A heated debate over abortion has emerged in the waning days of the legislative session after Senate Republicans passed new restrictions that were praised by social conservatives but blasted by women’s advocate groups.
The move to make it illegal for state-sponsored insurance plans to pay for abortions opened up a new front in the frenzied final days of the legislative session, which ends on Thursday after three grueling months. Until now, the biggest legislative fights have focused on ethics reform and loosening gun restrictions rather than the hot-button debate over abortion.
The abortion move took even supporters by surprise. Gov. Nathan Deal, whose aides often have their fingerprints on key legislation, said he was taken aback by the effort. That didn’t stop him from giving it his endorsement, saying that abortions should be an “auxiliary benefit that’s paid for separately” by state workers.
But House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, whose chamber must still approve the plan, gave the idea a less than enthusiastic review Tuesday.
He noted that the House last year passed a bill banning most abortions in Georgia after 20 weeks of pregnancy after weeks of hearings and debate.
“Issues that important, that sensitive, are entitled to a full airing out of views,” Ralston said. “I’m a little concerned that measure hasn’t had that.”
This year’s push was added to House Bill 246, an unrelated measure that would allow the Georgia World Congress Center Authority to provide an insurance plan for employees. It would ban abortion coverage for the roughly 650,000 people covered by the State Health Benefit Plan, with exceptions only if the life of the mother is in danger. The number covered includes workers, retirees and dependents.
The sponsor, state Sen. Judson Hill, R-Marietta, said he’s concerned that taxpayer money is helping women having abortions. On Tuesday, Mike Griffin, the state field director for Georgia Right to Life, showed House lawmakers figures he said the state released at a hearing last year that documents abortions performed on women covered by the state health plan.
The figures showed 545 patients under the state plan sought abortions in fiscal year 2009, a figure that dropped to 447 in 2010 and 366 in 2011. Net insurance payments for the procedure dropped from about $343,000 to $213,000 in that span, while the patient share for the coverage has hovered around $600.
“The state Legislature and the governor are strongly pro-life, and that means the people of Georgia who have elected them hold those beliefs,” Griffin said, “and they want them to act on them.”
Critics of the legislation worry it’s being rushed through to beat the pending Thursday deadline. Lawmakers haven’t held a hearing for the proposal this year, though they heard testimony on similar legislation last year.
“State employees pay into their health care plans, and they deserve a say in their coverage,” said Janelle Yamarick, community advocacy director for the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlanta.
“There’s been no opportunity to assess or speak about what the impact of the bill is,” she said. “With something like this being pulled out so late, they don’t have the opportunity to speak about the costs and effects to their families.”
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