On Wednesday the House considered S. 304, the Conscience Protection Act of 2016. This legislation is yet another attempt to undermine women’s access to reproductive services, including abortion. S. 304 extends “conscience provisions” to health plan sponsors (primarily employers). As a result of this significant expansion of current law, an employer could deny coverage for reproductive health services including contraception and abortion if he or she had a moral objection to that coverage. S. 304 goes even further than that. It allows health care organizations to withhold medical information from patients if that information could “facilitate” access to abortion coverage. I voted NO. S. 304 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:
| YEA | NAY | PRESENT | NOT VOTING | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| REPUBLICAN | 242 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| DEMOCRAT | 3 |
181 |
0 |
3 |
| TOTAL | 245 |
182 |
0 |
6 |
| MASSACHUSETTS DELEGATION |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |