The issue before the senate currently contains the following, I believe, that was an editorial in the Los Angeles Times last September. The editorial described the financial coverage allowed in the House Health Care Bill (there have been so many it is confusing) for women who want abortions:
U.S. law bars federal Medicaid dollars from being used to pay for abortions except when the pregnancies result from rape or incest or threaten the mother’s life. It also prohibits insurance plans for military personnel, federal employees and lower-income children from covering abortion. This page (of the healthcare reform bill) has opposed these rules because they deter poor women from obtaining the constitutionally protected medical care available to women with means. Legislators in California and about a dozen other states agree, and they provide funding for elective abortions with their own states’ Medicaid contributions.
In my opinion, abortion should be available to women who need one for any reason at all. It should be her choice and perhaps also the choice of the father. A baby should not be born into an environment that is lacking in any way. A child of fourteen or fifteen should not be forced to ruin his or her life if they make a mistake. Make abortion available but make that woman AND the man suffer the consequences. They should pay a lot of money (also something required in the House version of health care reform) for that mistake (Then watch those boys put on those condoms!), and perhaps some other consequences such as community service and some classes they must attend.
If they choose to have the baby they should BOTH bear the responsibility of their behavior and pay lots of money to insure the welfare of the child. They should also be required by law to go to regular doctors visits during pregnancy and afterwards. Social workers should be required by law to regulate and supervise the environment in which the child grows up in. The choice to have a baby is a lifelong commitment and this should be part of the education of minors who are sexually active.
Just my opinion,
Elizabeth Brady Woods
Pasadena, CA
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