Latest Attack in the War On Women: Ohio Senate passes unconstitutional insurance ban, H.B. 79 H.B. 125 indefinitely shelved
December 14, 2011
Columbus, OH - Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, called the passage of H.B. 79 an unconstitutional overreach into the health care decisions of Ohio’s families.
“This has been a dark year for the women of Ohio, with the introduction of ten separate bills to limit access to abortion and family planning services, and four of them passing the Ohio General Assembly.” Copeland said. “We are happy to see that H.B. 125, a ban on abortion before most women realize they are pregnant, has been shelved indefinitely by Senate President Niehaus, but we are disheartened that he continued the war on women by passing H.B. 79 this afternoon.”
“By passing one bill after another to restrict the ability of Ohio women to make their own private, personal medical decisions, the Ohio Legislature is ignoring the will of their constituents.” Copeland continued. “With the passage of H.B. 79 and the countless hours of testimony in committee over the last week on H.B. 125, the “heartbeat” abortion ban, the Ohio Senate is demonstrating their lack of concern about our broken economy and the millions of Ohioans out of work.”
H.B. 79 will outlaw non-therapeutic abortion coverage in the to-be-created health insurance exchanges as laid out in the Affordable Care Act. This will even apply to Ohioans who are paying for their health insurance with their own private dollars. By banning coverage for abortion, H.B. 79 is in direct conflict with the Ohio Constitution under the recently passed Issue 3, which states that the Ohio cannot prohibit the sale of health care or health insurance. The ACLU has announced that they will challenge H.B. 79 in court.
