By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Almost 60 lawmakers are co-sponsoring a new bill designed to counter a mandate in ObamaCare that will provide taxpayer funding of abortions should Congress ever fail to pass the Hyde Amendment.
LifeNews.com is reporting that the new bill, known as the Protect Life Act (HR5111), was proposed by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA). Its intent is to restore the language of the original Stupak amendment which made restrictions against federal funding of abortion permanent even if the current protections, known as the Hyde Amendment, fail to pass Congress. Because the Hyde Amendment has to be renewed each year and could be repealed at any time by the current pro-abortion Congress, 57 lawmakers decided to sign onto a bill that would give citizens additional protection against having their tax dollars used to fund abortions.
What is most surprising about the new bill, however, is that none of the members of the coalition of pro-life Democrats who fought for the Stupak Amendment, including Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) himself, signed onto the new bill, even though the language is almost identical to the amendment they originally sponsored.
Similar to the Stupak Amendment, HR5111 allows “no funds authorized or appropriated by this bill . . . including credits applied toward qualified health plans . . . or cost-sharing reductions . . . to be used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion, except in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, or unless the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.”
The new bill also protects the conscience rights of medical workers and ensures that private insurance companies are not mandated to cover abortion.
The bill, introduced last week, is now under consideration by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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