The Virginia General Assembly approved a measure Wednesday that effectively prevents health insurance plans purchased through Virginia’s forthcoming federal health exchange from paying for abortions in cases that do not involve rape, incest or the endangerment of the mother’s life.
The measure was originally proposed last week by Gov. Bob McDonnell as an amendment to House Bill 1900, which makes Virginia’s health care system compliant with the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
The amendment prohibits any “health insurance plan that is sold or offered for sale through an exchange established or operating in the Commonwealth [from providing] coverage for abortions,” meaning that prospective buyers are unable to purchase insurance plans that include coverage for abortion if they access this plan through the federal exchange.
Virginia Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, voted against the amendment because it could potentially allow the government to intrude on a private sector affair and “go after just about any procedure that they don’t like.”
“People on both sides of the issue really made this about abortion, and that was the governor’s intent to make it about abortion, but it’s much bigger than that and sets a very interesting and — I suggest — dangerous precedent,” Deeds said. “For the first time, government has said to the private insurance sector that they cannot offer an insurance product for a [certain medical] procedure. Whether it’s an abortion or a tonsillectomy or whatever, that precedent is set.”
Second-year College student Elizabeth Minneman, chair of the College Republicans, said this was a matter of religious freedom, however.
“I am definitely in support of limiting public funds that go towards abortion because in cases of religious freedom, a lot of religions are against this, so publicly funded abortion is not something that we should have [in Virginia],” she said.
Cianti Stewart-Reid, executive director of the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said that this amendment unfairly limits the healthcare options of Virginia women, which contradicts the Affordable Care Act this bill was intended to address.
“Women in Virginia deserve to have access to a full range of reproductive care in their health insurance plans, and unfortunately, with the adoption of this amendment, it seems [they will not have access to] the full promise of the Affordable Care Act,” Stewart-Reid said.
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