Washington, DC — Hundreds of women and men, patients, health care providers, students, religious and progressive leaders and Latina and African American advocates joined members of Congress at a Stop Stupak! event on Capitol Hill on Wednesday December 2. The event was part of the Coalition to Pass Health Care Reform and Stop Stupak! DC Lobby Day. The coalition, representing a broad group of advocacy organizations from the progressive and women’s health communities, is sending a strong message to Congress that the anti-choice Stupak amendment and others like it must not be included in the final health care reform legislation. Specifically, the coalition is working to ensure that health care reform is passed and that it does not restrict women’s ability to purchase private health insurance that covers comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion care. The DC Lobby Day is part of the coalition’s National Week of Action, from Monday November 30–Sunday, December 6.

The timing of the DC Lobby Day coincides with news that Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) are planning to introduce an amendment on the Senate floor that is nearly identical to the Stupak amendment, which goes beyond the provisions of Hyde and would effectively ban private health insurance coverage of abortion for millions of women. 

More than 500 supporters from 30 states, including California, Florida, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin traveled to DC to meet with their members of Congress and urge opposition to the anti-choice Stupak amendment and others like it.

The Stupak amendment, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, would, if enacted, effectively prohibit millions of women from using their own money to purchase private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care benefits. The result would be nothing less than an unacceptable ban on abortion coverage.  If this bill becomes the law of the land, millions of American women will effectively be prohibited from purchasing private insurance that covers abortion through the new “exchange” or marketplace to be established under health care reform.  The Stupak ban is a radical proposal that upends current law on abortion coverage in the United States. It goes far beyond the Hyde amendment, which has unfairly prohibited the use of federal funds for abortion in most cases for more than 30 years.  The Stupak amendment goes beyond Hyde because it would restrict abortion coverage by private health insurance plans in an unprecedented manner.

Since passage, some members of the House who voted for the Stupak ban have expressed their doubts about this amendment.  Moreover, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not include the Stupak language in the health care reform bill he introduced on November 19, and President Obama has indicated that the amendment goes too far.

The National Week of Action features events across the country to raise awareness about the Stupak ban, including more than 120 college campus events in 37 states and the District of Columbia.  The Coalition is also engaging in an extensive on-line activation campaign which has already resulted in more than 385,273 signatures on petitions to go to President Obama, Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi encouraging them to protect women’s health and reject the Stupak amendment and others like it.

Participants at the Stop Stupak! Hill Event

Members of Congress

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)

Representative Lois Capps (D-CA)

Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO)

Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)

Representative Jane Harman (D-CA)

Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

Coalition Partners

Anna Burger, International Secretary-Treasurer, Service Employees International Union

Tiffany Campbell, a patient who will share her story. Read her story here.

Marcia Greenberger, Co-President, National Women’s Law Center

Silvia Henriquez, Executive Director, National Latino Institute for Reproductive Health

Richard Licht, Chair of the Board of Directors, NARAL Pro-Choice America

Dr. Willie Parker, Medical Director, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC, Inc. and Board Member, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health.

Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Loretta Ross, National Coordinator, Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective

Jane Seymour, Student, Haverford College

Ellie Smeal, President, Feminist Majority Foundation

Rev Carlton Veazey, President & CEO, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

Coalition Members

Alliance for Justice

American Association of University Women (AAUW)

American Medical Student Association (AMSA)

American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)

Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP)

Black Women for Reproductive Justice (BWRJ)

Black Women’s Health Imperative

Catholics for Choice

Campaign for Community Change

Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)

Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)

Center for Reproductive Rights

Choice USA

Coalition of Labor Union Women

EMILY’s List

Feminist Majority Foundation

Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC)

Latina Sexual and Reproductive

Justice Coalition (LSRJC)

Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ)

Maryland Women’s Coalition for Health Care Reform

Medical Students for Choice

MoveOn.org Political Action

NARAL Pro-Choice America

NARAL Pro-Choice New York

National Abortion Federation (NAF)

National Asian Pacific American

Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)

National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)

National Family Planning &

Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA)

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund

National Institute for Reproductive Health

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF)

National Organization for Women (NOW)

National Partnership for Women and Families

National Women’s Health Network (NWHN)

National Women’s Law Center (NWLC)

New Prospect Family and Worship Center,

Washington, DC

No Limits

People for the American Way (PFAW)

Personal PAC

Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH)

Planned Parenthood

Raising Women’s Voices

Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC)

Religious Institute

Secular Coalition for America

Sexuality Information and Education

Council of the United States (SIECUS)

SisterSong Women of Color

Reproductive Health Collective

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Women’s Media Center (WMC)

YWCA