Oregon Law Forces Taxpayers to Pay for Abortions

Editor’s note. This analysis comes courtesy of the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Pro-abortion Gov. Kate Brown

Pro-abortion Gov. Kate Brown

Recently, the state of Oregon passed a law (which Governor Kate Brown is expected to sign) requiring insurance companies to provide full coverage for all abortions, for any reason, up until the day of delivery.

Let’s take a look at a couple of points.

The first point comes from ADF Legal Counsel Elissa Graves, writing at the ADF blog:

As if that weren’t troubling enough, this law—which claims to provide women “equity,” presumably with men—is inherently anti-feminist.

That is, the law allows free abortions based on the sex of the baby.

Sex-selective abortions disproportionately affect baby girls in the womb. Sex discrimination in the form of selective abortion has resulted in millions of missing girls throughout the world.

Even though polls have shown that a majority of Americans would be in favor of banning sex-selective abortions, the practice still occurs in the United States and is deeply engrained in some cultural traditions.

Oregon’s extreme laws allow for abortions for any reason at any point prior to birth. There are no protections for the unborn at all, which leads to disproportionate harm to unborn girls.

The second point comes from Georgi Boorman, writing at The Federalist:

Notice, too, how the old mantras of pro-abortion rhetoric have fallen away. Who proclaims abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare” anymore? Do Oregon Democrats care if abortion is rare, considering they want to make it free? It’s even doubtful they care much about its safety, if one considers the lack of hospital admitting privilege requirements, informed consent, tracking abortion-related maternal deaths (something every state should be doing), or even a definition of an illegal abortion, which is extremely hazardous to a woman’s health, much less a penalty for it.

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Ironically, the same radicals who support explicit consent for the act that creates life don’t think they need your consent to have you pay for its destruction.

The bottom line is this: No government should require its citizens to pay for abortion, particularly when a significant number of them recognize that abortion wrongfully terminates a life.