Hunkering Down for the Long Haul
To say that it has been a challenging week for progressives is a bit of an understatement. There was a defeat in Massachusets, the Citizens United ruling, and the loss of Air America. And that doesn’t even touch on the challenges of getting any kind of comprehensive health care reform passed, let alone reform that protects women’s access to reproductive health services.
As if that were not bad enough, states like Minnesota that have made a commitment to women can anticipate a full-throttled attack on that commitment. I provided a policy overview of what health care reform would look like in Minnesota here but want to draw attention to one point–Medicaid. Now I know nothing puts people to sleep quite like talking about state funding vehicles, so I’ll be brief. Minnesota is one of a handful of states that currently uses Medicaid funds to provide abortion-related services to recipients beyond the circumstances of rape and/or incest. The funding mechanisms and the insurance exchanges put forth in federal health care reform, combined with razor-thin support for continued funding and billion-dollar state deficits makes this an easy target for “reform.” Whatever happens with health care reform on the national level we can expect to see another assault on choice and access at the state level. And if reform passes, expect a broader coalition of groups and legislators going after this Medicaid funding.
Many choice activists felt blindsided by the Stupak/Nelson/Hatch abortion shennanigans in the crafting of health care reform legislation. There’s no reason why we should be as blindsided at the state level. Consider yourself warned and let’s get prepared.
