Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act Of 2009--Resumed

Floor Speech

SERVICE MEMBERS HOME OWNERSHIP TAX ACT OF 2009--Resumed -- (Senate - December 08, 2009)

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from California for her debate, for outlining the serious concerns we have, and I rise today not only in strong opposition to the Nelson amendment but in strong support of women's health care choices, which this amendment would eliminate.

Mr. President, we can't allow a bill that does so much for women and for families and for our businesses and for the future strength of this Nation to get bogged down in ideological politics because in every single sense of the word, health insurance reform is about choices--giving options to those who don't have them: options for better care or better quality, and insurance that is within reach. This bill was never supposed to be about taking away choices, and we cannot allow it to become that.

Mr. President, this bill already does so much for millions of women across America. Already so far, the Senate has passed Senator Mikulski's amendment to be sure that all women have access to quality preventive health care services, and that screenings, which are so critical to keeping women healthy, are available. This underlying bill will also help women by ending discrimination based on gender-rating or gender-biased preexisting conditions, on covering maternity care, preventive care and screenings, including mammograms and well-baby care, expanding access to coverage even if an employer doesn't cover it, and giving freedom to those who are forced to stay in abusive relationships because if they leave, they or their children could lose their coverage.

Mr. President, the amendment before us today would undermine those efforts and goes against the spirit and the goal of this underlying bill. All Americans should be allowed to choose a plan that allows for coverage of any legal health care service, no matter their income, and that, by the way, includes women. But if this amendment were to pass, it would be the first time that Federal law would restrict what individual private dollars can pay for in the private health insurance marketplace.

Let me repeat that: If this amendment were to pass, it would be the first time that Federal law would restrict what individual private dollars can pay for in the private health insurance marketplace.

Now, the opponents of this bill have taken to the floor day in and day out for months arguing that this bill takes away choice. This bill doesn't take away choice, Mr. President, but this amendment sure does. This amendment stipulates that any health plan receiving any funds under this legislation cannot cover abortion care, even if such coverage is paid for using the private premiums that health plans receive directly from individuals.

Simply put, the amendment says if a health plan wants to offer coverage to individuals who receive affordability credits--no matter how small--that coverage cannot include abortion.

In this way, the amendment doesn't only restrict Federal funds, it restricts
private funds. It doesn't just affect those receiving some amount of affordability credits, it also impacts people who are paying the entire cost of coverage but who just happen to purchase the same health plan as those with affordability credits.

The bottom line: This amendment would be taking away options and choices for American women.

There is no question this amendment goes much further than current law, no matter what our colleagues on the other side contend. Current law restricts public funds from paying for abortion except in cases of rape or incest or where the woman's life is in danger. The existing bill before us represents a genuine compromise. It prohibits Federal funding of abortion, other than the exceptions I just mentioned, but it also allows women to pay for coverage with their own private funds. It maintains current law; it doesn't roll it back.

This amendment now before us would be an unprecedented restriction on women's health choices and coverage. Health insurance reform should be a giant step forward for the health and economic stability of all Americans. This amendment would be a giant step backward for women's health and women's rights. Women already pay higher costs for health care. We should not be forced into limited choices as well.

We are standing on the floor today having a debate about a broken health insurance system. It is broken for women who are denied coverage or charged more for preexisting conditions such as pregnancy or C-sections or domestic violence. It is broken when insurance companies charge women of childbearing age more than men but don't cover maternity care or only offer it for hefty additional premiums.

The status quo is not working. Women and their families need health insurance reform that gives them options, doesn't take them away.

I urge my colleagues to stand up for real reform. Reject this shortsighted amendment.

I yield the floor.

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