Nationally, pro-abortion politicians at least go through the motions to hide their extremism on the issue, such as insisting that the insurance mandates they support cover only contraception and suggesting that they wouldn’t force anyone to pay for abortions against his or her will. But in the state of Washington, Democrats have dropped the charade and lunged for what the rest of their party really wants – forcing private insurers to cover abortion.
The Reproductive Parity Act, as supporters call it, would require insurers in Washington state who cover maternity care — which all insurers must do — to also pay for abortions.
The bill passed the state House earlier this month by a vote of 53-43, though it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. A similar bill in the New York state Assembly has been introduced each session for over a decade but has never received a public hearing.
“This is a core value for Washingtonians,” said Melanie Smith, a lobbyist for NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. “We should protect it while we still have it and not leave access to basic health care up to an insurance company.” […]
Supporters of Washington state’s proposed abortion insurance mandate are careful to stress that it wouldn’t lead to a dramatic uptick in abortions or require carriers with a religious bent to cover the procedure. They also note that a pair of federal plans that will be sold on all 50 state exchanges will be barred from covering elective abortions.
So if Washington’s enlightened masters decide that a particular company is religious enough to not ignore its First Amendment rights, it won’t have to worry about being forced to pay for killing babies. How generous. Maybe we could save liberals a lot more time and effort by just making an application form for American citizens subjects who would prefer that the Constitution still apply to them.
Perhaps the issue’s most telling detail is this admission:
At present, all major insurers in Washington state cover abortions, and [Democrat Rep. Eileen] Cody, the bill’s sponsor, said she knows of no carrier with plans to change. Insurers new to Washington state on its exchange may be tempted to adopt different policies, she said.
So the proposed mandate isn’t even in response to some lack of abortion “access” plaguing the state; plans that insure the procedure are readily available. Pro-choicers not of a tyrannical bent would be content to leave it at that, but not here: to Washington Democrats, the very possibility that one or two future insurers might choose to run their businesses differently is a good enough excuse to take away their freedom. Apparently the left’s already elastic definition of “access” is now so broad that even putting in the effort to find out for yourself whether the policy you’re purchasing covers abortions is too strenuous a burden to ask of people.
As Human Life of Washington spokeswoman Peggy O’Ban says, this proposal is ultimately a “conscience coercion act.” As unhealthy as a society that tolerates the slaughter of its children is, one that forces others to join in sinks to an entirely new level of depravity.
