When President Obama presented his health care reform plan, two points made me want to throw a shoe at my computer screen. One which I discussed in depth, was the treatment of immigrants. The second was reproductive health, specifically abortion. The President said clearly that the undocumented wouldn’t be covered and that abortions wouldn’t be covered. Now that the actual legislation is being worked on, I am nearly banging my head against my keyboard this morning as I read a New York Times article that lays out how some Democrats are working their asses off to make sure my uterus can’t have access to an abortion.

Abortion opponents in both the House and the Senate are seeking to block the millions of middle- and lower-income people who might receive federal insurance subsidies to help them buy health coverage from using the money on plans that cover abortion…At least 31 House Democrats have signed various recent letters to the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, urging her to allow a vote on a measure to restrict use of the subsidies to pay for abortion, including 25 who joined more than 100 Republicans on a letter delivered Monday. Monday.

Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan, a leading Democratic abortion opponent, said he had commitments from 40 Democrats to block the health care bill unless they have a chance to include the restrictions.

With Democrats like Bart Stupak of Michigan, Senator Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania and Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who the hell needs Republicans?

A key issue here, as with the issue of immigrant access to the health plan exchange, is if plans who offer abortions can be included. Private plans that offer abortion services may have to opt out of participating in the subsidized health exchange because the law prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions. Insurers are expected to separate their public subsidies into separate accounts from individual premiums and co-payment so that only money from private sources could pay for abortions.

Nancy Keenan, president of Naral Pro-Choice America, argued that if the bill blocked the use of subsidies for abortion coverage, private insurers would stop covering abortion because those plans would be excluded from the federally subsidized programs…And under the Hatch amendment in the Senate or the Stupak proposals in the House, women would be free to pay extra for an insurance “rider” that would cover abortions.

Aww thanks for the “free” gift. For poor and working class women, like myself, who are already worried if we will be able to afford the plans offered, if we will have to jump through ridiculous hoops to prove our financial situations, and if we will have to pay fines because we cannot afford any of the options offered, this presents just another roadblock. We already have Republicans who want to get rid of maternity care in some health plans. Seems like the state of a person’s uterus will control the kind of health plan they get.