While most of the nation was preparing lunch, Senate Democrats made a move to ban all anti-abortion procedures in a blatant attempt at appeasing the Abortion Lobby, in D.C.

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Midknight Review report:  Wednesday,  July 16,  at 11:06 pt., the Seante began the voting process to end floor debate as to Senate bill  S.2578.  61 votes were required.  The bill failed with only 56 "yes" votes.   Harry Reid,  a sponsor of the bill,  voted “no”  but only on procedural issues,  his vote allowing this bill to be reconsidered sometime in the future.  

The vote demonstrates the increasing divide existing between the two major political parties;  even moderate Democrats have come to support contraception and abortion at all levels,  and,  in every term of pregnancy including the infamous “late term” abortion.  Understand that a “late term abortion”  is not abortion at all,  but the killing of a fully born child except for a hand,  a shoulder,  a foot, or, the very top of a baby’s head, remaining in contact with the vagina during the birth process.  

In effect,  this bill would have institutionalized all forms of contraception and abortion procedures,  including those given exception in the Hobby Lobby decision of the High Court.  With its passage,  every legislative prohibition to abortion at the state and federal levels,  would have been eliminated.  The proposal was an effort,  by the abortion lobby,  to turn a Supreme Court defeat into a comprehensive victory,  extending far beyond the reinstatement of the four contraction methods included in the Hobby Lobby decision,  a legislative maneuver designed to institutionalize all abortion procedures,  as well. 

The bill,  itself,  bears the title: Protect Women's Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014.   In the reading of the bill’s title,  the reader should understand that this bill was intended to be nothing less than a pejorative action against “corporate America” to include small, individual and family owned,  private businesses (not traded on the Stock Exchange).  The "Hobby Lobby decision"   is not about “corporate America” if corporation stock is publicly traded.  All such companies continue to be required to insure for all 20 ObamaCare stated contraception procedures.  The High Court’s  Hobby Lobby decision,  exempted  4 of the 20 procedures named in ObamaCare,  on the grounds that they constituted “abortion” in the minds of those who filed suit.   

Understand that the Democrat Party,  abortion freaks all,  based this bill’s “necessity” on an outrageous lie detailed in point #15 of this law’s justification.  It reads as follows: 

(15) On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court held, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell, that some for-profit corporations can take away the birth control coverage guaranteed to their employees and the covered dependents of such employees through their group health plan.

Understand that “for-profit” is used,  in this case,  as a pejorative, designed to bias the reader against a business;  to the Progressive Socialists,  profits are evil and,  so too,  those who work for profit.    Secondly,  the charge that Hobby Lobby took away “birth control coverage” could not be more of a lie.  The fact of the matter is this:  the High Court’s decision, institutionalized -  once and for all – 16 specific contraception methods while allowing for faith based objections to the remaining 4 methods defined in the healthcare law.  Further,  the decision did not outlaw anything.  It only allowed for the religious conscience of privately owned businesses. 

Every Senate Democrat voted in favor of this bill along with two Republicans,  Senators Murkowski from Alaska and Susan Collins from Maine. 

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After notes: 

The bill’s justification is reproduced,  here.  It is a part of the congressional record here. 

(1) Access to the full range of health benefits and preventive services, as guaranteed under Federal law or through Federal regulations, provides all Americans with the opportunity to lead healthier and more productive lives.

(2) Birth control is a critical health care service for women. Ninety-nine percent of sexually active women use birth control at least once in their lifetimes, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared it one of the Ten Great Public Health Achievements of the 20th Century. While the most common reason women use contraception is to prevent pregnancy, 58 percent of oral contraceptive users cite noncontraceptive health benefits as reasons for using the method. Fourteen percent of birth control pill users, more than 1,500,000 women, rely on birth control pills for noncontraceptive purposes only.

(3) In addition to providing health benefits for women, access to birth control has been directly connected to women's economic success and ability to participate in society equally. Women with access to birth control are more likely to have higher educational achievement and career achievement, and to be paid higher wages.

