On the recordJuly 6, 2016
This language strikes the anti-abortion language in section 613, which restricts abortion coverage for those who participate in Federal Employees Health Benefit plans. In other words, Federal employees. Singling out abortion care and requiring its exclusion from health insurance plans is discrimination. Federal employees commit their lives to public service, and they should not be penalized because of the source of their health insurance and who their employer happens to be. Government employees contribute to the cost of their coverage, and they pay their out-of-pocket expenses. They deserve the same benefits and access to comprehensive health care as those in the private sector. This ban separates public servants from private-sector employees and treats them as unequal. All Federal employees should have equal access to health care that other employees receive in the private sector. Here, we are saying that one employer, the government, is free to deny care to its employees, something that we would generally not allow in the private sector. We are also prohibiting these Federal employee plans from covering abortions, and that constitutes political interference in a woman's personal decisionmaking. Restricting abortion coverage in these plans is a bad policy that harms women. Sometime during the course of pregnancy, for instance, one might find out that the fetus is abnormal.…
