A national advocacy group asked a Kansas federal judge to reject the state’s request to prohibit the group’s claim arguing that a law restricting insurance coverage for abortion discriminates against women.
Sandy Praeger
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger attempted to bar the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) sex discrimination claim from being raised in a lawsuit challenging a new law’s constitutionality, according to the Associated Press.
The law, enacted July 1, prohibits insurance companies from offering abortion coverage as part of general health plans, except when a woman’s life is at risk. Kansas patients wanting such coverage must buy supplemental policies covering only abortion.
Kansas, in asking for a partial ruling that would block the ACLU’s claim, said it has a legitimate state interest in “promoting childbirth over abortion,” the Associated Press reported. The state also said it wants to control insurance costs and ensure women are “fully informed” about the cost of abortion.
The ACLU said that the new state law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, according to the Associated Press. It said the law prohibits insurance companies from offering women comprehensive policies for all their health care needs, while men can obtain such coverage, including sex-specific health needs as prostate cancer treatment.
“Here, the act is all burden and no benefit: it strips comprehensive insurance policies of abortion coverage and forces women to pay more for that coverage or pay for an abortion out of pocket, while at the same time it does nothing to inform women of their decision,” attorneys for the ACLU wrote.
The ACLU also argued against the state’s claim that it has an interest in controlling health insurance costs, saying the law could actually increase insurance premiums because the costs of prenatal care and childbirth far exceed the costs of abortion services, the Associated Press reported.
If U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown grants the state’s request for partial judgment, the ACLU’s legal challenge would be narrowed to the question of whether the new law unconstitutionally violates women’s due process rights, including the rights to privacy and liberty, when seeking abortion coverage.
Group pushes discrimination claim against Kan. abortion insurance law via IFAwebnews .