‘Protect Life Act’ fails to protect women’s health

This new act, if approved by the Senate and president, would elimanite federal money from health care plans that include abortions, even if the abortion coverage is paid for privately

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would be detrimental to women’s health if approved by the Senate and President Obama.

This new healthcare law, called “H.R. 358” or the “Protect Life Act,” would cease federal money from being included in health insurance plans that cover abortions, even if the abortion coverage is paid for exclusively with private funds.

This bill, created by Congressman Joe Pitts, is meant to further restrict the already strict limitations on abortion coverage and should be labeled the “Let Women Die Act” instead, as many women’s rights groups are calling it.

Current law requires hospitals to give patients in life-threatening situations any care they need, regardless of the patient’s financial situation.

However, the “Protect Life Act” takes away abortion coverage from women who already have it, prevents others from being able to obtain it, and gives states and health care officials the power to make private medical decisions for women who want or need an abortion.

Medical emergencies and a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion have become secondary to the hospital’s refusal to provide an abortion for any reason.

Abortion coverage for millions of women across the country would end and health care providers would be given the right to refuse a woman emergency abortion services even if it meant she would die without it.

Hospital employees, even those who are blatantly pro-life or have no medical training, get to make the decision to refuse to process bills, handle medical records, or even provide an examination room for a patient seeking abortion care, if they so desire.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau of Abortion Statistics, nearly one-third of American women will have an abortion within their lifetime. The average cost of an abortion with anesthesia at 10 weeks gestation is $468, and the cost increases by hundreds of dollars as the weeks continue.

If a woman cannot pay this amount upfront, she could be refused services, even in cases where she is miscarrying or bleeding to death and an abortion is the only life saving option.

This bill, passed by 14 Democrats and every Republican in the House, was greatly opposed by Representative Nancy Pelosi and other members of the Democratic Party. Although it is unlikely to be approved in the senate, this bill is still a sign that women’s rights are not as protected as they should be.

This bill is demoralizing. Politicians should not have the ability to pry into the private medical lives of women and their families. Instead of focusing on serious issues Americans face every day like unemployment, politicians are wasting time debating over women’s health rights.

Making healthcare more costly for women does nothing to improve the state of our country.

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