Health Care & Abortion Services
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As Congress drafts sweeping health care legislation, one of the most divisive debates centers on the question of whether or not to mandate health coverage for abortion services. As unbelievable as it sounds, the current proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives would have the effect of mandating that abortion services be a part of every health insurance plan in America.
To make matters worse, this is accomplished in a surreptitious manner, without a single reference to abortion. Rather, the plan would include numerous areas of mandatory coverage, such as “family planning,” “outpatient services” and “physician services.” Any number of these terms has the legal effect of including abortion as mandated for coverage.
Our legal team is already working to clearly demonstrate the legal precedent on this troubling fact, and we are calling on Congress to correct the problem by explicitly excluding abortion services from being mandated for coverage.
This issue is not breaking out along party lines. What's encouraging is that 19 Democrats, led by Rep. Dan Boren (OK) are challenging this initiative and have sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanding an explicit exclusion from mandatory coverage for abortion services. In the letter, which you can read here, the members state: “we cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan.”
We are actively working to help these members of Congress keep abortion services our of the health care legislation. We will keep you posted on developments. In the meantime, if your Representative is listed below, please thank him or her for standing up for life.
Rep. Dan Boren (OK), Bart Stupak (MI), Collin Peterson (MN), Tim Holden (PA), Travis Childers (MS), Lincoln Davis (TN), Heath Shuler (NC), Solomon Ortiz TX), Mike McIntyre (NC), Jerry Costello (IL), Gene Taylor (MS), James Oberstar (MN), Bobby Bright (AL), Steve Driehaus (OH), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Charlie Melancon (LA), John Murtha (PA) Paul Kanjorski (PA), Kathleen Dahlkemper (PA)
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Posted: 7/2/2009 12:01 AM
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