St. Joseph County Right to Life Statement on the New Health Care Law
St. Joseph County Right to Life encourages the public not to be deceived by anyone who tries to claim that the new health care legislation will not lead to an increase in abortions, and will not use federal funds to promote and pay for the senseless massacre of innocent life. This deception will succeed only if the public refuses to dig deeper into the provisions of the bill and the executive order. The fact is that the new law is jam-packed with provisions that will allow federal funds to subsidize a massive expansion of abortion. And the executive order signed by the president will do nothing to stop it.
Since before he was elected, in speeches barely covered in the mainstream media, President Obama has boldly and consistently vowed to support the agenda of pro-abortion organizations such as Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, and NARAL Pro-Choice America. He hasn’t broken that promise, and the president knows that the executive order will have virtually no impact on the abortion business by which these organizations thrive.
Despite all the smoke screens and diversions surrounding this bill, the essential concerns and objections of the pro-life majority remain. First and foremost, in a number of ways, this bill allows federal funds to be used by organizations that promote or provide abortion services. One way is by subsidizing Community Health Centers (CHCs). While it may be true that federally funded CHCs do not currently provide abortion services, it may also be true that many of them would like to. The new law allows them to do just that.....in spite of the Hyde Amendment.
Throughout the debate, we have heard the Hyde Amendment discussed as a protection against federal funds paying for abortions. The president asserts that this longstanding amendment will remain in full force. While this assertion may be true, the deception is in the implication that the Hyde Amendment can be applied to the new health care law. It can’t. The Hyde Amendment prohibits funds appropriated only under the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill. The new health care bill directly appropriates funds for new programs that would pay for abortion coverage, so this funding would be unaffected by the Hyde Amendment. Furthermore, the president does not have the authority to extend the Hyde Amendment; that can be done only by an act of Congress.
Proponents of the legislation point out that CHC funds must be segregated so they are used only for nonabortion services, but this is nothing more than an accounting trick. It simply means that the books will show that the federal subsidies are used for nonabortion services. However, funds from other sources that otherwise would have been used to pay for nonabortion services can now be used to support abortion services. No matter how you look at it, the end result would be an increase in abortion funding as a result of federal subsidies.
From the beginning, the pro-life majority has known that unless statutory language in the bill itself specifically prohibits the coverage and promotion of abortion, there can be no assurance that abortion won’t be covered. The executive order that, according to Bart Stupak, Joe Donnelly, and other so-called pro-life legislators, satisfied their pro-life concerns, has no power over an existing law and can be overturned by the courts if it is deemed to contradict the intent of an existing law. Furthermore, an executive order can be rescinded by the president, overturned by congress, and even ignored if the president does nothing to encourage its enforcement or congress does not appropriate sufficient funding for enforcement. Why would anyone think that the president would fail to follow through on his promise to abortion rights organizations?
The new law does not require that all health insurance plans pay for abortions, but it does require that at least one abortion-paying plan be available. And because the bill authorizes tax credits for premium payments for health insurance that covers abortions, federal funds essentially would be used to subsidize abortion coverage.
The list of anti-life provisions continues. For example, the bill also opens the door for direct abortion payments under the Indian Health Service program. It contains an amendment that allows the Obama administration to force private health plans to pay for abortions simply by adding abortion to a list of preventive services. And it does not contain the appropriate language necessary to offer full conscience protection for pro-life health care workers and facilities.
The most unfortunate part of this fiasco is that if anything positive results from the new health care law, it will always be overshadowed by the devastating and unnecessary attack on innocent human life that will also result. It seems that too many of us have forgotten that health care is supposed to save lives, not destroy them.