COLUMBUS— Testimoney was heard this week on legislation which would seek to block taxpayer dollars from subsidizing health insurance plans that cover abortions.

State Senator Gary Cates (R-Butler Co.) and State Senator Bob Gibbs (R-Lakeville) gave sponsor testimony before the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee urging support for Senate Bill 262. Senator Cates explained that for decades, Congress and most Americans agreed that public funds should not help pay for elective abortions. This principle originated through passage of the federal Hyde amendment in 1976, which was introduced in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, and has been continued as part of annual appropriation bills for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and similar laws.

However, the recently-enacted, federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does not follow this policy, according to the Senators.  The Act limits only the direct use of a federal tax credit specifically to fund abortion coverage, and tries to segregate funds within health plans to keep federal dollars distinct from funds covering elective abortions. The Act mandates that insurance companies deciding to cover elective abortions in a health plan shall collect from each enrollee in the plan – without regard to the enrollee’s age, sex, or family status - a separate payment for such abortion coverage. No accommodation is permitted for people morally opposed to elective abortion coverage. But the credits are still used to pay overall premiums for health plans that cover elective abortions.

SB 262, which Senator Cates and Senator Gibbs introduced on May 17, would prohibit health plans offered through insurance “exchanges” in the state from providing coverage for nontherapeutic abortions, as permitted under an opt-out clause in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These exchanges were created in the federal health care law to provide insurance for people who do not receive coverage through their employer, and are scheduled to take effect in 2014.

“SB 262 would preserve the spirit of the federal Hyde amendment and uphold a long-standing and widely-supported policy to block the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions,” said Cates, who has also worked closely with State Representative Joseph Uecker from Clermont County on the bill.

Tennessee recently passed similar opt-out legislation, and state lawmakers in Missouri are in the process of doing the same.

“For years, Ohio has maintained that public funds should not be used to subsidize elective abortion services, and this bill continues that tradition by prohibiting qualified health plans offered through the state exchange from providing coverage for non-therapeutic abortions,” Gibbs said. “I believe it is critically important that we continue to defend innocent human life, and SB 262 will help us protect the lives of the unborn.”