By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Pro-life legislators are warning that the two healthcare reform bills moving through Congress at this moment will open the door to the largest expansion of abortion in America since Roe v. Wade.
In a press conference this week, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey said “Obamacare is the greatest threat ever to the lives and wellness of unborn children and their mothers since Roe v. Wade was rendered in 1973.”
Smith pointed out that a study by Planned Parenthood’s Guttmacher Institute showed that the widened availability of abortion through government funding in health care reform increases the number of unborn children killed by 20%-35%.
“Obamacare opens the spigot of public funding and does more to facilitate abortion than any action since Roe. This is the big one!” said Smith.
One of the most egregious flaws in the House bill is its requirement that all insurance providers contract with “essential community providers” – an ambiguous term that includes Planned Parenthood, the congressman said.
“In other words, all health insurance companies will be compelled by the Obamacare to contract with abortion clinics or simply not be certified to do business,” said Smith.
Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) concurred. “Unless amended, …[the current] bill seeks to mandate abortion coverage for nearly every insurance plan in America,” she said. “Every American will be forced to pay through these services, whether through premiums or tax rates.”
Another way of including abortion in the health care plan is by not specifically naming it, then later claiming it was included under some other ambiguous term.
For instance, Elizabeth Meineke of Human Events points out that this is why the House bill does not specifically mention abortion. Congressional pro-lifers say that precedent shows courts and administrative agencies assume abortion is included unless explicitly prohibited in the legislation. Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) said in a recent statement that when Congress remains silent, it allows courts and agencies to “mandate abortion.”
Dramatic evidence of the hidden abortion expansion in the Senate bill came during a meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee last week, when Sen. Orrin Hatch asked for confirmation from Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) as to whether the funds would cover abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.
Sen. Mikulski at first refused to answer but when pressed, admitted that “women’s health clinics that provide comprehensive services” would include Planned Parenthood clinics.
Noting the bill’s lack of support in the Senate, Sen. Hatch asked Sen. Mikulski if she would be willing to specifically exclude abortion coverage from the bill in order to make it more acceptable. Sen. Mikulski said, simply, “No, I would not be willing to do that at this time.”
To contact your representatives about this issue, visit http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
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