Posted on Jul 23, 2022
3 common myths about the abortion debate that many people get wrong
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/07/22/ [login to see] /three-abortion-myths
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the federal right to abortion, things are more than a little confused.
As lower courts grapple with rapidly changing state laws, patients wonder from day to day if abortion is still legal, and even if legal, whether it is still available in their states. Health professionals in states with abortion bans fear prosecution by state authorities for performing abortions or by federal authorities for not performing them in life- or health-threatening situations.
Even employers are caught between conflicting state and federal rules about what can, cannot, and must be covered by insurance.
But amid all the confusion, there are some things that are simply not true. Here are three myths going around about the abortion debate:
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the federal right to abortion, things are more than a little confused.
As lower courts grapple with rapidly changing state laws, patients wonder from day to day if abortion is still legal, and even if legal, whether it is still available in their states. Health professionals in states with abortion bans fear prosecution by state authorities for performing abortions or by federal authorities for not performing them in life- or health-threatening situations.
Even employers are caught between conflicting state and federal rules about what can, cannot, and must be covered by insurance.
But amid all the confusion, there are some things that are simply not true. Here are three myths going around about the abortion debate:
3 common myths about the abortion debate that many people get wrong
Posted from npr.org
Supreme Court
Medical
Health
Abortion
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."With Democrats in charge of both Congress and the White House, they can just change the existing laws limiting abortion, advocates claim. Indeed, President Joe Biden's budgets in 2021 and 2022 proposed eliminating the so-called Hyde Amendment, named for its sponsor, the anti-abortion crusading Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), which has barred most federal abortion funding since the late 1970s. But while the House voted in 2021 for the funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services without the abortion rider for the first time in decades, Senate Republicans forced the restrictions back into the final measure. The same is expected later this year. Democrats hold only 50 seats in the Senate and need at least 10 Republicans on any bill that is threatened with a filibuster.
The Hyde Amendment could also keep the federal government from allowing abortion clinics to operate on federal land, as many progressives have been calling for. But other, more complicated federal-state issues would more likely doom that scenario.
Complicating things still more, the Hyde language in the HHS spending bill is far from the only abortion restriction embedded in federal law. While abortion-rights backers have successfully fought off most efforts to make such restrictions permanent, various other spending bills annually include limits on abortion in the military, in federal prisons, by the Indian Health Service, and as an insurance benefit for federal workers. Congress has also limited the ability of the District of Columbia to spend local tax dollars on abortion.
It is possible the reversal of Roe could lead to the reversal of some of these restrictions. But with Democrats' paper-thin majority in the Senate, it's not likely, at least not in 2022."
..."With Democrats in charge of both Congress and the White House, they can just change the existing laws limiting abortion, advocates claim. Indeed, President Joe Biden's budgets in 2021 and 2022 proposed eliminating the so-called Hyde Amendment, named for its sponsor, the anti-abortion crusading Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), which has barred most federal abortion funding since the late 1970s. But while the House voted in 2021 for the funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services without the abortion rider for the first time in decades, Senate Republicans forced the restrictions back into the final measure. The same is expected later this year. Democrats hold only 50 seats in the Senate and need at least 10 Republicans on any bill that is threatened with a filibuster.
The Hyde Amendment could also keep the federal government from allowing abortion clinics to operate on federal land, as many progressives have been calling for. But other, more complicated federal-state issues would more likely doom that scenario.
Complicating things still more, the Hyde language in the HHS spending bill is far from the only abortion restriction embedded in federal law. While abortion-rights backers have successfully fought off most efforts to make such restrictions permanent, various other spending bills annually include limits on abortion in the military, in federal prisons, by the Indian Health Service, and as an insurance benefit for federal workers. Congress has also limited the ability of the District of Columbia to spend local tax dollars on abortion.
It is possible the reversal of Roe could lead to the reversal of some of these restrictions. But with Democrats' paper-thin majority in the Senate, it's not likely, at least not in 2022."
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