Jennifer Brunner on her facebook page posted some interesting polling data on the Stupak amendment. Yes a major poll was done on Stupak back in July. This info was sent to the leadership of congress yet the choice ban was passed. The poll shows 60pct of America would OPPOSE THE FINAL BILL IF IT HARMS ABORTION RIGHTS. Oh and 72pct said they would be very angry if Stupak made it into the bill. Get that dems on the hill???
45 pct said they would hold their rep accountable if Stupak passed and would be upset. The American people do not want Stupak amendment. Period. It is clear. Rep DeGette is hitting the tv circuit to make sure American women know what Stupak-Pitts did and demanding a meeting with Obama next week to fix this. Her vid from Andrea Mitchell is below and her speech on the well of the House floor also.
The poll was commissioned by the Natl Women’s Law Center in July 2009. Word is now spreading on what dems did. Degette, Wassermann-Schultz and others are fanning the airwaves about it- informing the public knowing that a large majority will hopefully pressure their reps to kill Stupak amend in conf. The poll shows how bad Stupak Pitts is for dems. Oh and NYT’s op ed for today slams what the House did and urges it be fixed asap. Dems on the Hill better get real nervous. The people want hcare reform, not a de facto ban on abortion.
So-
Rep DeGette is taking tv by storm on Maddow, Mitchell and Ratigan (this AM). Here she is telling America why this Stupak deal should make everyone very angry.
Watch DeGette trying to stop Dems from approving a restriction on abortion that Bush was never able to do. Her speech on the House floor 11-7-09
Rep Wasserman Schultz- this will be removed in conference she says-
NWLC POLL-
Medical considerations should drive decisions about what services are included in a health care reform plan. There are many reasons why women need abortions, including pregnancies that endanger the woman’s health and pose a risk to her future fertility. Failure to provide insurance coverage for abortion services will cause many women to delay obtaining an abortion – usually because they need time to save money. The greater the delay in obtaining an abortion, the less safe the procedure becomes. For some women, lack of coverage can mean the inability to secure a needed abortion at all.
Most private health plans cover abortion services now, and if these anti-choice politicians get their way, many women will lose coverage that they currently have. According to a federally supported survey of health insurers conducted in 2002 by the Guttmacher Institute, 87 percent of typical employer-based health plans cover medical and surgical abortion. ....
A national opinion survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted in May for the National Women’s Law Center by The Mellman Group found that Americans strongly believe that basic health insurance should include women’s reproductive health services—as it does now— and that medical experts, not politicians, should decide the details of a benefits package. They object to singling out abortion in an otherwise comprehensive health care reform plan.
Three in five voters would oppose a health reform plan that eliminates current insurance coverage of reproductive health services, and nearly three in four voters (72 percent) reported that they would feel angry if Congress prohibited coverage of abortion. The vast majority of voters (71 percent) reported that they would feel less favorably toward their Member of Congress if they voted to cover services like Viagra for men, but excluded reproductive services for women.
Three in four voters (73 percent) prefer that an independent commission of citizens and medical professionals make decisions about whether abortion should be covered under health care reform, while only 16 percent want the Congress and the President involved.
On average, women have lower incomes than men, and a greater share of their income is already consumed by health care costs. Singling out abortion for exclusion from insurance coverage would impose even greater disparities between men and women in the cost of health care. Additionally, prohibiting coverage for abortion care will have the most devastating effects on lower income women, who already bear a disproportionate burden of unintended pregnancies and abortions.
http://www.nwlc.org/...
There’s no debate about it: Americans recognize that reproductive services are basic health care for women and help ensure that women can attain good health throughout their lives," said Judy Waxman, NWLC Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights. "Congress should refrain from practicing medicine and instead let medical professionals determine what health care services will be included in a benefits package."
Findings from the survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted by the Mellman Group include:
- Voters overwhelmingly support the broad outlines of reform and requiring coverage of women’s reproductive health services. Seven-in-ten (70%) favor a proposal that establishes a National Health Insurance Exchange with a public plan option. If the reform were adopted, voters overwhelmingly support requiring health plans to cover women’s reproductive health services (71% favor-21% oppose).
- Absent coverage for women’s reproductive health services, majorities oppose reform. If reform eliminated current insurance coverage of reproductive health services such as birth control or abortion, nearly two-thirds (60%) would oppose the plan and nearly half (47%) would oppose it strongly.
- Supporting coverage of comprehensive reproductive health services would benefit Members of Congress. A plurality (45%) would feel more favorably toward their Representative if they voted to cover reproductive services, while 24% would feel less favorably, and 32% said it would make no difference.
http://nwlc.org/...
Link to NYT op -ed blasting the Stupak Pitts provison and explains why it must be stripped.
http://www.nytimes.com/...