Thursday, April 06, 2006

Democratic Strategy on Abortion

From: The Hill

"The Senate Democratic leadership says it has found a wedge issue to strengthen the party's position on abortion rights, which top strategists think has become a liability in recent years.
The wedge is legislation expanding access to contraceptives and sex education, which polls show a majority of Americans support but which Democrats are betting will be difficult for social conservatives in the Republican base to accept.
Democratic strategists say the time is right for action because women who support abortion rights but are not politically engaged are alarmed by the confirmation of Samuel Alito as Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement on the Supreme Court and by the passage of legislation strictly curbing the availability of abortion there".

The "The Prevention First Act" requires health plans to cover "contraceptive drugs, devices and outpatient services" if they cover the cost of other prescription drugs and outpatient services.
More on the bill:

"It would also require the secretary of health and human services to disseminate information on emergency contraception to healthcare providers and require hospitals receiving federal money to provide emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault.
The bill would also mandate that federally funded programs provide information about contraceptives that is medically accurate and includes data on health benefits and failure rates".

An overwhelming majority of Americans support access to contraceptives and sex education. This bill will force Republicans to go on record: do they really want to prevent abortions, or is all their anti-abortion talk the empty rhetoric of pandering politicos?

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