Email from NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia:
Dear XXXXXX,
Gov. McDonnell won’t rest until abortion access is completely eliminated in the Commonwealth.
Late last night, Gov. McDonnell added an anti-abortion amendment to SB921 and HB1900, bills to implement Virginia’s new health-insurance exchange as set out under the Affordable Care Act. McDonnell’s new amendment seeks to ban abortion coverage from all private plans sold in Virginia’s federally run health-insurance exchange, and if passed, will block thousands of Virginian women from purchasing comprehensive health care with their own private dollars.
By banning women from using their own money to purchase private insurance plans that include this one common benefit, Gov. McDonnell is attempting to restrict Virginians’ personal economic decisions as well as their access to affordable comprehensive health care. Let’s be clear – despite what you will hear from anti-choice groups, this amendment is not a matter of eliminating public funding for abortion. Instead, McDonnell’s amendment would block Virginia women from spending their own private dollars to purchase an insurance policy with abortion coverage. In addition, the governor’s amendment would take away basic coverage currently included in a vast majority of Virginia’s private insurance plans.
