"Imagine that I had told you at the time that this (future) president and a strong Democratic majority in both houses of Congress would pass comprehensive health care reform legislation with the following features:
Coverage for abortion would be specifically excluded from the standard package of benefits that all insurers would be required by law to offer.
That existing restrictions on the use of federal funds appropriated via the HHS appropriations bill (a.k.a the Hyde Amendment) would be maintained.
That the federal government, acting in its capacity as both a civilian and military employer, would continue to exclude abortion coverage from the policies it offers to its employees.
That the new health exchanges would be required to offer at least one policy that did not cover abortion, something not available in the individual policy market in many places.
That states would have the option of preventing insurers in their state from offering plans through the exchange that cover abortion.
That federal premium subsidies could not be used to purchase insurance coverage for abortion.
That while individuals purchasing coverage through the exchange would have the option to use their own funds to purchase abortion coverage, they would have to make a separate premium payment to do so.
That all of these elements would not only be contained in the legislation, but would be reaffirmed by the President of the United States in a high profile executive order issued hours before the legislation’s passage."
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=7442
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