It's a new year, and by now you've probably made your resolutions to be a new you. We wish the same were true for some anti-choice members of Congress. They've decided they rather enjoyed living in the past, particularly 2011, also known as the year of the war on women, and have resolved to again pass the misleadingly titled No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7). This is definitely one bill that should be forgot and never brought to mind again.
Yesterday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice held a hearing on the bill, where anti-choice lawmakers demonstrated a total disregard for women and their ability to make personal medical decisions.
In an effort to impose one narrow ideology on every woman's life, these lawmakers hope to rewrite long-standing tax laws to penalize a single, legal medical procedure: abortion. The bill denies tax credits to small businesses and middle-class families if their health plans include abortion coverage, and imposes a tax increase on women who need abortion care.
In addition to trying to excise abortion coverage from the private insurance market, H.R. 7 would make permanent the unjust abortion bans that prevent millions of women — such as those enrolled in Medicaid, federal employees, and residents of the District of Columbia — from having health insurance coverage that includes abortion care. In other words, H.R. 7 denies women comprehensive health insurance that covers their needs.
H.R. 7 represents a radical government intrusion into the incredibly private and personal decisions a woman may face.
I would prefer to forget 2011— after all it's the year in which we were "lucky" to have been gifted with Party Rock Anthem. When it comes to H.R. 7, I wish these lawmakers would too.
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