Pass Health Care Reform Now! Write Your Democratic Representative.

Dear reader,

Whether you are anti-abortion or pro-choice, if your Representative is a Democrat, I urge you to write them and demand that they commit to voting for the current health care reform legislation. In my proposed letter, below, I will explain why concern over the language used to prohibit federal funding of abortion should not be used to block this legislation.

If, like me, your Representative is a Republican, writing them on this issue is probably as useful as shouting at a mud puddle. You can help, however, by encouraging everyone you know who has a Democratic Representative send them a letter similar to my example below.

You can use this link: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml to find your Representative’s e-mail contact form. You will need to know your complete 5+4 Zip Code.

Letter to a Democratic Representative

Dear (Name),

I urge you to commit to voting for and whole-heartedly supporting the current health care reform legislation. Do not let any consideration deter you.

I urge you to reach out to Representative Bart Stupak and the other Representatives that are concerned that Senate’s language prohibiting federal money being used to fund abortion is not adequate and tell them that blocking health care reform will not reduce abortion, but will hurt the unborn children of mothers who do not now receive adequate prenatal care.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Maternal and Child Health Bureau, every year nearly one million woman give birth without having received adequate medical attention. Such babies born to mothers who received no prenatal care are three times more likely to be born at low birth weight, and five times more likely to die, than those whose mothers received prenatal care.

While I share your concern about abortion, sacrificing the health of lower-income mothers, babies, and older children by denying them the assistance that health care reform will provide is simply unacceptable. Let the language stand, and let’s get these women the prenatal care they need to bring healthy children into the world. My experience also suggests that giving lower-income mothers the medical help they need, will even discourage some abortions.

According to the National Abortion Federation, most early-term (six to ten weeks) abortions cost between $350 and $500. Only after twenty weeks does the cost rise to over $1000. So even if no health insurance covered abortion (as most private health insurance now does) middle income woman would still be able to afford it easily. The greatest impact would be on lower-income women, who would still find the money somehow or receive assistance from organizations such as the National Network of Abortion Funds—just as they do now.

Stopping health care reform over the language/mechanism used to prevent federal funding of abortion hurts low-income mothers and their babies. It is a fight with no winners. Pass health care reform now!

Thank you,

(Your Name)

(Your Town)