Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D.-Ill.) said she was “unaware” that the preventive services regulation that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued under the Obamacare law requires health care plans to offer free sterilizations to girls as young as their teens. However, back in March, Schakowsky did acknowledge that the mandate offers sterilizations free of charge to college-age women, stressing that the HHS rules were designed to “protect the health of women, women of all ages.” The HHS regulation, which takes effect on Aug. 1, requires nearly all health care plans in the United States to provide, without cost sharing, “all Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity,” which means all women who have begun ovulating, including teenagers.
At the Capitol on Wednesday, CNSNews.com asked Rep. Schakowsky, “The HHS preventive services mandate requires all health plans to offer free sterilizations, including to girls in their teens. Do you support the mandate as it applies to teens?”
At that point, Rep. Schakowsky started to walk away without answering but, while walking, she said, “I don’t--I’m unaware that it says that sterilization including teens is in that. I’ll check that out.”
“I will check that out,” she said..........
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