Abortion coverage new goal for UAW
Detroit Free Press
August 21, 2003
By Jeffrey McCracken and Sarah A. Webster
But automakers want to trim health care billsThe UAW has asked Detroit's automakers to pay for voluntary abortions in its national contract talks, say officials at the union and the companies familiar with the talks. The potentially explosive request was made to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group during talks about health care coverage, those officials said. They did not know whether it was also made to Ford Motor Co. during contract talks, which began in mid-July. The issue was raised vaguely in the UAW's initial proposals presented to the automakers in late July. At Chrysler, the union asked the automaker to "expand benefits related to reproductive services." At GM, the UAW requested that "professional fees for elective pregnancy termination be covered." In later subcommittee meetings between union and automaker negotiators, the UAW clarified it sought coverage of elective or voluntary abortions. Currently, health care plans for UAW workers cover abortions in certain circumstances, such as where medically necessary or determined by a physician, company officials said. The union and company officials noted this demand, like numerous others made by the union, could fall by the wayside and never be part of the final contract. Similar proposals for abortion coverage have been made in contract talks, but it has not been widely reported. It's unclear how seriously the union is now pushing the issue. The 4-year UAW national contract with the former Big Three and two suppliers, which covers 307,000 workers and 522,000 retirees, surviving spouses and dependents, expires Sept. 14. Neither group supporting nor opposing abortion rights knew how common it was for employers to cover voluntary abortions, although they noted contraception is becoming widely covered. The demand is already attracting outside attention. It prompted Monica Migliorino Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, which says it has about 5,000 members in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, to plan a picket outside of UAW Solidarity House in Detroit within the next few weeks. If any automaker agreed to cover abortions, she said, "It could be a dangerous precedent." Miller also was planning to contact UAW members who oppose abortion in an attempt to derail the proposal. UAW spokesman Roger Kerson declined to comment on the matter. Spokespersons at GM, Ford and Chrysler also declined to comment. The request for expanded reproductive benefits comes at a time when Detroit's automakers are trying to cut back their health care expenses, which topped $8.7 billion in 2002. The UAW has also requested that GM begin covering contraceptive medicines and devices, which they currently do not. Ford expanded its health care coverage for hourly UAW workers to include prescription contraceptives in 2000; Chrysler followed suit in 2002. At least 20 states have laws requiring insurers to cover contraception, according to the nonprofit Alan Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health issues. Michigan law requires only that one type of medical benefit provider -- health maintenance organizations -- offer contraceptive drugs and devices. Some companies may be more inclined to cover contraceptives because studies have shown it saves on the cost of pregnancies. Some disagreement may exist over which reproductive medications are contraceptives and which are abortion drugs. Some common contraceptives, such as Alesse, Lo/Ovral and Preven, can be used as emergency contraception, in which the drug can be taken in higher doses after unprotected sex to prevent or stop a pregnancy. Several groups opposing abortion consider emergency contraception to be abortion, said Rebecca Wind, a spokeswoman for the Guttmacher Institute. Automakers may have some difficulty adopting such a proposal, if they were so inclined, because several states have laws forbidding insurance coverage of abortions in most cases. Four states prohibit abortion coverage in all insurance policies, except when a woman's life is in danger, according to the Guttmacher Institute. That includes Kentucky and Missouri, where domestic automakers have plants, as well as Idaho and North Dakota. The UAW has never taken an official position on abortion, but the union's Web site contains several remarks supporting abortion rights. For example, the union criticized U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft for supporting legislation that would ban abortions in most instances.
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