February 23, 2010 02:06 AM UTC

Will Anti-Abortion Legislators Vote Their "Pro-Family" Values?

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• by: naralprochoiceco

(Because I was sitting next to a NARAL representative in a packed room last night   – promoted by Danny the Red (hair))

This week, Colorado’s House of Representatives is debating House Bill 1021 (Frangas and McCann, Foster), which can help increase healthy birth outcomes in our state. As amended this morning during second reading on the floor, the bill closes Colorado’s maternity coverage gap by requiring all insurance plans sold in the individual market to cover pregnancy as a core benefit — just as federal anti-discrimination law has required for employer-provided health insurance plans offered by companies with at least 15 employees for more than three decades, and just as Colorado statute has required in the small-group market for more than three decades, and just as taxpayer-funded Medicaid does. House Bill 1021 presents a unique opportunity for lawmakers with differing positions on abortion to demonstrate their support for women who choose to carry pregnancies to term by ensuring those women and their families have affordable access to the critical prenatal care they need to have healthy pregnancies. The question is, will anti-choice politicians stand with Colorado women and their families by supporting HB 1021? After the jump, check out anti-abortion lawmakers’ history of working to ban abortion while repeatedly rejecting common-sense, common-ground policies that empower women to reduce the need for abortion by preventing unintended pregnancy and promoting healthy birth outcomes.

Will these legislators stand up for healthy pregnancy by voting yes on HB 1021 as amended during second reading, which supports women who want to carry their pregnancies to term and get the critical prenatal care they need to have healthy pregnancies?