by Jenifer Rajkumar, Fellow,
National Women's Law Center
Today, the Senate is expected to vote on the Nelson-Hatch Amendment, a radical proposal that would restrict millions of women in the U.S. from using even their own private money to buy abortion coverage. Last night, the Senate began debating the amendment, introduced by Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), who was joined by 8 other Senators.
We would like to thank Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) who stood up for women against the amendment on the Senate Floor. According to Senator Boxer:
"Then men who have brought us this, and I believe they are all men, put nothing in this amendment that says that if a man wants to buy viagra, his insurance can’t cover it and he has to buy a rider. . . It is discriminatory to single out a procedure only women can utilize. This is a legal procedure, but you can't use your own private funds?. . . Please don't single out women. What have women done to deserve this? They are mothers, daughters, women who serve in the military. Why punish women in this way?"
Senator Boxer stated that the radical amendment came as a “shock,” and would do away with an agreement on abortion held for three decades since the passing of the Hyde Amendment, which already bans the use of federal dollars for abortion. The abortion fight, she pointed out, has no place in this health care debate.
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland), taking the floor after Boxer, made a similar stand. “Making this debate about abortion is misguided and wrong,” she said, adding that it is “humiliating” and “demonizes women” to require women to buy an abortion rider in order to have an abortion.
Thank you, Senators Boxer and Mikulski, for standing up for women! Call your Senators today and tell them to vote NO on the Nelson-Hatch Amendment!
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