Abortion: An Inextricable Part of Women's Health Care

By Cynthia Pearson, Exective Director

When we started planning this issue of our newsletter several months ago, we had no idea that the politics of abortion would be headline news – again.  We had an opportunity to present intriguing new information and perspectives on this issue and we hoped that, as always, our newsletter would increase understanding and awareness among our members and more broadly.  Little did we know that, by the time this issue was published, we’d be trying to make it required reading for White House staff!

By now, you’ve probably seen the news that President Obama added restrictions on abortion to a brand new health insurance program, the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans designed for individuals who cannot access other insurance coverage. The president, under pressure from groups opposing abortion, decided that the new plans would not be allowed to cover abortion procedures.  We were stunned.  The Affordable Care Act included several restrictions on abortion funding, but not this one – so the President actually went beyond what was required by law and created a brand new abortion restriction. It’s upsetting to see an administration that calls itself pro-choice take that stance. But, what is even worse is the effect on individuals of this new funding ban.  People who depend on this program are already dealing with at least one serious health condition.  They’ve already been turned down by private insurance companies. Now there’s a program that will allow them to buy insurance and get health care needs covered –— except if one of those needs turns out to be an abortion.  The real-world effect of President Obama’s policy is that a woman who has cancer, heart disease, or another serious health condition won’t have any help if she needs an abortion.  That sounds pretty heartless, doesn’t it?  And, it perpetuates the wrong-headed thinking that the political controversy over abortion can be resolved by slicing and dicing women’s health care to exclude this one service.

This issue’s authors present perspectives that can help us change the political context and public understanding about these decisions to make it unacceptable to leave a woman who needs an abortion without any help.  Tracy Weitz, from the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, and a team from the Reproductive Health Technologies Project (Margaret Conway, Lydia Stuckey and Kirsten Moore) argue powerfully that abortion care should not be segregated from the rest of women’s health care, and that women’s choice to have an abortion should be viewed with an understanding of the context of their lives. The RHTP team asks us to get in touch with the empathy we have for fellow human beings struggling with difficult circumstances and unexpected situations, and to use that empathetic approach when we talk about policy decisions that make it more difficult for women to get abortions. Tracy asks us to realize that saying we want abortion to be “rare” builds support for efforts to restrict access.  She argues instead for a goal to make abortion services, like other women’s health services, available from enough providers and in enough places that they are accessible and available to all women who need them.

NWHN has always understood that women’s health needs can’t be met without ensuring that all women have access to the full range of reproductive services, including abortion.  It’s a long and difficult struggle to make our vision a reality for all women.  Join with us, and together we’ll make sure that no woman is left out.