Bargaining away women's rights

[IndianaGreen]

Bargaining away women's rights

Rachel Cohen explains how women's reproductive rights were treated as a bargaining chip during negotiations on health care--and ultimately suffered another setback.

March 26, 2010

"THE BILL I'm signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see," declared Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on Tuesday.

But the health care legislation that Obama made a law includes a further step backward for women's right to choose abortion that "generations of Americans" definitely did not hunger to see.

The new health care law falls short on many levels. It will "mandate" millions of people to buy insurance from private companies with no guarantee that the policies will be affordable--or adequate in covering them if they actually get sick. It will force cuts in spending and benefits for the Medicare program for the elderly, and it will encourage the ongoing whittling away of coverage that most Americans have through their employers.

But one of the most galling provisions of the legislation for all the people who looked forward enthusiastically to Barack Obama's presidency comes on the question of the right to choose. President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats have delivered one of the most sweeping attacks yet on abortion rights.

http://socialistworker.org/2010/03/26/bargaining-away-womens-rights

[Captain Hilts]

1. Kick. nt