http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/us/politics/09abortion.html?scp=8&sq=abortion&st=cse
This article from New York Times, details the success pro lifers have gained in the denial of abortion funding to individuals of middle to low income. According to the Guttmacher Institute, “In 2000, 21 out of every 1,000 women of reproductive age had an abortion. Women who are aged 18-29, unmarried, black or Hispanic, or economically disadvantaged—including those on Medicaid—have higher abortion rates” (Guttmacher Institute 1996-2009). With these ideas in mind, the middle lower class more commonly seeks abortions and are more avidly seeking funding for an abortion. The act of prohibiting federal funding to women of lower/ middle class will essentially lower the amount of abortions that are taking place, which will further limit the amount of abortion doctors even further. In the long run, this legislative move may in the end, make it close to impossible for women to receive an abortion.
Some claim women “could buy separate insurance riders to cover abortion, though some evidence suggests few would, in part because unwanted pregnancies are by their nature unexpected” (Kirkpatrick 2009).
This move that Congress has publicly stated by passing this legislation claims that as long as a right is legal, it doesn’t matter if it is accessible or not. As least for the group most commonly known for seeking to carry out that right. Good job Congress!
It was about time, finally!