BreakPoint

BreakPoint: Abortion and Health Care Reform

It’s hard to figure out what’s in the various health care bills. But one thing has become alarmingly clear. From having worked in the White House, I know how important it is for a President to get his facts clear when he is speaking to the American people. Well, I’m sorry to say, it appears that President Obama has not done that regarding whether or not his health care plan would force Americans to pay for abortions. During a recent conference call with religious leaders, the President said, “I know there’s been a lot of misinformation in this debate, and there are some folks out there who are frankly bearing false witness.” And then he himself said the following: “You’ve heard that this is all going to mean government funding of abortion. Not true. These are all fabrications.” Are they fabrications?  What about the Capps Amendment, which was passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee? The amendment would require “at least one plan covering elective abortions in every federally subsidized exchange,” notes John McCormack of the Weekly Standard. It also gives the secretary of Health and Human Services “the authority to include abortion coverage in the public plan and requires that the public plan cover abortion if the Hyde amendment...is repealed.” The Associated Press, which on August 2 claimed that the President wanted to continue the tradition of not forcing Americans to fund abortions, has backed off its story. On August 5, AP reporter Ricardo Alonsozaldivar acknowledged, “Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions.” And Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee called the Capps amendment “a sham.” The more recent AP article “confirms what we’ve been saying,” Johnson said. “Under both Obama-backed bills, House and Senate, the federal government would run a huge system of subsidizing elective abortion.” Finally, FactCheck.org says the bills now before Congress “would allow a new ‘public’ insurance plan to cover abortions, despite language added to the House bill that technically forbids using public funds to pay for them.” FactCheck concludes “that the president goes too far when he calls the statements that government would be funding abortions ‘fabrications.’” There’s also the fact that Congress has shot down every attempt to allow wording that explicitly prevents government funding of abortions. Now, I’m the first to agree that politics is about the art of compromise. But there are some things that Christians simply cannot compromise. One of them is federal funding of abortion—which is nothing more than the killing of unborn children. And it’s very clear that, the President’s statements to the contrary—that you and I will see our tax dollars pay for abortions under the current health care reform bills. Some Congress people, like Rep. Zoe Lofgren, are even telling their constituents that abortion coverage is in the bill. I hope you will let your representatives know that you cannot support, and will not, any health care bills that allow your tax dollars to pay for the slaughter of innocent children. And don’t let them tell you that you are misinformed—because the facts are out there.

FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION

Obama Says "Government Funding of Abortion" is "Fabrication" National Right to Life | August 19, 2009 Abortion: Which Side Is Fabricating? FactCheck.org | August 21, 2009 Obama Bears False Witness, Saying Abortion Coverage in Health Bill is a "Fabrication" John McCormack | Weekly Standard | August 19, 2009 Associated Press Misleads Readers on Abortion, Health Care, and President Obama LifeNews.com | August 3, 2009 Gov't Insurance Would Allow Coverage for Abortion Associated Press | August 5, 2009 Health Care and Religious Freedom: Forced to Choose? Chuck Colson | BreakPoint Commentary | August 26, 2009

08/31/09