Advocacy Groups Form Coalition to Pass Health Care Reform and Stop Stupak!

For Immediate Release: Jan. 30, 2014

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Coalition Announces DC Lobby Day and National Week of Action

A broad group of advocacy organizations from the progressive and women’s health communities has joined together to form the Coalition to Pass Health Care Reform and Stop Stupak!  The coalition’s goal is to ensure that health care reform is passed and does not restrict women’s ability to purchase private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion.  The coalition announced today that it will hold a DC Lobby Day on Wednesday, December 2, as part of its National Week of Action, Monday November 30–Sunday, December 6, to ensure that the anti-choice Stupak amendment is not included in the final health care reform legislation.

The Stupak amendment, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, would, if enacted, effectively prohibit millions of women from using their own money to purchase private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care benefits. The result would be nothing less than an unacceptable ban on abortion coverage.  If this bill is enacted, millions of American women will effectively be prohibited from purchasing private insurance that covers abortion through the new “exchange” or marketplace to be established under health care reform.  The Stupak amendment is a radical proposal that upends current law on abortion coverage in the United States. It goes far beyond the Hyde amendment, which has unfairly prohibited the use of federal funds for abortion in most cases for more than 30 years.  The Stupak amendment goes beyond Hyde because it would restrict abortion coverage by private health insurance plans in an unprecedented and dangerous manner.

The National Week of Action and the DC Lobby Day on December 2 will mobilize advocates from all over the country to communicate clearly to members of Congress that women need health reform that covers all of their health needs, including comprehensive reproductive health care.  The coalition is building on the wave of pro-choice activism sparked by the passage of the amendment more than two weeks ago.  Since passage, some members of the House who voted for the Stupak ban have expressed their doubts about this amendment.  Notably, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not include the Stupak language in the health care reform bill he introduced on November 19, and President Obama has indicated that the amendment goes too far.

The members of the coalition are:

Alliance for Justice
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) 
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP)
Black Women for Reproductive Justice (BWRJ)
Black Women’s Health Imperative
Campaign for Community Change
Catholics for Choice 
Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
Center for Reproductive Rights
Choice USA
Coalition of Labor Union Women
EMILY’s List
Feminist Majority Foundation
Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC)
Latina Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition (LSRJC)
Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ)
Maryland Women’s Coalition for Health Care Reform
Medical Students for Choice
MoveOn.org Political Action
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice New York
National Abortion Federation (NAF)
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)
National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA)
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund
National Institute for Reproductive Health
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH)
National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF)
National Organization for Women (NOW)
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Women’s Health Network (NWHN)
National Women’s Law Center (NWLC)
New Prospect Family and Worship Center, Washington, DC
No Limits
People for the American Way (PFAW)
Personal PAC
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH)
Planned Parenthood
Raising Women’s Voices
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC)
Religious Institute
Secular Coalition for America
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)
SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Women’s Media Center (WMC)
YWCA
 

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