Wash. House passes abortion insurance bill

February 22, 2013 @ 1:09 pm

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Setting up what promises to be a contentious reckoning in the Washington state Senate, the House on Friday passed a measure requiring that most insurance carriers in the state cover abortions.

House Bill 1044 is intended to ensure that insurers continue covering abortions once bureaucratic hurdles for doing so come into effect next year with the enactment of federal health care reforms. Lawmakers in the House passed the measure by a vote of 53-43, with all but two Democratic votes cast in favor and all but one Republican voting against it.

"Today nearly every health plan in Washington state covers a full range of reproductive options," said Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma. "And we want it to stay that way."

Opponents contend that abortion coverage in the state is already widespread and the bill is unnecessary. They also argue that it could risk federal health care funds by violating federal law and that it infringes on religious liberties.

"This bill takes away my choice as a woman and other individuals' choices as well to choose not to have that care," Rep. Shelly Short, R-Addy, said.

Supporters point out language in the bill that makes any portion of it inconsistent with federal law moot and exempts insurance carriers _ though not businesses or individuals _ objecting to abortion on moral grounds from paying for the coverage. The measure goes next to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

A similar bill in the upper chamber has 23 co-sponsors, leaving it two votes shy of a majority. Another senator, Rodney Tom, D-Medina, who leads the majority caucus of 23 Republicans and two Democrats, spoke recently in support of the bill at a pro-abortion rights rally at the Capitol.

Sen. Randi Becker, R-Eatonville, who is chairwoman of the Health Care Committee, said she will make hearing the bill in her committee a priority.

Given the widespread abortion coverage in the state, Becker said she is skeptical of the measure's utility, but she is keeping an open mind. She declined to speculate on its prospects of clearing her committee, which is made up mostly of Republicans.

Sen. Steve Litzow, a Mercer Island lawmaker who is the sole Republican co-sponsor of the bill in the Senate, said he was heartened that it had cleared the House but said it was unlikely that any action would be taken to move it to the Senate floor in the event that it fails in committee.

"I would be surprised," he said. "You'd have to do something that would be out of the ordinary."

In a statement, Gov. Jay Inslee commended the House for passing the bill and implicitly urged Senate leaders to allow the bill to come up for a floor vote, where supporters believe they have the votes to pass the bill.

"The Senate should not shut the door of democracy when it comes to women's health care," he said.

___

Follow AP Writer Jonathan Kaminsky at http://www.twitter.com/jekaminsky


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (21)


  • Add A Comment

  • HLC wrote...
    To a democrat.
    January 30, 2013 9:37 am
    Killing a baby is nothing more then a form of birth control. Sicko's.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Lonestar wrote...
    It's OK
    January 31, 2013 9:26 am
    They're only aborting future Democrats.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    To a republican.
    January 31, 2013 1:45 pm
    Killing a kid is nothing more then a form of 2nd amendment rights. Sicko's.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    It's OK
    January 31, 2013 1:47 pm
    They're only killing future Republicans.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • xplanes wrote...
    Like it or not
    January 31, 2013 2:28 pm
    Obamacare and this parity movement is all about forcing the entire American public to accept and fund abortion on demand without a constitutional amendment or any recourse in the courts. Once the government is in the business of funding births they can argue it would be discrimination not to fun abortion. The mental health parity law in Washington state was the groundwork for this approach. Now that it is covered the same as physical health, the same logic is being applied to abortion. As long as the government is in the business of supplying these things the fairness standard is applied. If we were free to buy plans that covered pregnancies or not then they couldn't force us to buy a plan that supports abortion. This state requires all plans offered cover abortion. Now the abortion industry wants parity coverage. This is how ^%^%ed up things get when you hand control over to the government. No more economic freedom. No more freedom of conscience. We work to support the state and do it's bidding.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • xplanes wrote...
    correction...
    January 31, 2013 2:30 pm
    It should have said "This state requires all plans offered cover pregnancies".
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • xplanes wrote...
    Odd
    February 7, 2013 1:38 pm
    When all the above comments were originally made the article we were commenting on was speaking about the upcoming hearing and now all that article was removed and a new article was put in its place. Even though the comments above are mostly not specific to the article it is an odd editorial practice that could leave late readers into thinking we were commenting on the article as it now exists. I'm starting to believe this website is being administered by high school students.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Moondoggie wrote...
    X-Plane
    February 7, 2013 3:25 pm
    I once was reading the comments about a story and saw a comment that was FANTASTIC. The writer had nailed it! Then I realized that I was the author and had written it almost 6 months earlier. So you never know with this website what you will find.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Moondoggie wrote...
    X-planes
    February 7, 2013 3:28 pm
    I also saw something that Ch had written that made some sense, so it could be that even the names and the comments get mixed up sometimes.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • imanegro wrote...
    gotta make sure that killing babies is still OK
    February 7, 2013 3:42 pm
    Gotta love liberals.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • cigarfan wrote...
    Sorry RWNJ's..........
    February 7, 2013 5:26 pm
    But this is why WA is blue....and if you decide to live here...you'll have to get out of the way of women's rights.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Cigar moron
    February 22, 2013 9:59 pm
    Ohhhh, you are so hip & progressive. Yeah, real cool. " keep you laws off my body, unless you pay for my ABORTION"....liberal chickenshits! Can't even spend $5 bucks a month for their own birth control. Absolutely no PERSONAL RESPONSIBILTY! eF YOU!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }