Healthcare Reform: One Step Forward for America; One Step Back for Women's Rights

WASHINGTON, March 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement may be attributed to Jon O'Brien, president of Catholics for Choice.

At the outset of the debate over healthcare reform, leaders in the Democratic Party made a number of promises to the American people.

President Obama told us that he was "not restricting women's insurance choices," and promised that "if you're happy and satisfied with the insurance that you have, it's not going to change."

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "There is no change in the access to abortion, no more, no less. It is abortion neutral."

President Obama said, "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor."

Ever since the election, the Democratic Party has said that it would rely on evidence-based policies to reduce the need for abortion and the incidence of sexually transmitted infections. In yet another broken promise, this time to America's youth, the Democrats have agreed to refund abstinence-only-until-marriage sexuality education policies. The party leadership caved to pressure from the conservatives within its own ranks in giving taxpayer money to programs that do not work.

Now, to add insult to injury, President Obama has agreed at the last moment to issue an Executive Order that extended the antichoice elements of this already restrictive law. He extended refusal rights of a kind that he had previously denounced when they were introduced by President George W. Bush. he also extended the Hyde Amendment, which bans all federal funding of abortion, to the newly-created health insurance exchanges.

In short, we were assured that nobody would be worse off under a reformed system.  On each of these points, the American people have been misled.

That is not to say the bill does not improve the healthcare situation for many millions of women and their families. Catholics for Choice believes that providing healthcare is a matter of social justice and we have been a strong supporter of comprehensive healthcare reform so that those with no coverage or inadequate coverage can afford and receive the care they need.

The remainder of this statement can be accessed at www.catholicsforchoice.org.

SOURCE Catholics for Choice