Other Voices

“The decision to perform an ultrasound before abortion is a medical one that rightfully should be made by a patient and doctor in consultation. When lawmakers ... intervene in that decision, they politicize women’s healthcare.

Even now, in its amended version, the Virginia legislation would require an abdominal ultrasound of women seeking an abortion—again, a decision best left to a woman and her physician. Not only that—it would require the woman to pay for the procedure, whether she wants it or not. This from the folks who say the government can’t make you buy health insurance.”

—Washington Post

“Congress patched together yet another temporary fix for a flawed formula used to calculate the fees paid to doctors by Medicare. … Congress now needs to devise a real fix that would be fair to doctors and make a serious effort to slow the rise of Medicare spending. In the near term, some doctors—highly paid specialists—should be required to accept some reduction in fees. ...Congress should also use this moment to wean doctors away from fee-for-service billing, a root cause of escalating costs, into better and cheaper forms of care.”

—New York Times