In her Feb. 11 letter, “Proposed bills forcing ‘choice,'” Ann Maker opposes Washington’s House Bill 1044 and Senate Bills 5009 and 5576, or the Reproductive Parity Act.
Maker’s argument is moot. There is nothing in the Reproductive Parity Act that will force people to purchase insurance plans that cover abortion.
The Affordable Care Act requires that states have to offer at least one health plan on their insurance exchanges that doesn’t cover abortion services at all. So, if an employer wants to interfere with a woman’s ability to make her own health care decisions, it can purchase one of those plans. If Maker opposes abortion for herself and her family, she too can choose one of those plans.
The fact of the matter is, the decision to have an abortion is complex and personal. Pregnancy decisions should belong to a woman, her family, her physician and her faith, not her employer, her insurance company or politicians. I support the Reproductive Parity Act because I trust women to make the health care decision that will keep themselves and their families strong.
