- FaxNotes - May 11, 1998

May 11, 1998



Texas GOP Hosts Gigantic Baby Shower The Republican Party is the Pro-life Party! And the Republican Party of Texas is about to do something about it. The Texas State Convention scheduled for June 12/13 in Ft. Worth, will hold a monumental baby shower to benefit Texas' crisis pregnancy centers. The Texas convention, the largest Republican state convention in the nation, will seat over 15,000 Delegates and Alternates, the vast majority of whom are enthusiastically pro-life. The brain child of Texas GOP chairman Susan Weddington, the Republican baby shower is expected to be extremely popular with attendees, who have been asked to bring everything from sleepers to pacifiers to diaper bags for the precious newborn babies whose mothers unselfishly choose life. This should be a real trend-setter. Let us know if your state Party plans something similar! And thanks to Susan Weddington for giving Republicans an opportunity to tangibly demonstrate our support for the babies and their mothers! ACOG Joins Push for Mandated Insurance Coverage of Population Control Drugs Not unexpectedly, the Snowe/Greenwood Equity in Prescription and Contraceptive Coverage Act (S. 766/H.R. 2174), which we have described in previous issues of FaxNotes, was endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) at their annual clinical meeting on May 8. The pro-abortion physicians group called the exclusion of abortion-causing contraceptive drugs from insurance coverage "discriminatory" against women who need to "control their fertility", claiming that use of the drugs reduces unintended pregnancies and abortions. (PR Newswire via Dow Jones, 5/8/98) In Focus, a publication of Family Research Council, explains the truth of the matter: "By their very nature, contraceptive services are elective, not medically necessary, and should not be placed in the same category as other types of basic medical care. For example, most Americans do not believe that the U.S. needs a federal law mandating that all insurance plans cover breast implants or elective abortion simply because these procedures are restricted to women and exclusion from coverage might increase their out-of-pocket "health care" expenses. It is widely accepted that these procedures -- as well as contraceptive services -- are elective. "A distinction should also be made between insurance companies and insurance policies. Insurance companies may offer a wide variety of plans. As a result, an insurance company might cover contraceptive services in half of its policies, giving consumers a choice of policy. However, the Snowe/Greenwood legislation would mandate that every policy include all types of contraceptive services, so that consumers who morally oppose contraception or who simply don't want or need contraceptive coverage would be unable to opt out from paying for the coverage. "The Snowe/Greenwood legislation would require that all insurance policies cover five types of contraceptive methods: oral contraceptives, the IUD, diaphragm, Norplant, and Depo Provera. [ All of these drugs and devices, with the exception of the diaphragm, can cause early abortions to occur.] Currently, many insurance policies offer coverage for some of the methods, but not all. Part of the reason why insurance policies might choose not to cover some of these contraceptive methods, particularly Norplant, is that these drugs or devices are potentially dangerous to women's health. There is documented evidence that Norplant produces serious adverse side effects, such as stroke and blindness. Wheth-Ayerst, the manufacturer of Norplant, has been the subject of class-action lawsuits by thousands of women who have been injured by the implant." [Efforts in the states to pass similar legislation have succeeded in Maryland. The Connecticut House passed "the pill bill", but the Senate, fearing "controversy", declined to do so before adjournment on May 6, after staunch pro-life opposition to the measure.]