Washington State Sixth to Cover Unborn Children Under CHIP

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 27, 2003   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Washington State Sixth to Cover Unborn Children Under CHIP

by Paul Nowak
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
September 27, 2003

Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) — Washington has become the sixth state to extend medical insurance coverage to unborn children and their mothers through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

"The news that Washington state will now cover low-income pregnant women and their unborn children is indeed good news," Elenor Schoen, Communication Director for Human Life of Washington told LifeNews.com.

"The most telling recent statistic of how needed this news was is a study by the Vitae Caring Foundation showing that Seattle now holds the title for the second highest abortion rate vs. live birth ratio in the nation after the city of New York."

"It is not only good news," Schoen concluded. "It is bordering on the miraculous."

"This new coverage will give thousands of children a healthy start by providing access to prenatal care," HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said. "Prenatal care is crucial to the health and well-being of both mother and child. Vital services during pregnancy can be a life-long determinant of health and we should do everything possible to make this care available to everyone."

It is estimated that approximately 4,000 pregnant mothers will receive care under the extended coverage.

By expanding the program, children (and their mothers) are now covered by the CHIP program, a program that is exclusively for poor children. Pro-life groups are hopeful that such extensions of coverage will help eliminate the financial and medical reasons that make some women consider and seek abortions in Washington and other States.

Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota and Rhode Island have already extended their SCHIP programs to include unborn children.

By extending the state’s medical coverage for children to unborn children, pro-abortion supporters fear it is another step to granting legal rights to the unborn.

Related web sites:
Human Life of Washington – https://www.humanlife.net