Texas Gov. Signs Pro-life Bill Which Will Limit Insurance Coverage for Abortions
- Amanda Casanova ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor
- Updated Aug 16, 2017
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill this week that limits insurance coverage for abortion procedures.
"A qualified health plan offered through a health benefit exchange may not provide coverage for elective abortion," reads HB 214.
"This section does not prevent a person from purchasing optional or supplemental coverage for elective abortion under a health benefit plan other than a qualified health plan offered through a health benefit exchange."
The law does provide exemptions for abortions done to save the life of a woman.
Abbott told reporters that he was “proud to sign legislation that ensures no Texan is ever required to pay for a procedure that ends the life of an unborn child.”
“I am grateful for the Texas legislature for getting this bill to my desk, and working to protect innocent life this special session,” he added.
The bill passed in the House 92-46 and then in the Senate 20-10.
Opponents of the bill, however, said that new law would force women to buy what they are calling “rape insurance.”
"Women don't plan to be raped. Parents don't plan for their children to be victims of incest," stated Rep. Turner, according to the Texas Tribune.
"Asking a woman or a parent to foresee something like that and buy supplemental insurance to cover that horrific possibility is not only ridiculous, it is cruel."
The new law will go into effect Dec. 1.
Publication date: August 16, 2017