Abortion Rights In Danger for US Women: Beware of Reps. Pitt and Boehner

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/abortion-rights-in-danger-for-us-women/

Expect to see a renewed and surely stronger push to impose stricter limits on abortion.

A leading Congressional opponent of abortion rights, Representative Joe Pitts, Republican of Pennsylvania, is in line to be chairman of the influential Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. This change portends a 'major shift on abortion and family planning, according to opponents and supporters of abortion rights,' as reported in the December 11th New York Times. The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health has jurisdiction over:

* private health insurance
* Medicaid and much of Medicare
* the Food and Drug Administration
* the National Institutes of Health


Mr. Pitts is 'as anti-choice as a member of Congress can be,' according to Laurie Rubiner, vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. He favors the repeal of the health care law and is also, as the New York Times notes, 'determined' to impose a ban federal subsidy payments to any health insurance plans that include coverage of abortion, this being a benefit now offered by many health insurance plans.


After the midterm elections, opponents of abortion gained some 45 seats in the House. Indeed, the next speaker, Representative John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, is a 'staunch ally' of opponents of abortion rights: He has received a 100% rating from the National Right to Life Committee.

FULL story and several links in story at link.

[tomm2thumbs]

1. now that they don't have to fight for tax cuts, they can hit social issues straight away

thanks President Obama, for clearing their To-Do list so they can get on to the things that they REALLY want to go after but aren't chit-chatting with you about at their Slurpee summits

no, really. thanks a ton

[Democracyinkind]

2. Actually, I'm almost at the point were I hope that they make this an issue.

Or is the hope that the American left is unified on this issue also just an illusion?

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[madmax]

3. It's the Rupuke's

'Golden Chestnut', keeps the fanatics going and the money flowing.

[still_one]

4. If people are upset about this, they should have thought about that in November. What the country

is doing is that rights that took decades to happen, are now being thrown away, and abortion rights do not just protect women's rights, it also protects the rights to privacy, and if people of any gender don't believe that anything they say to their doctor or lawyer is not threatened, then they haven't been paying attention