House Votes to Deny Many Women Insurance Coverage for Abortion

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 -- NARAL Pro-Choice America issued the following news release:

Anti-choice Congressional Republicans today voted on legislation to keep many women from accessing abortion care through their own private insurance coverage. In response, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement:

"Congressional Republicans continue to ignore the voices of millions of Americans who marched just three days ago to demand respect and dignity for women. Today, amidst a flurry of executive and congressional actions to make life harder for women here at home and around the globe, Republican leaders dug even deeper and passed a bill to deny many women the chance to buy insurance coverage that includes abortion--even if they pay with their own money.

"H.R. 7 is classic anti-choice overreach--mistaking an electoral win for a mandate--even though polls continue to show that the vast majority of Americans support legal access to abortion and don't want to be told what to do with our own bodies and our own money. This is classic obsessive behavior by Congressional Republicans, who prioritize these draconian measures in a country hungry for genuine economic progress and committed to expanding personal freedom. NARAL's 1.2 million members will make sure that voters know exactly who threw them under the bus come election time."

H.R. 7, authored by longtime anti-choice leader Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), would ban coverage of abortion care in state health insurance exchanges, even for women using their own private funds to pay for insurance. This could spell disaster for the availability of abortion coverage for women on private insurance plans across the nation.

The bill also:

* Imposes tax penalties on small businesses that choose to provide insurance plans which cover abortion care

* Blocks abortion coverage for low-income women, civil servants, D.C. residents, and military women

* Force insurers to mislead consumers about the insurance coverage available to them

NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as "one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America."

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