State Child Health Insurance Program
In 2002, the United States Department of Health and Human Services announced their intention to expand the State Child Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) to redefine the term child to include unborn children from the moment of conception and solicited comments on the proposal. That fall they chose to make the change, putting the new definition into effect as of Nov. 1, 2002.
NAPW believes that this rule is primarily a political statement intended to provoke controversy over Roe v. Wade and is designed to distract attention from pressing national issues regarding health care for Americans, including low income women and children. Below please find NAPW's press release and comment on the proposed rule, sample comments from experts on so called "fetal surgery" that the administration claimed would be funded under the program, and commentary and analysis on the final rule.
Commentary on Final Rule : Including "Unborn Children" - "Excluding Pregnant Women."
On November 1, 2002, the Bush Administration will put into effect its redefinition of the word "child" under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to include "unborn children," ruling that a "Child means an individual under the age of 19 including the period from conception to birth."
The Unborn Smokescreen - Opinion Editorial
Z Magazine
October 2003
Volume 16 Number 10
By Lynn Paltrow
This month, the Department of Health and Human Services officially published its proposal to extend the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to "unborn children," by redefining "childhood" as starting at conception
NAPW PR: SCHIP Regulation Change May Signal Shift in Experimental Treatment Policy
SCHIP Regulation Change May Signal Shift in Experimental Treatment Policy
National Advocates for Pregnant Women
Respond to Inconsistencies in Federal Policy
NAPW response letter to the proposed regulations
Thomas A. Scully
Administrator
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,
Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS-2127-P
P.O. Box 8016,
Baltimore, MD 21244-8016
RE: File Code CMS-2127-P
State Children's Health Insurance Program; Eligibility for Prenatal Care for Unborn Children
April 29, 2002
Letter from Professor Anne Drapkin Lyerly
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS-2127-P
P.O. Box 8016
Baltimore, MD 21244-8016
3 May 2002
Letter from Professors Lynn M. Morgan and Monica J. Casper
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS-2127-P
P.O. Box 8016
Baltimore, MD 21244-8016
9 April 2002