News

Feb 15, 2010

Wake County has dropped coverage for elective abortions from its employee health plan. Officials say a 29-year-old state Supreme Court ruling makes it illegal to use tax payer money to pay for the procedure and that an oversight of the rule allowed the practice to continue since the late 1990s. County Manager David Cooke ended the practice on Wednesday.

The Board of Commissioners will consider the change on Monday. “When I heard about it, I couldn't believe we were actually spending Wake County tax payer money for elective abortions,” Tony Gurley, of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, said. “So I checked with the county attorney and county manager and unfortunately, through our oversight, we were. So we've got to stop doing that. It's illegal. We can't continue breaking the law. But the alternative is to follow the law as it's currently written for federal employees, so I think that's a good compromise.”

Attorney and state House Minority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake, said he called fellow Republican Tony Gurley, the newly installed chairman of the county commissioners board, to discuss the court ruling and to make sure Gurley knew Wake County's insurance covered elective abortions. "I promised him that someone would bring legal action against counties that didn't stop it," said Stam, who was the plaintiff in the 1981 court ruling.

Planned Parenthood of North Carolina and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose ending abortion coverage. Planned Parenthood vice president Melissa Reed said Stam was playing politics with employees' benefits.