Last Wednesday evening, President Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress on health care reform. While he again claimed that "no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions," many are disputing the truth of this statement. Several reports have since been released reinforcing the fact that in the current legislative proposals abortion will in fact be provided and payed for with government funds.
Below are a few of the main points validating the fact that abortion clearly is included in the current health care reform proposals:
- If the law does not explicitly exclude abortion, it will automatically be considered basic health care and become a minimum required benefit for all health care insurance plans, both public and private.
- Many amendments have been offered which would have explicitly excluded abortion from becoming part of the health care legislation, thus preventing abortion from being funded with federal dollars or mandated in health care plans. Every pro-life amendment has been rejected.
- The House bill, H.R. 3200, authorizes the Secretary of HHS to "ensure adequate beneficiary access to providers," and to promote "the efficient delivery of medical care" (Section 223 [b][2], p. 123). This means that insurance providers must ensure patient access to abortion clinics and abortionists, which could mean the opening of new abortion clinics and/or training of abortionists across the nation where there is not adequate access.
- In March 2009, the HHS rescinded the government regulation that provided conscience protections for health care providers protecting them from being forced into participating in morally objectionable procedures. The current legislative proposals provide no such conscience protections for health care providers. Without such protections, "it is entirely plausible that physicians who refuse to violate their conscience might be forced to relocate, retire early, or shut their practices entirely," says the Christian Medical Association.
Please click on the voided check image or go to http://www.stoptheabortionmandate.com/ for an extensive analysis as well as multiple resources to help you spread the word and take action to put a stop to government-funded abortion. Please share this information with your pastor, church, family and friends.
Please contact your Senators and Representatives urging them to remove the abortion mandate by explicitly excluding abortion coverage and adding conscience protections for health care providers. Any health care legislation that is passed without removing this abortion mandate will usher in the most massive expansion of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade.
Articles for further reading:
"Pro-Life Leaders Warn Obama Still Not Honest About Health Care Abortion Funding,"
"Heartbeat Voices Opposition to Healthcare Reform Legislation," Heartbeat International
"Obama Accuses Right of 'Bogus Claims,'" by Kim Trobee, Focus on the Family Action
"Obama's Abortion Minefield," by Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post
"Your Taxes to Pay for Abortions", editorial, The Washington Times
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