‘Coral Roe’ legislation would end abortion coverage under ACA

California lawmakers are proposing to eliminate the ACA’s requirement that health plans cover abortion care.
The bill is expected to advance by the end of the year.
The measure would eliminate coverage for abortion care under the ACA, as well as prevent coverage from any health plan in states where abortion is illegal or covered under a waiver.
“Coral, you have a choice: You can continue with your life as an American or you can get a medical abortion,” Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, a Democrat from Santa Barbara County, told supporters.
“I don’t care if you have insurance.
You can go back to your life and have an abortion.
It’s just a choice, but it’s a choice that’s available to everybody,” he added.
The bill is being promoted as a way to prevent women from being penalized for getting abortions.
But the bill faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled legislature.
Republicans in California’s Senate are opposed to the bill.
It has been vetoed by Gov.
Jerry Brown.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Fletcher, a Republican, said the bill is important because of the state’s recent history of restricting abortion.
He said he is also concerned about women’s health in general and the health of pregnant women in particular.
“We have had more than 40 women in this state who have been murdered,” he said.
Fletcher added that while he has heard from many women who want the law to be repealed, he is not in favor of the bill because it “has no teeth.”
“We should not be making these decisions about women,” he told reporters.
Fellow Republican Rep. Michael Bustos, who also opposes the bill, said he did not support the measure because it would be bad for women’s bodies.
“I don`t want to make it an issue about women.
It`s not an issue for me,” he explained.
Rep. Lois Wolk, a moderate Democrat who represents parts of Orange County, said that while she supports the bill’s provisions on abortion, she is concerned that the bill will only affect those who have the most expensive insurance.
Wolk said she understands that it is a “hard pill to swallow” for many women to take.
She said that many women will still be able to get abortion care without having to pay for it, even though she opposes the current version of the law.
“It`s a choice,” Wolk said.
“It’s not a matter of women having to get an abortion.”
Wolk also told reporters that the proposal does not address the state`s existing Medicaid expansion that is currently in place.
The proposal would simply replace that coverage.
“The law doesn’t provide for that coverage, so we will have to take that decision,” she said.
Republicans are concerned that this bill would prevent women who have preexisting conditions from obtaining abortion coverage.
Wolk acknowledged that the coverage will be provided to those with preexistential conditions.
She also said that the Medicaid expansion has made the coverage available to pregnant women, but not to women with preeXisting conditions.
The legislation would be the second abortion legislation in California in less than a week.
Earlier this week, the state House approved an amendment that would have required that women seeking abortions have a physician`s recommendation.
The measure was not supported by all Republican lawmakers, including the GOP Speaker of the House.