Health Care Reform’s Hidden Abortion Mandate Now Explicit
- Aug 4, 2009 - 2
Warnings about the hidden abortion mandate in health care reform have reverberated from pro-family circles for months. Now that hidden mandate has been exposed clear as day. And abortion is only part of what makes the health care reform bill a dangerous plan for America.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has waded through the 1,017-page America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200) and created our own analysis available here (280 KB PDF). The analysis categorizes troublesome aspects of the House health care reform bill into three parts: sanctity of human life, increased costs and taxes, and increased bureaucracy and intrusiveness. Our conclusion is anything but rosy:
“The magnitude of the bill along with the innumerous citations to other legislation makes it nearly impossible to figure out what everything in the bill actually means. … The simple fact is that if passed, no one can say for certain how badly this will all play out in practice. However, what we can say with absolute certainty is that this legislation will lead to diminished health care for most Americans, less choice, higher taxes, and unprecedented government intrusion into every level and aspect of society, from business, to education, to marriage, to individual liberty.”
Late last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee explicitly wrote in coverage for abortion under the health care reform bill it approved. The amendment by pro-choice Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) explicitly permits coverage of abortion under a public health care plan—this in spite of the fact that 71 percent of Americans do not want to be forced to fund abortions under health care, according to a 2008 Zogby poll.
Efforts in the committee to keep abortion coverage out of the health care bill, by contrast, were beat back at almost every turn. Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Joe Pitts (R-PA), both champions for protecting the unborn, offered an amendment to prevent mandated abortion coverage in the essential benefits package. The amendment initially passed by a 31-27 vote with the help of Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA).
But Rep. Waxman’s vote proved mere theatrics to allow him to call up the amendment for a revote in hopes of defeating it. He succeeded. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), a member of his party’s more conservative Blue Dog Coalition, switched his vote, making him the deciding vote to defeat the pro-life amendment 29-30.
As our analysis makes clear, the health care reform bill—abortion mandates aside—“is extremely dangerous to the health and wellbeing of most Americans.” Unless the health care reform plan is stopped now, America could be forced into taxpayer-funded abortion, education encouraging euthanasia, rationed care, and higher costs, not to mention being forced from private to public coverage.
With a sweeping proposal affecting one-sixth of the U.S. economy, Congress ought to be pressured to rethink its plan rather than relax this August recess. If you agree, please call and visit your congressman and senators in their district and state offices as they begin a month-long vacation and tell them to oppose H.R. 3200 or any similar health care reform plan.
Download the ERLC’s analysis of the House health care reform bill (H.R. 3200) here (280 KB PDF)
Download the House health care reform bill (H.R. 3200) in its entirety here (1.8 MB PDF).
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1 On Aug 6th, 2009, at 4:47pm, Richard Humphries wrote:
What is th most important, Getting Health Care for 47 million uninsured Americans and correct the statistic that the US is 50th in the world in Infant Mortality or reading into the bill something on abortion that isn’t there. Pregnant women who choose to have their babies but because they don’t have health care see a Doctor for the first time when they are in labor which places them at a high risk of loosing the baby. Choose your battlegrounds with spiritual, loving hearts.
2 On Aug 14th, 2009, at 10:29am, Brett Means wrote:
It seems that whenever our government passes legislation, there is often unintended consequences that result from the passage of the bill. It seems to me that both political parties are simply running over the constitution by legislation that is attempted or passed. I encourage someone to please show me in the constitution where it is mandated that the federal government is responsible for the health care of its citizens. Its amazing that so many liberals will rightly object to the errors of the Republican party but ignore those of the democratic. I am so fed up with our federal government and all of those who claim to represent us. They want to mandate a horrible bill for all of us, yet exempt themselves. How self serving can you get? It is scary to think that as a citizen of this country defending the constitution requires fighting against the very government that is supposed to protect it. I fear for this country in the direction that it is going.