One of the most pro-life members of the U.S. Senate has now clarified
what the pro-aborts and their liberal allies in the media have been
trying desperately to obscure: The Senate "health care" bill
as now written–because of the backroom deal between Harry Reid and
Ben Nelson–will force us all to pay for abortions. The time to call
your senator is now.
Henry Hyde, whom I knew personally, was a pro-life hero. For over
three decades the amendment which bears his name forbid the federal
government from funding abortions. Henry was convinced that abortion
was the taking of an innocent human life, and insisted that, as a
minimum, Americans should not be forced to pay for it with their tax
dollars.
The Senate "health care" bill trashes that principle.
According to Senator Sam Brownback, "Despite the promises of the
Obama administration and the Democratic leadership that the health
care bill would maintain the status quo on the issue of abortion, the
legislative language revealed by Majority Leader Harry Reid late last
week radically changes that status quo and sets the tragic precedent
of providing federal funding for abortion."
How can this be so? Most of the press accounts, following Democrat
talking points, have intentionally obscured the truth. They have
portrayed Harry Reid’s efforts to bribe various senators into
supporting the bill as a process of "compromise" and
"give-and-take," especially on the issue of abortion. They
have claimed that the bill maintains "neutrality" on the
issue of abortion, and does not change the status quo.
This is nothing more than a rhetorical smokescreen. While the House
bill, thanks to the Stupak Amendment, prohibits federal funds from
being used to pay for elective abortions, the Senate bill actually
allows funds to be expended for this purpose.
Let me explain.
It is true that the bill allows each of the fifty states to
"opt out" of providing insurance coverage of abortions. But
if even one state decides to provide insurance coverage for abortions,
all taxpayers, regardless of where they live, will see their tax
dollars used to fund elective abortions in that state. In other words,
as Senator Brownback makes clear, "even taxpayers in states that
opt out of providing abortion coverage cannot opt out of paying for
elective abortion."
This provision effectively kills the Hyde Amendment.
Nor is this the only abortion problem with the bill. Each state
will have the authority to provide access to two multistate plans
through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), but only one of
these can exclude abortions. None of the federally administered health
programs, like OPM’s, Medicare, Medicaid, TriCare and the
Children’s Health Insurance Plan, currently cover elective abortions.
If Reid’s bill becomes law, a federally funded and managed health care
plan will cover elective abortions for the first time.
Moreover, since federal law trumps state law, the bill would also
overturn existing state laws restricting abortion. Looked at this way,
the "health care" bill is kind of a back-door Freedom of
Choice Act (FOCA).
The bill also gives enormous power to the executive branch, which
will be able to force private health plans to cover abortion by the
simple expedient of defining them as “preventive care.” If
you don’t believe that Obama’s health czar won’t use this authority to
promote abortion, you haven’t been paying attention.
A final flaw in the current bill is its lack of protection for
freedom of conscience. Language prohibiting discrimination against
health care providers who decline to provide, pay for, provide
coverage of, or refer for abortions is nowhere to be found.
The Senate bill is an abortion bill masquerading as a "health
care" bill. And it must be stopped.
