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American Principles Project Blog

Contributions by the American Principle Project and its collaborators
Jul 01
2009

Concern: Government health care ought not pay for abortions

Posted by: Thomas Peters in APP Blog

Tagged in: health-care , abortion

Thomas Peters

Under the current discussion draft of health care reform being debated in the House of Representatives (PDF version here), abortion is never directly or explicitly mentioned.

Nevertheless, there is a significant cause for concern that, unless abortion coverage is specifically ruled-out, the legislation would allow government funds to pay for abortion procedures 

Where might funding for abortions be included in the bill? In section 122, where the "essential benefits package" is defined, under (b) "minimum services to be covered" it says (2): "Outpatient hospital and outpatient clinic services, including emergency department services" are to be paid for by government-run health care.

The next section (123) describes the establishment of a "Health Benefits Advisory Committee" which would be tasked with, among other things, defining what sorts of services would be covered.

The fact that the Surgeon General would consult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make these decisions does not offer any reassurance to those worried about abortions being funded, considering the positions on abortion held by the current Secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sebelius.

Jim Capretta, fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, when asked for comment by APP, responded: "Yes, the threat is very real. The Health Benefits Advisory Committee, under the current plan, will determine what is in or out, and if the law does not exclude abortion, they can choose to include it anytime they want." 

Some pro-life democrats are also worried about the House health care bill offering abortion coverage or funding. Nineteen of them, led by Rep. Dan Boren, wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting that no bill be advanced which does not specifically prohibit abortion coverage or funding [source]. The text of the full letter is available here in PDF.

Pro-abortion groups (notably Planned Parenthood and NARAL) are actively lobbying congress to "keep" access to reproductive services in the bill, urging their constituents to contact the Senate Finance Committee [source]

To make sure abortion stays out of the government health care plan, find the contact information for the Senator in your state (the list of Senate Finance Committee members is here) and, either by phone or email, contact their office and tell them you want abortion explicitly excluded from the health care plan.

Make your voice heard on behalf of those who have none.

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