The U.S. House will vote this week on whether to set up a federal abortion-funding program in the so-called "public plan"
If you don't want your tax dollars used to fund abortion, call your congressman and ask him to vote "no" on "the Rule" for H.R. 3200.
Steve Mosher
Abortion Funding Vote This Week --
Disguised as U. S. "Health Care"
The procedural resolution, generally called "the rule," is one that the House must approve before it can take up the massive health care bill (H.R. 3200). The "rule" will specify what amendments to the bill, if any, may be considered on the House floor.
On October 23, the Associated Press accurately reported that the House Democratic leadership, led by Nancy Pelosi, currently does not intend to allow the House to vote on an amendment sponsored by Congressmen Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) and Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.), which would, as the AP reported, "include the Hyde amendment restrictions in the health overhaul bill."
The AP reported: "Such an amendment would be almost certain to prevail … So Democratic leaders won't let Stupak offer it. Instead, it appears they may have to take the risk of letting Stupak try to block action on the underlying bill, which he intends to do by assembling 'no' votes on a procedural measure [the "rule"] that needs to pass before debate can begin."
As approved by Democratic-controlled House committees, H.R. 3200 contains at least two major components that implicate abortion policy. It creates a new program of premium subsidies for health insurance. The AP story discusses pro-life objections to allowing those subsidies to go to private plans that cover elective abortions.
The other major abortion-related controversy generated by the bill is the proposed "public plan." Steven Mosher, President of PRI, points out: "The bill explicitly authorizes the "public plan" to pay for elective abortions. Democratic leaders, including President Obama, have claimed that no federal funds would be used to pay for abortions, but this is not true. The public plan will be a federal agency program that can spend only federal funds. Under this public plan, the federal government would pay abortion providers for performing elective abortions."
"The public plan problem and the premium-subsidy problem are two ways that the current bill publicly funds abortion," Mosher said. "Seventy percent of Americans oppose both government funding of abortion and abortion coverage."
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) has confirmed that all of the monies spent by the public plan would be federal funds, refuting the claim by Democratic leaders and President Obama that no "federal funds" would be used to pay for abortions.
"Congressional Democratic leaders claim that the public plan, a federal program, would pay for abortions with 'private' funds. This is nonsense," Mosher said. "Americans who conscientiously object to having their tax dollars used to pay for abortions will be forced to pay for them."
"Remember that during his campaign for the presidency, Obama promised Planned Parenthood that he would include abortion in his health care reform legislation and in its public plan," Mosher said. "He is keeping that promise to the abortion providers, while misleading and deceiving the American people about his true aims."
