CRR Statement on This Week’s House Hearings on Anti-Choice Bills

(PRESS RELEASE) This week, the House of Representatives will hold hearings
on the recently introduced bills banning abortion coverage for millions of
women. The House Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on Rep. Chris Smith’s “No
Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” (H.R. 3) on Tuesday, February 8,
and the Energy and Commerce Committee will hear testimony on Rep. Joe Pitts’ “Protect
Life Act” (H.R. 358) on Wednesday, February 9. Nancy Northup,
president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, issued this statement:

“The new House came to Washington pledging their deep
commitment to smaller government, but the jig is up.  Within a matter of
weeks, anti-choice lawmakers have introduced—and House leadership has declared
‘a priority’—unprecedented government intrusions into women’s personal medical
decisions.

“The Smith bill, essentially an Abortion Tax, imposes tax
penalties on insurance plans that cover abortion, even when that insurance is
paid for with private dollars or provided by employees in the private
marketplace. The legislation is radically broad and clearly intended to prevent
all women from obtaining abortion coverage. The Pitts bill would prevent women
from using their own money to buy abortion coverage, effectively stripping
millions of women of the abortion coverage that they already have.

“And if manipulating the private insurance market and
dictating how a woman can spend her own money for her medical care were not
enough, both bills essentially issue a death warrant for American women. They
would allow hospitals to refuse women life-saving treatment—all in the name of
preventing a woman from obtaining a legal and safe abortion.

“These latest anti-choice efforts are below-the-belt
politics at its worst. Abortion is an essential part of reproductive healthcare
and one of the most common medical procedures sought by women. The House of
Representatives has no business dictating women’s medical care. The costs are
too high to women’s health and lives.”

Please see CRR’s legal analysis of the Smith
and Pitts
bills.