent”. I just don’t get how anti-choicers think fetuses deserve more rights than someone on a transplant list. In both instances, both a fetus and a person on a transplant list both need someone ELSE’s organs to survive. And we can’t take those organs and just give them to them. That’s against the law. Many laws in fact. They have to consent to give their organs. Not only that, they have to give continued consent, because giving consent once does not remove a person’s right to rescind such consent. Until the entire procedure is complete. I could sign up to donate a kidney and sign the paperwork and take the psych test and do everything to be qualified and i could be on the table being wheeled into the operating room, the recipient one room away, and i could change my mind. And you know what? The doctors aren’t allowed to go, “But you’ll be killing the person in the other room! Shame on you! You should never have signed up (had sex) in the first place you stupid person (slut)!” and then pin me down and make me donate. That would be against the law and i could sue them. Why is it that people like you want to give fetuses MORE rights than people on a transplant list? Any fetus’s “right to life” would be the same as any transplant recipient’s “right to life”, and no one on a transplant list’s right’s outweigh another person’s right to autonomy.
No one is “murdering babies”. They’re simply removing trespassers who don’t have the consent to be where they are. Maybe assholes like you should spend your money on researching how to do womb transplants, so that that unwanted, trespassing fetus, can be put into a wanted womb instead?
Sounds like somebody needs to get laid. You might want to go to Ohio just to be safe.
Before this conversation completely goes off the rails, I wanted to step in and encourage people to conduct themselves with some degree of civility. This historically has not been the kind of site where we’ve called each other “pieces of shit” or told women with whom we disagree that they “just need to get laid.” I realize that this is an issue which people care deeply about, but I think, as adults, we’re all capable of expressing ourselves without making personal attacks.
Here’s an idea. If you don’t want to get pregnant, use consistent birth control.
It’s not a medical procedure. Medical procedures treat illnesses or injuries. It’s a living, growing human at an early stage of life that is killed.
“Here’s an idea. If you don’t want to get pregnant, use consistent birth control.”
I find this statement every bit as offensive as calling someone a “a disgusting piece of shit.”
I can’t wait to sign the petition for the repeal of this anti-woman law. Thankfully the rape I suffered decades ago didn’t result in a pregnancy, but if it had I don’t know what my life would be like now. I had recently been hit by a drunk driver at the time and lost my job and health insurance because of my injuries. I was dirt poor when the rape occurred and wouldn’t have been able to afford an abortion. And if I had to carry that child, I think I would’ve eventually killed myself. The rape alone had me an emotional wreck. I still cry about it on occasional. Something’ll trigger the bad memory and I’m balling like a baby all these years later. I can’t imagine if I had become pregnant and had no other recourse but to keep the child. I wouldn’t be able to give the child up for adoption because I’d spend my whole life worrying if the kid had a violent gene in him like his father and was out hurting people. So I’d be a welfare mother with a constant reminder (the child) of what horrible thing happened to me. What kind of a life is that for someone who’s been the victim of a crime?
Demetrius,
The average person wouldn’t.
This isn’t just about rape, or “if you don’t want to get pregnant, use birth control”. There are many instances (I know of at least three personally, so I can only imagine how many statewide) where the baby was not the product of rape and was A WANTED CHILD. The problem is that just because a pregnancy is wanted does not mean that the fetus will be healthy. Genetic disorders, congenital problems, health risks of the mother, etc. can all create situations where the woman may decide that the pregnancy should end.
I think EOS et al should try having a little empathy now and again for people whose lives are devastated by this type of mindless, fanatic behavior. If a woman has to endure the trauma of a full term pregnancy and birth of an essentially dead fetus simply to make other people feel good about themselves, then we have failed as a society.
So if the fetus isn’t perfect. we should throw it back and keep fishing? Not wanting to destroy human life is a very mindful decision. How about a little empathy for the dead baby?
Republicans don’t like it when things don’t go their way. They truly don’t respect democracy. This brings to mind the events of a few months ago, when they shut down the government. They didn’t like Obamacare, which had passed Congress legally, been signed into law by the President, and upheld by the Supreme Court. They tried over 40 times to defund or otherwise destroy it, and, when the exhausted all other avenues, they shut down the government, costing us millions. This is the same thing. They don’t respect women’s rights. They think they know best. They don’t want to put it to a vote. They just want to have their way, regardless of the will of the people, the rulings of the Supreme Court, etc. The behavior is anti-American at its core.
