Statement on the Passage of Health Care

Statement of Suzanne Poppema, MD, Board Chair of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, on Final Push for Health Care Reform

New York, NY—“Today is a bittersweet moment for physicians who provide reproductive care to women and men. Thanks to the health reform legislation passed last night, millions of Americans will finally have access to health care. However, this achievement has a painful side effect, as many women will be denied access to abortion—even in cases when their health is threatened.

“Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health spent the last year fighting to ensure that health reform would improve reproductive health. We’re pleased with many aspects of the bill, including a ban on charging women more for insurance and guaranteed coverage for preventive health services. There’s no doubt this bill will help physicians keep women and families healthy.

“Even as health reform expands access to insurance, it restricts coverage of one critical service. Abortion is essential health care—one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime—but millions of women could be denied coverage under this legislation. As physicians, we’ll face the painful task of telling women their insurance won’t pay for the legal, safe medical procedure they need. We know what it’s like: we doctors already have to deliver that message to families in the military, in government service, and on Medicaid. We know the pain and suffering that result—financial, emotional, and physical.

“The goal of health reform was to end inequities in our health system. Instead, anti-choice politicians wrote discrimination into the bill.

“As physicians, we believe every American deserves unfettered access to all reproductive health care. The health of our country depends on it. We call on Congress and the administration to correct the wrongs in the health reform bill. We will fight to ensure every woman has access to the full range of medical care she needs.”