By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Pro-abortion forces in the U.S. may have abandoned the idea of pursuing the radical Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), but congressional leaders are pushing hard for votes in late July on two “health care reform” bills that contain provisions that would vastly expand access to abortion on demand, override state abortion laws, and establish federal funding of abortion.
Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Legislative Action Committee (NRLC) is warning that the two massive health care bills moving through the House and Senate “pose one of the greatest threats to pro-life policies since the Supreme Court handed down its Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion in 1973.
“These bills contain multiple provisions that would result in federally mandated insurance coverage of abortion on demand, with massive federal subsidies, as well as mandated creation of many new abortion clinics and the nullification of at least some state limitations on abortion.”
He went on to warn that “the pro-abortion movement sees federal ‘health care reform’ legislation as a golden opportunity to force-feed abortion into every nook and cranny of the health-care delivery system. Their goal, as they sometimes put it, is to ‘mainstream’ abortion. If Obama and his allies succeed, the result will be a very large increase in the number of abortions performed in America.”
The imposition of sweeping pro-abortion mandates as part of “health care reform” is currently the top priority of many pro-abortion organizations and many of its leaders have been making statements in recent days that reveal this plan to mandate access to abortion for all women through provisions of national health care restructuring legislation.
For instance, in April, Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said her organization intends to use the health care legislation as a “platform” to guarantee access to abortion to “all women.”
Likewise, the National Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers, said, “NAF supports health care reform as a way to increase access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion care, for all women.”
On July 1, the Reverend Carlton W. Veazey, president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) sent out an alert to that organization’s e-mail list headed, “Urgent! Access to Abortion Services Threatened” The alert said, “Let there be no mistake, basic healthcare includes abortion services. . . . Reproductive healthcare, including abortion services, is an essential component of women’s health, and we must act now to make sure women get a fair shake in the final healthcare reform bill.”
In an interview released July 7, Nancy Keenan, president of the pro-abortion advocacy group NARAL, said, “If, indeed, we can advance a panel or commission, then I am very optimistic about reproductive health care being part of this entire package.”
Johnson goes on to point out that the two bills currently moving through Congress also reflect the commitment made by President Barack Obama when he appeared before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund on July 17, 2007. Speaking of his plans for “health care reform,” Obama said, “in my mind, reproductive care is essential care, basic care, so it is at the center, the heart of the plan that I propose.”
Under his plan, Obama explained, people could choose to keep their existing private health care plans, but “insurers are going to have to abide by the same rules in terms of providing comprehensive care, including reproductive care … that’s going to be absolutely vital.”
To send an e-mail to your representatives about this important issue, go to the National Right to Life Legislative Action Center at http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/alert/?alertid=13157881&type=CO
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