Charlotte Voices
(Cont.) The coverage wasn’t a factor in the cost of the health care premiums, which are about $350 to $375 per semester, depending on the campus.
“It has no effect on the cost whatsoever,” Bowles said. “It didn’t before; it won’t now.”
Bowles’ decision came after he and members of the UNC system’s Board of Governors received e-mail pleas that were prompted by Students for Life of America, a national organization with affiliates at UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State, UNC Charlotte and other universities across the state.
“I think the opt-out [option] is a step in the right direction, but it’s not a solution,” said Kristan Hawkins, the national organization’s executive director. “I don’t want anyone to have abortion coverage. Abortion is not quality health care.”
Students at UNC system schools are not required to buy health insurance from the system, but, as of this fall, they must have insurance. Before, 11 of 16 campuses required students to have health insurance.
About 90,000 of more than 200,000 eligible students have thus far opted out of the university’s health plan by proving they have other insurance, said Joni Worthington, a UNC system spokeswoman. That means that more than half of eligible students are on the UNC plan.
Under the UNC system plan, students would pay up to about $750 a year for at least $100,000 of coverage with a deductible no higher than $300. That means insurance costs would increase a bit for students at many campuses, but premiums would drop for students at UNC-CH, NCSU and five others. And, the overall benefits package would improve, officials say.
For example, until this year, students at Elizabeth City State University were required to pay $456 a year for health insurance, with a $6,000 maximum benefit. Under the UNC system plan, an ECSU student’s premium would rise about $250 a year, and the maximum benefit would rise to $100,000.
Until now, NCSU didn’t require students to have insurance but offered it annually for $1,161, with a $100,000 maximum benefit. So NCSU students who buy the coverage now save about $400 a year through the UNC system plan.
All students will be notified soon via e-mail that they can opt out of the abortion coverage. Sarah Hardin, president of NCSU Students for Life, dislikes that students must go out of their way to get out of the coverage.
“If there’s a pro-life student who misses that e-mail, they’ll pay in to an abortion pool?” said Hardin, a senior from Cary. “That’s just raising a red flag to me that students could be automatically enrolled to something that they have a moral objection to.”
(06/01/10) Abortion expansion and the rationing of medical treatment remain hot topics as Pro-Life advocates move forward in opposition to the federal health care legislation passed in March. The Rasmussen Reports survey conducted May 28-29 of 1,000 likely voters shows 60% of Americans favor repealing this massive bill.
States have been quick to respond with efforts to challenge the law in court or through legislation. We’re told thousands of North Carolina residents have signed petitions in opposition to the law, HR 3590. A North Mecklenburg state house member reports receiving 400 responses from his email alert asking the North Carolina attorney general to join other states in the legal challenge. In a letter to the governor, Attorney General Roy Cooper stated North Carolina would not be joining the the suit, unlikely to succeed because congress has broad authority to regulate interstate commerce. Others point to the Tenth Amendment and say the new law, requiring citizens to purchase health insurance, exceeds the constitutional authority of the federal government.
(3/22/10) “This piece of paper is merely an illusory promise that ultimately won’t stand and may not even stand for a week.” That from Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN), an occasional guest on Charlotte radio to talk “Obamacare,” on the executive order to remove federal funding for abortion from the package passed by the House Sunday night 219-212.
The group of pro-life Democrats that seemingly held the fate of health care reform in their hands dropped their insistence that language be included in the bill to prevent federal dollars from covering any of the cost of plans providing abortion. During a press conference, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) said they would have preferred to have the statutory language but that the votes in the Senate were not there (this amendment failed in the Senate last December).
Strong reaction came from pro-life groups over the weekend concerned that such an order could not correct the numerous problems with the legislation opening the door to federal funding of abortion, increased rationing, and the possibility of discrimination against health care entities that do not perform or refer for abortion. Representative Dan Lungren (R-CA), the state’s former attorney general said the legislation “destroyed the consensus that has been the law for 34 years” referencing the Hyde language included to restrict federal funding of abortion in the Medicaid program beginning in 1976. Reacting to the news of the order in a press conference, Lungren and others echoed the fact that an executive order “cannot supersede the plain language of a statute” and that “unless there is a specific limitation on (abortion) funding, it is presumed abortion will be provided.”
All Republican representatives voted against the bill along with North Carolina Democrats Health Shuler and Mike McIntyre. Representative Larry Kissell, who generally does not side with pro-life legislators, voted ‘no’ because of the Medicare cuts. The future of Medicare Advantage, the private insurance seniors can buy under Medicare that provides the same or more services than the traditional government benefits, is a major concern for pro-life forces who want to prevent rationed care. This means 9% of the Democrats voting against the bill were from North Carolina (3 of 34). In a Sunday interview, Boone’s Virginia Foxx said “we would have worked with the Democrats” expressing her dismay with the sweeping package and the way it was ushered through. “It’s one of the most offensive pieces of social engineering legislation in the history of the United States.”
North Carolina Public Schools Proposed Curriculum: Roe Lifted “Oppressive Government”
(02/04/10) The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is requesting feedback from both schools and the general public on proposed curriculum, Draft 1.0, from the Essential Standards writing teams by February 15th (extended to March 2).
For Civics and Economics courses, the State Board of Education has included Roe vs. Wade along with Brown vs. the Board of Education and Korematsu vs. the United States as support in “explaining how the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld rights against oppressive government.” Continued from the document ˃ This “Assessment Prototype” corresponds to the Essential Standard to “Analyze the foundations of democratic government in the United States” with a clarifying objective of “Attributing individual liberties to ideals (e.g. natural rights/unalienable rights, popular sovereignty, civil rights, equality) derived from founding documents.”
Charlotte Right to Life expresses great concern that the court ruling which denied continued legal protection for unborn life at any point during pregnancy would be highlighted in the classroom as ending “government oppression” — as if the thousands of taxpaying parents and future taxpayers who advocate for abortion alternatives and a Culture of Life in North Carolina don’t exist. We urge the writing team to exclude any such political statement from the second draft to be put together later this winter.
Essential Standards Draft Copy, Feedback Form, Individual Survey: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/phase2/
From the web: North and South Carolina Scholarship Notice (2009/2010) To view or download a copy of the scholarship application, Click Here.
Election 2009: Where they stand on Life (10/21/09) Local candidates from Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville completed the Charlotte Right to Life general election questionnaire. Contact us for the candidate comparison on local and state issues.