So upset about this. My husband and I are just starting to try to get pregnant. But meanwhile, things are very tight for us financially. How are we going to afford additional insurance to cover the possibility that something could go horribly wrong in our pregnancy?
Does anyone know how much the abortion rider will cost? According to the article linked to, more than half a dozen states already have similar legislation. Do we know what kind of impact it’s had on health care? Do we know if people are buying riders, and how much they’re paying for them?
Emily,
Abortion is the procedure that would cause your pregnancy to go horribly wrong.
EOS, it sounds like you have it all figured out. Congratulations.
I also know someone who barely survived an ectopic pregnancy and had to have an abortion to save her life. That pregnancy never could have resulted in a surviving baby.
Today’s FREEP: “Detroit’s cool image lands it on top of tourist buzz list for 2014”
Someone should tell them about the rape insurance.
(http://www.freep.com/article/20131213/NEWS/312130090/detroit-travel-buzzy-hotspot-tourism-creager)
Actually EOS, serious pregnancy complications run in my family. If the pregnancy takes root outside the uterus, there is no chance of that baby being born alive. The longer the woman is forced to carry it, the more excrutiating pain she suffers, and the greater chance she will die.
I want a baby of my own desperately. I would not have an abortion for any abnormality, such as autism or downs, that would still result in a living, breathing child. But dear god, don’t threaten my life just to make me give birth to a dead baby.
I might have to have an abortion of a fetus that is doomed — in order to save my own life — before I can have a healthy baby. Meanwhile, I am also facing the prospect of unpaid maternity leave. How am I supposed to save for that and pay for this additional insurance, besides? Aren’t there enough financial penalties on my womanhood already?
EOS has absolutely no comprehension of the things that women who find themselves pregnant, wanted or not, go through. Birth control is not 100% effective. It’s about 98% (give or take by type) and that’s only when there’s no user error. Your disgustingly simplified argument is worthless. Women end up pregnant for many reasons: on purpose, on accident, against their will.
The point is, if there is ever a time when she no longer wants to be, either from “it’s not a good point in my life right now” to “get it out, it’s dying or trying to kill me”, she has every right to remove it. And you trying to shame women into forced childbirth is disgusting. It has ZERO to do with “it’s a human life” and 100% to do with consent.
As i explained earlier, pregnancy is the only situation where people like you believe it’s ok for a woman to be forced to submit their body to another against her will. In no other case, such as people on the transplant list, is someone forced to donate any part of their body for any reason against their will. But disgusting people like you see women as third class citizens. Men, fetuses, women. Nothing but a birthing womb, you stupid slut. Punishment for having sex? Forced birth, including the financial, mental, emotional aspects that all come along with it. Stupid whores.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/40-year-old-calcified-fetus-found-in-colombian-woman/
Today’s news had a story of a woman who carried a fetus outside the womb for 40 years. Had never heard of that before, and now twice in the same day. Is it a Friday the 13th thing?
EOS’s slogans can’t stand up to real women talking about their experiences. They’re great in a vacuum, but they don’t work in the real world.
If a woman has an ectopic pregnancy, she does not resolve the issue by having an abortion. There are different types of surgery for a tubal (ectopic) pregnancy. Operating laproscopically, a slit is made in the fallopian tube (salpingostomy),or a section of the tube is removed (salpingectomy). Neither of these procedures would require abortion insurance.
I know we’ve been warned against personal attacks, but you are one crazy mother fucker, EOS. For the good of mankind, please keep your surgical theories to yourself.
I know someone who had to have a D&C (abortion) procedure to remove the embryo in an ectopic pregnancy.
Anyway that’s only one condition in which the baby has no chance of being born alive. Many others exist, such as when the baby’s brain is developing outside the skull, or when the baby is not getting enough oxygen to develop vital organs.
I’m not a doctor, but I know people who have had medically-necessary abortions. The only thing more traumatic than having to have an abortion, I think, would be being forced to carry a doomed fetus and give birth to a dead baby.
