THE ABORTION COVERAGE PROHIBITION ACT



Abortion Coverage Prohibition Act

Model Legislation & Policy Guide

For the 2018 Legislative Year

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Introduction

One positive outcome from the ongoing national healthcare reform debate is that many more Americans are now aware that a large number of private insurance plans – maybe even their own – cover abortions. In fact, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, “87% of typical employer-based insurance policies in 2002 covered medically necessary or appropriate abortions.”[1]

As a result, the American public along with many state legislators are now seeking a way to prohibit insurance coverage for most abortions. Currently, ten states[2] have laws, dating back as far as 1978, that prohibit private insurance plans operating within their states from covering most abortions. Six of these laws have been enacted since 2011.[3] With one exception, all of these laws provide an exception for when the mother’s life is at risk, while two states permit broader coverage for abortions. Further, most state laws explicitly permit abortion coverage through the purchase of an optional rider and payment of an additional premium.

Importantly, in Coe v. Melahn,[4] the 8th Circuit held that Missouri’s ban on insurance coverage of most abortions did not place an “undue burden” on a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion and was, thus, constitutionally permissible.

To assist state legislators in prohibiting health insurance coverage of abortions within their states, AUL has developed The Abortion Coverage Prohibition Act. For more information and drafting assistance, please contact AUL at (202) 289-1473 or Legislation@.

Steven H. Aden, Esq.

Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel

Americans United for Life

The Abortion Coverage Prohibition Act

HOUSE/SENATE BILL No. ________________

By Representatives/Senators ________________

Section 1. Title.

This Act may be known and cited as the “Abortion Coverage Prohibition Act.”

Section 2. Legislative Findings and Purposes.

(a) The [Legislature] of the State of [Insert name of State] finds that:

1) According to the Guttmacher Institute, “Eighty-seven percent (87%) of typical employer-based insurance policies issued in 2002 covered medically necessary or appropriate abortions.” Thus, as a result of several factors including the U.S. Supreme Court’s broad definition of “health” within the context of abortion, the vast majority of private health insurance plans, often unbeknownst to employers and consumers, covered abortion-on-demand.

2) Private insurance contracts, plans, and policies often offer optional abortion coverage through the purchase of a separate rider.

(b) It is the intent of the [Legislature] that private health insurance contracts, plans, and policies offered in the State of [Insert name of State] may not offer abortion coverage [or may only offer abortion coverage through the purchase, by an individual policyholder, of a separate rider and through the payment of an additional premium for such coverage].

Section 3. Definition.

As used in this Act only, “abortion” means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the unborn child. Such use, prescription, or means is not an abortion if done with the intent to:

(a) Save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child;

(b) Remove a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion; or

(c) Remove an ectopic pregnancy.

Section 4. Prohibition.

(a) No health insurance contract, plan, or policy delivered or issued for delivery in the State of [Insert name of State] shall provide coverage for abortions, except when the life of the mother is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. [Insurance providers may offer abortion coverage through an optional rider for which there must be paid an additional premium.]

(b) Subsection (a) of this Section shall be applicable to all contracts, plans, or policies of:

(1) All health insurers subject to [Insert appropriate state code section(s)];

(2) All nonprofit hospital, medical, surgical, dental, and health service corporations subject to [Insert appropriate state code section(s)];

(3) All group and blanket health insurers subject to [Insert appropriate state code section(s)];

(4) All health maintenance organizations subject to [Insert appropriate state code section(s)];

(5) Any provision of medical, hospital, surgical, and funeral benefits and of coverage against accidental death or injury, when such benefits or coverage are incidental to or part of other insurance described in [Insert appropriate state code section(s)]; and

(6) All employers who provide health insurance for employees on a self-insured basis.

Section 5. Construction.

(a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion.

(b) It is not the intention of this Act to make lawful an abortion that is currently unlawful.

Section 6. Right of Intervention.

The [Legislature], by joint resolution, may appoint one or more of its members, who sponsored or cosponsored this Act in his or her official capacity, to intervene as a matter of right in any case in which the constitutionality of this Act or any portion thereof is challenged.

Section 7. Severability.

Any provision of this Act held to be invalid or unenforceable by its terms, or as applied to any person or circumstance, shall be construed so as to give it the maximum effect permitted by law, unless such holding shall be one of utter invalidity or unenforceability, in which event such provision shall be deemed severable herefrom and shall not affect the remainder hereof or the application of such provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other, dissimilar circumstances.

Section 8. Effective Date.

This Act takes effect on [Insert date].

AUL’s annual publication Defending Life is available online at .

For further information regarding this or other AUL policy guides, please contact:

Americans United for Life

2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 525

Arlington, Virginia 22201

202.289.1478 | Fax 202.289.1473 | Legislation@



©2017 Americans United for Life

This policy guide may be copied and distributed freely as long as the content remains unchanged and Americans United for Life is referenced as the creator and owner of this content.

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[1] See (emphasis added) (last visited, July 24, 2017).

[2] Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Utah.

[3] Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Utah. Oklahoma’s new law replaced a previous law that was less restrictive.

[4] 958 F.2d 223 (8th Cir. 1992).

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