The Delaware House recently passed a bill to expand access to abortion in the state by requiring insurance carriers to cover abortion and abortion-related services.
According to Delaware House Democrats, HB 110 would require that all health plans for Medicaid, private health insurance plans, and state employee insurance plans cover abortion-related services to help alleviate “constraints and stigma” associated with abortion.
“Abortion is healthcare, and it is recognized as such here in Delaware. Yet the financial constraints and stigma associated with abortion services act as enormous barriers to actually accessing them,” said House Majority Leader Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown, sponsor of the bill.
Under the bill, Medicaid and private health insurers would have to cover up to $750 towards abortion beginning January 1, 2025. The law change would cost taxpayers $250,000 to implement and $500,000 annually, according to the Controller General’s Office.
“I think it is unfair for taxpayers that are opposed to this procedure to have to pay for this,” state Rep. Charles Postles, R-Milford, said.
Another opponent of the bill, Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner, argued that cancer patients have to pay for their treatments through cost-sharing insurance fees. “To say that there should be no deductible, no co-pay, for anybody that gets an abortion, even if they have private insurance, is not sound financial judgment,” she said, adding that the legislature should “stop taking politically motivated actions that drive costs higher.”
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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) voiced support for the bill, stating that it will help break down socioeconomic barriers and address racial disparities.
“Real access to abortion care means that people from all walks of life — young people, low-income people, those who live far from medical providers, and disabled people — are able to access care,” the ACLU said in a statement.
However, the idea of making abortion free for the so-called benefit of certain individuals has been viewed as discriminatory by many. Last year, pro-life Connecticut State Democrat Rep. Treneé McGee told the crowd at the March for Life that the abortion industry has “mocked impoverished communities all while putting clinics in them.” She called out abortion advocates, saying, “You’ve told me that I can’t be Black and pro-life because Black women need abortions more than anyone. You tell us that we are disproportionally impacted, never giving us our due proportions from the start.”
Likewise, Live Action correspondent Christina Bennett explained in 2020 that making abortion free to the client incentivizes it. “And so when you make abortion free [of cost to the client], you’re adding to that encouragement. You’re encouraging abortion when you make it free because, just in general, that’s a sales tactic, making something free,” she told Live Action News. “If something is free you’re going to consider it regardless of what it is. If someone says, ‘Do you want this? It’s free,’ you’re going to think, ‘Do I want this?’ So, for women who are already vulnerable, already under pressure to abort, it becomes this enticement.”
The bill now heads to the Delaware Senate, which must approve it by June 30, the end of the legislative session, before it heads to the governor’s desk.
