Yesterday, President Barack Obama signed an executive order on abortion. The president signed the order to appease the anti-abortion Democrats whose votes, needed to pass health care reform Sunday, hinged on whether their abortion concerns about the bill would be met. The order prevents federal funding from being spent on abortions, with the exception of special cases such as rape, incest and when the health of the mother is in danger.
The concern about allowing federal funding to go toward abortions when the country remains divided on such a controversial topic is legitimate. The order should put an end to the debate, despite the fact that the issue has not been especially relevant since any talk of a government-run public option was thrown out of the health care negotiations last year.
While this compromise might be what some would consider an unfortunate side effect on passing the bill, it was a necessary step toward ensuring that the controversy surrounding abortion did not kill the reform, given how close the vote margin in the House was.
As the country continues to remain torn over abortion, the executive order is a smart move. While it apparently does not change anything in the law, it does clear things up so as to avoid needless debate in the future.
But the fact that the order, which was signed behind closed doors, avoided a media circus (as opposed to Tuesday’s signing of the health care reform bill) does shine light on other much-debated issues. When taxpayer dollars are being used for controversial procedures upon which the country continues to remain divided, how will we determine where we stand? Will it be a case-by-case basis, or will more orders be necessary? For example, how should we determine whether to fund a gender reassignment surgery? How will we determine whether plastic surgery is deemed necessary or worthy of coverage? How can we find a happy medium when we don’t agree on the subject to begin with?
Health care reform promises to confront these and many more social issues. As the health care industry adjusts to a new landscape, but Americans continue to remain split on divisive social issues, these and many more dilemmas will send our representatives into a legislative blunder.
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