On Saturday, November 7, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a historic health reform bill. Unfortunately, the members of the House adopted an amendment to this otherwise laudable bill, which, if enacted, would effectively ban private abortion coverage for millions of women in the United States. Named for its sponsors, the amendment is referred to alternatively as the Stupak-Pitts amendment or the Stupak amendment.

The Stupak ban violates the central tenet of health care reform as articulated by President Obama: If you are happy with your health coverage, you can keep it. The president has promised on numerous occasions that Americans can keep the benefi ts they currently have, if they wish to do so. However, if the current House bill were enacted, millions of women would lose their private coverage for reproductive health care.

The Stupak ban prohibits millions of women from using their own money to buy private health insurance that provides comprehensive reproductive health care benefits.