12/22/2009

Kathleen Sebelius explains that fund that everyone will put money into will be used to cover abortion

Here is a portion of an interview between HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and BlogHer interviewer Morra Aarons-Mele.



SEBELIUS: And I would say that the Senate language, which was negotiated by Senators Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray, who are very strong defenders of women’s health services and choices for women, take a big step forward from where the House left it with the Stupak amendment, and I think do a good job making sure there are choices for women, making sure there are going to be some plan options, and making sure that while public funds aren’t used, we are not isolating, discriminating against, or invading the privacy rights of women. That would be an accounting procedure, but everybody in the exchange would do the same thing, whether you’re male or female, whether you’re 75 or 25, you would all set aside a portion of your premium that would go into a fund, and it would not be earmarked for anything, it would be a separate account that everyone in the exchange would pay.

BLOGHER: It’s a bit confusing, but …

SEBELIUS: Okay. It is a bit confusing, but it’s really an accounting that would apply across the board and not just to women, and certainly not just to women who want to choose abortion coverage.

BLOGHER: Oh, that’s good, that’s good. . . .


To provide some context of what Ms. Aarons-Mele meant from "Oh, that’s good, that’s good," she wrote at Huffington Post: "Starting now, pro-choice Americans must figure out a way to increase our bargaining power so that soon, we can go head to head with the likes of the Bishops." It seems pretty clear that she is a strong advocate of abortion rights and that she understands that Kathleen Sebelius is saying that this is good news for funding abortions.

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home