Emily,
A D&C is not used for ectopic pregnancies. The first step in a D&C is to dilate the cervix. A curette, a metal rod with a handle on one end and a sharp loop on the other, is inserted into the uterus through the dilated cervix. The curette is used to gently scrape the lining of the uterus and remove the tissue in the uterus. As you can see, scraping the walls of the uterus is not an effective remedy when a growing embryo is stuck in the Fallopian tube.
Where’s your medical degree from, EOS?
I’d like to point out that there were Democrats who voted yes. Motherfuckers.
I just gave money to the National Network of Abortion Funds.
I usually give something when EOS starts posting on these topics.
http://www.fundabortionnow.org/about/our-work
“The National Network of Abortion Funds works to make sure that all women and girls can get the abortions they seek.
If you are a woman looking for help paying for an abortion, we are here today to help you get what you need. The local abortion funds in our organization help women pay for abortions they can’t otherwise afford.
If you are an activist with an abortion fund, we are here to make sure that you have all the tools you need to help the women in your community. We provide training, one-on-one support, and expertise.
If you are looking to get involved, we welcome you to join us as we work for fair laws that respect the lives and futures of all women. We are leading the fight for Medicaid coverage of abortion for women with low incomes. We also work to break down the barriers to abortion for immigrant women, young women, and women in jail and prison.
We are building a movement, mentoring young leaders, and working toward a world in which everyone can shape their own futures and families.”
http://www.rtl.org/realstories/wisechoice.html
It is important to remember that individuals who believe as EOS does, also believe in Demons. As such it is important for their belief structure to Demonize those whom they believe are “evil”. Woman who kill their “babies” and the men who love them are of course demons who must be cast out of society. You have all probably noticed that EOS has not bothered to discuss the analogy of forced transplants. The notion of “free will” and “choice” are not part of the fundamentalist belief structure. If you are a demon then of course you were preordained by God to be that way. It was God’s will that you be raped–I recall some politicians actually saying things such as that in the last election.
It’s also worth noting, I think, that several on the right believe that rape cannot result in pregnancy, and, therefor, anyone woman who’s pregnant is a women who “wanted it.”
Yes. I believe people who can kill an innocent child just because it is an inconvenience, are evil. If you are not on Team Jesus, then by default, you’re on the darkside. There is no sitting on the fence. But as long as you are on the green side of the grass, there’s still a chance to repent and be forgiven. I do believe in choice. The citizens of Michigan now have a choice not to pay for other people’s abortions now that this piece of legislation has passed.
As for the analogy: Declining to donate an organ is significantly different from actively killing a life that your actions brought about. In the case of rape, it is the rapist that deserves to be punished, not the innocent child.
I just gave some more money to the National Network of Abortion Funds.
I should just set up a monthly payment.
Who’s Peter Larson?
“The citizens of Michigan now have a choice not to pay for other people’s abortions now that this piece of legislation has passed.” yet another lie EOS. As pointed out in the attached link Oboma extended the Hyde amendment to the ACA.
http://www.michiganliberal.com/diary/21024/house-gop-expected-to-be-asked-if-rape-insurance-rider-was-caving-to-extremists
EOS, your god kills more has killed more innocent life than abortions have. He causes miscarriages and stillborn babies just for the fun of it. Your god is the original rapist, when you get right down to it. He impregnates a teenage girl without her permission. Some god you’ve got there. But somehow, this is all excused away by you true believers. You all make excuses for your pyscho god. You’re like abuse victims who just can’t quit the one who’s abusing them.
Sure Wobblie,
And if you want to keep your current health insurance you can… And a monthly premium plus $12,000 deductible is affordable for most healthy young people… And the problems with Obamacare will be gone once the website is fixed…
Unbelievable!
Great deflection, EOS.
John,
If Wobblie is right and Obama had already extended the Hyde amendment so that abortion wouldn’t be covered, why are so many on the left upset by this latest piece of legislation?
Pete Larson left this in another thread. I believe he meant for it to be here.
The operative phrase is “based on his income”. Most people work and earn substantially more.
for Christian hypocrites (is that an oxymoron ?) facts do no matter. They see the world changing around them in ways they cannot comprehend. In their world natural disasters are seen as God’s vengeance on a sinful people. Attempting to have rational discourse with them and agree on any kind of policy issue is impossible. So for example in EOS’s world the following does not exist.
http://www.ppaction.org/site/DocServer/Fact_Sheet_-_Abortion_and_ACA.pdf?docID=64
In the footnote of this fact sheet is the following,
the Hyde Amendment is a restriction attached annually to the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
Appropriations Act. It prohibits funds appropriated in the Act from going to abortion or health coverage that includes abortion except
in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest. The Hyde Amendment does not restrict any funding under the Affordable Care Act
since ACA is not funded through the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Act.
