Blog for Choice | The War on Women: House Advances "Stupak on Steroids" Bill

The anti-choice leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives continues to wage its War on Women.

Less than two weeks after the House voted to eliminate all funding for Planned Parenthood, the Judiciary Committee voted today to advance H.R.3, the "Stupak on Steroids" bill introduced by Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey. The "Stupak on Steroids" bill is one of the farthest-reaching assaults on women's freedom and privacy that we've seen in years.

Anti-choice politicians are trying their best to downplay just how extreme H.R.3 is, casting it as merely a continuation of existing policy. Their claim couldn't be further from the truth: the "Stupak on Steroids" bill is a radical new attack on women's access to abortion care.

Let's get to the facts:

This bill is not about public funding. Federal law is clear: federal funding of abortion is forbidden, except in very narrow circumstances.
The bill manipulates the tax code to advance an extreme anti-choice agenda. It would force millions of small businesses to pay taxes on their health-insurance benefits if their plan includes abortion. About 87 percent of insurance plans on the market currently offer abortion coverage.
The bill resurrects the core provisions of the failed Stupak-Pitts abortion-coverage ban, and jeopardizes the ability of private citizens to use their own dollars to purchase abortion coverage in the new health system.

These anti-choice politicians' chutzpah is astounding: after campaigning on an agenda of jobs and less government, they've now voted to impose tax penalties on small businesses that offer comprehensive health insurance!

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called today's vote another front in the anti-choice House leadership's War on Women:

Less than two weeks ago, the House leadership launched a full-scale assault on women's access to birth control, cancer screenings, Pap smears, and other basic health care. Now, they are waging a war on women in the private insurance market. This bill jeopardizes the ability of insurance companies to cover abortion care, even for women with wanted pregnancies who experience unanticipated health-related complications, such as breast cancer. Abortion may be the best option to protect their health and ensure they can have children in the future, yet this bill tells insurance companies they can't cover this care.

The anti-choice House leadership's plan is clear: to end insurance coverage for abortion and make it as difficult as possible for any woman -- under any circumstances, or in any situation -- to access abortion care.

America's pro-choice majority is saying "enough is enough." In the last two weeks, an average of 1,000 people a day have joined our fight against the War on Women! Add your voice, and tell your representative stop the War on Women on the House floor.