Stupak Amendment Would Force End To Private Plan Coverage Of Abortion

The right wing has presented a two-pronged approach against health care reform. First, they complain that a government-run health care plan would be socialism, and demand that government money be funneled into private insurance company plans instead. Then, when Democratic Party leadership caves in and create a plan for government funding for private insurance company health care plans, the right wing attacks the private insurance plans, saying that they provide coverage for abortions.

When I speak of the “right wing”, I don’t just mean the Republican Party. I also mean to refer to a coalition of Democrats in Congress that has been fighting health care reform all year long. The coalition changes its tactics with the needs of the moment, but right now, that group is blocking health care reform legislation by demanding that all private insurance companies that participate in a new marketplace for government funded marketplace stop their current coverage for abortion. That provision is found within an amendment that Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak has demanded be considered, threatening to block health care reform legislation completely if it does not come up to a vote.

What the right wing, in the Republican Party and within the Democratic Party, is now arguing for is what it had been arguing against: Government interference in private health insurance plans. They’re demanding that the government ration health care. They’re arguing in favor of increased government power. They’re arguing in favor of more bureaucratic regulations, interfering with the free market delivery of health care.

So, first the right wing was against government interference, when it was associated with health care reform moving forward. Now, the right wing is in favor of government interference, when it is associated with the obstruction of health care reform. It seems that the right wing actually has no consistent opposition to government regulation. The consistent factor in the debate is the right wing’s opposition to health care reform, whatever that takes.