In today’s main post, right-to-life activist John Gerardi suggests a shift in the pro-life message. In the article we link to, he mentions an intriguing initiative: Americans United for Life is promoting legislation they are calling Make Birth Free.
The measure would require insurers to not require a deductible for child-birth expenses. The uninsured would have the costs covered by Medicaid. The mother would have a monthly stipend for the first two years of her child’s life. See the details here.
The policy should help reduce the number of abortions, particularly among the 60% of women who say they would not have gotten an abortion if they had emotional or financial support. (See today’s post.) It would also address the problem of the “birth dearth,” which threatens our demographic future. Proponents say the measure should receive support both from conservatives, who oppose abortion, and liberals, who have long called for government-provided health care.
What do you think about this? Would you support it? Would this open the door to socialized medicine? Or would this provision for a specific type of healthcare, similar to what we have already done with HIV and some other conditions, be worthwhile and worth the expense?
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