However, the Hyde Amendment is referenced in Section 1303 of ACA and is used to define which abortion services are allowed to
be paid for with federal subsidies. ACA allows federal funding for those abortion services that are permitted under the Hyde
Amendment and therefore plans that only cover those limited abortion services do not have to follow ACA’s segregation
requirements
here is the link to the executive order which reaffirms the Hyde Act applies to the ACA and State exchanges .
“The operative phrase is “based on his income”. Most people work and earn substantially more”
The operative phrase is “your information is misleading,” because it cherry picks a poor scenario from an infinite number of combinations.
I merely included information for myself and my family. We have a household income of around $46,000 which is just under the median for the United States. I pay out of pocket for insurance through my employer. The deal I would get on healthcare.gov is comparable to what I pay now.
I have to add that my employer does not kick in money for my health insurance.
The deal is comparable, the policy more or less the same, and my household bank isn’t broken.
It’s good to know that I’ll have something to fall back on when my contract runs out.
Thank you, Obamacare!
NPR reported this morning that 69% will pay higher monthly premiums under the ACA, and 81% will pay higher deductibles or co-pays.
“So for example in EOS’s world the following does not exist.
http://www.ppaction.org/site/DocServer/Fact_Sheet_-_Abortion_and_ACA.pdf?docID=64”
“We’re sorry – the page or function you tried to access could not be found on our web site.”
In my world it exists, but it doesn’t tell us shit. Neither does the missing link to the executive order.
Wobblie,
The government subsidies in the ACA cannot be used to pay for elective abortions, with some exceptions. Therefore, the individuals in the insurance pools will subsidize other people’s abortions, regardless of how they feel about this horrible procedure. However, in Michigan, the law has been changed so that only those individuals who want abortion coverage will be charged for that coverage and abortion coverage will not be subsidized with any government funds. It is a vast improvement.
“NPR reported this morning that 69% will pay higher monthly premiums under the ACA, and 81% will pay higher deductibles or co-pays.”
I already pay a higher co pay. I used to pay $10. Now I pay, $20. It’s a 100% increase!
My premiums are higher, but still affordable for me.
No matter how you slice it though, things are far better now than they were pre 2008, when I didn’t have, and couldn’t get, any health insurance at all. I never had health insurance in my life prior to 2008. It was awful.
I’ve skipped stitches (that was fun), put up with 3 years of bronchitis (that sucked), self treated a probably fractured foot (still hurts) and foregone many a medical visit for minor issues, which continue to plague me to this day, simply because I couldn’t afford to take the risk of getting a massive health care bill in the mail.
Also, I am happy to know that I won’t have to hold on to a particular job for the health benefits alone. It’s an awful feeling to be chained to a particular company simply to get health care.
But I’m a parasite. EOS is a maker, and I’m a taker. I should kill myself now and stop draining her tax dollars.
A friend of mine signed up for Obamacare. She pays $10 a month more than she was paying before, for private insurance, but she’s happy to do so. The Obamacare coverage she has covers preventative care, and, more importantly, she knows that she can’t be dropped on a whim.
It doesn’t matter. Everything was better before the Affordable Care Act was signed.
Everyone had insurance, and it was the best insurance that anyone could ask for. There were no problems. Anyone who wanted insurance could have it. All one had to do was ask. Insurance companies were happen to sign up anyone willing to sign, no matter how sick or poor. No one ever went bankrupt because of a lack of insurance, no one went without care. And it was all so incredibly cheap.
It was great. I get teary eyed when I think about those great days.
An update
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/16/three-things-we-learned-from-todays-obamacare-update-5/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-patient-protection-and-affordable-care-acts-consistency-with-longst
sorry about missing the link
http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/12/facts-about-michigans-abortion-law-its-supporters-dont-want-you-to-know.html
Most women in Michigan still cannot purchase rape insurance, in spite of Republican promises to the contrary.
Read more:
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140508/METRO06/305080044#ixzz31DuwtIye
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