(4) The independent, nonprofit Institute of Medicine recommends, as part of its recommended preventive health measures, that women's preventive health be covered by health plans with no cost-sharing to promote optimal health of women. The Institute of Medicine noted that the contraceptive methods recommendation was one of the most important recommendations for women.

(5) Affordability has long been a barrier to women being able to use birth control and other preventive health services effectively. A national survey of women who were currently using some form of contraception found that one-third would switch to a different method of contraception if they did not have to worry about cost. Women citing cost concerns were twice as likely as other women to rely on less effective methods of contraception.

(6) Three separate studies have found that lack of health coverage is significantly associated with reduced use of prescription contraceptives.

(7) Cost-sharing requirements can dramatically reduce the use of preventive health care measures, particularly among lower-income women. Studies have shown that eliminating cost-sharing for the most effective forms of contraception (intrauterine devices, implants, and injectables) leads to sizable increases in the use of these methods.

(8) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) sought to remove the barrier to care by requiring all new health plans to cover recommended preventive services without cost-sharing, which include women's preventative services. These services include all methods of contraception and sterilization approved by the Food and Drug Administration and related education and counseling, as prescribed by a health care provider.

(9) The contraceptive coverage provision has been a success in increasing access to this critical health service for women. As of 2013, 47,000,000 women were covered by this requirement. Women have saved $483,000,000 in out-of-pocket costs for oral contraceptives with no copayments in 2013 compared to 2012.

(10) The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that 7 out of 10 people in the United States support coverage of contraception, with significantly higher support among women, Hispanic Americans, and Black Americans.

(11) An estimated 76,000,000 people in the United States, including 30,000,000 women, are newly eligible for expanded preventive services coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A total of 48,500,000 women are estimated to benefit from preventive services coverage without cost-sharing.

(12) The most appropriate method of contraception varies according to each individual woman's needs and medical history. Women may have medical contraindications and thus not be able to use certain types of contraceptive methods. It is therefore vital that the full range of contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration be available in order to ensure that each woman, in consultation with her medical provider, can make appropriate decisions about her health care.

(13) Covering proven preventative services like contraception lowers health care spending as it improves health. The Federal Government experienced no increase in costs at all after it began covering contraceptives for Federal employees. A study by the National Business Group on Health estimated that it costs employers 15 to 17 percent more to not provide contraceptive coverage in employee health plans, accounting for the employer's direct medical costs of pregnancy and indirect costs related to employee absence and reduced productivity.

(14) Dozens of cases have been filed in Federal court by employers that want to take this benefit away from their employees and the covered dependents of such employees.

(15) On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court held, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell, that some for-profit corporations can take away the birth control coverage guaranteed to their employees and the covered dependents of such employees through their group health plan.

(16) In a dissent in those cases, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg states that in this `decision of startling breadth . . . the exemption sought by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga . . . would deny legions of women who do not hold their employers' beliefs access to contraceptive coverage that the ACA would otherwise secure.' Justice Ginsburg also notes that the decision opens up the door to religiously grounded employer objections to a whole host of health care services like `blood transfusions . . .. antidepressants . . . medications derived from pigs, including anesthesia . . . and vaccinations.'.

(17) The Supreme Court's decision in those cases allows employers, that otherwise provide coverage of preventive health services, to deny their employees and the covered dependents of such employees contraceptive coverage and to treat a critical women's health service differently than other comparable services. Legislation is needed to clarify that employers may not discriminate against their employees and dependents.

(18) It is imperative that Congress act to reinstate contraception coverage and to protect employees and the covered dependents of such employees from other attempts to take away coverage for other health benefits to which such employees and dependents are entitled under Federal law.

(19) This Act is intended to be consistent with the Congressional intent in enacting the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-141), and with the exemption for houses of worship, and an accommodation for religiously-affiliated nonprofit organizations with objections to contraceptive coverage.