Tax Payer Funded Abortions and Healthcare Reform

A legitimate debate is going on through our country's political structures right now. How do we reform health care and create a health care system that will work for a great number of Americans? If it is possible to put aside our beliefs and feelings as to how much the government should be involved in health care or what exactly is the best way to reform the current medical system, I want to focus on another issue.

We have been told before by President Obama, various members of the democratically controlled Congress and talking heads across the cable news world that abortion (federally funded) would not appear in health care reform legislation. President Obama and Congressional leaders have recently reiterated this point to us on television. There is no other way to put this being that most of these people are smart: they are blatantly lying to us all.

Here are President Obama's words in an interview with Jake Tapper of ABC News: "You know, I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill. And we're not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions. And I want to make sure that the provision that emerges meets that test -- that we are not in some way sneaking in funding for abortions, but, on the other hand, that we're not restricting women's insurance choices, because one of the pledges I made in that same speech was to say that if you're happy and satisfied with the insurance that you have, that it's not going to change." (Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/09/gibbs-wont-offer-position_n_351064.html)

I realize that pundits on MSNBC will be calling people liars for saying that abortion is in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's massive new Senate healthcare bill (2,074 pages) so let me tell you exactly what this bill says about federally funded (tax payer supported) abortion.

Beginning on line 7, p. 118, section 1303 under “Voluntary Choice of Coverage of Abortion Services” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the health plan. Senator Reid’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Health Insurance Exchange cover abortions (line 13, p. 120).

What is even more surprising is a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all people who enroll in the new health plan provided by the government. Beginning on line 11, page 122, section 1303, under “Actuarial Value of Optional Service Coverage.” The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account – and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.

The bill would forbid including abortion coverage as a required medical benefit. However, it would allow a new government insurance plan to cover abortions and let private insurers that receive federal subsidies offer plans that include abortion coverage. Another crux of this issue lies with the Hyde Amendment (Passed in 1976) which is a federal law that is supposed to restrict abortions being paid for with federal dollars (i.e. Medicare, Medicaid and military health care). Senator Reid's bill is trying to circumvent this amendment.

This is outrageous and unacceptable. Polls of American thoughts, across the board, on the issue of tax payer funded abortions show that Americans are completely opposed to this by a good measure. Politicians have to realize that abortion is an incredibly controversial practice in our society. To force Americans to support a procedure with their tax dollars that they find morally offensive is completely insane.

What is of even greater interest to me is how members of Congress are being disingenuous and outright lying about the presence of abortion in this bill. Why are they so ashamed of their own views? Why don't they stand up and applaud their victory of pro-choice language being thrust into this bill? Apparently, supporters of federally funded abortion, feel that the only way to get abortion in this piece of legislation is to sneak it in through the back door and then repeatedly lie about its sinister presence.

I am not ashamed of my views. I believe in an unborn child's right to life. I don't believe that any federally funded tax payer abortion allowances should be included in health care reform.

If anyone reading wants to express their views to their congressional representatives about this issue of abortion in the health care bill, I urge you to do so. Please be respectful to these individuals as they are our elected leaders and deserve the respect that their positions afford.

I will post how to contact the Senate representatives for Washington State:

Senators: Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

Patty Murray's phone numbers:
Washington DC (866-481-9186)
Seattle office: (206-553-5545)
Spokane office: (509-624-9515)

You can email Patty Murray from this link on her website:

http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Maria Cantwell's phone numbers:
Toll Free (888-648-7328)
Washington DC (202-224-3441)
Seattle (206-220-6400)
Spokane (509-353-2507)

You can email Senator Cantwell from this web address:

http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm