U.S. Employees’ Insurance May Cover Abortion

The Clinton Administration, in another reversal of Reagan-Bush policies, is proposing to allow federal employee health insurance plans to offer coverage for abortions.

Under a decade-long ban, health insurance coverage for abortions has been allowed only if a woman’s life is endangered by her pregnancy. The strict ban has been enforced by a provision attached to the Treasury Department-Postal Service appropriations bill.

“The provision has been proposed for deletion” in President Clinton’s budget, which is scheduled for release Thursday, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget said.

“The budget will also say that the Administration will work with the Congress to develop an approach that is consistent with federal and state laws,” the OMB spokesman said.

The decision is the latest in a series of steps the Clinton Administration has taken to break with Reagan-Bush abortion policies. Two days after taking office, Clinton overturned five abortion restrictions, including the “gag rule,” which had prevented abortion counseling by anyone but physicians at federally funded clinics. More recently, the Administration indicated it will not seek reauthorization of the Hyde Amendment, named for Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), which forbids the use of Medicaid money to pay for abortions.

Carolyn Kroon, president of Federally Employed Women, applauded Clinton’s decision, saying the ban discriminated against women in the civil service and their female dependents by denying them access to complete health care coverage.

Because federal workers pay a part of their health insurance premium, Kroon said, the government “should not be able to limit how they use their health care.”

Under the ban, abortions are not covered for any reason, including rape or incest, except “where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term.”

Congress must approve the lifting of the ban.