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Permanent
Abortion Funding Ban; "Protect Life Act" Introduced in Congress |
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Editor's
note. The following is excerpted from "Obama Administration and
Congressional Democratic Leaders Push Pro-Abortion Agenda, But NRLC and
Allies Raise Roadblocks," which appears in the August/September issue of
National On July 30,
Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-Il.)
introduced a new bill that would permanently bar subsidies for abortion in
all federal programs.
The measure,
titled the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" (H.R. 5939), is
strongly backed by NRLC. "For
decades, a patchwork of short-term policies have prevented abortion funding
in many programs authorized by Congress, but it is time for a single,
government-wide permanent protection against taxpayer funding for elective
abortion," Smith said. Long-established
federal programs, such as Medicaid, currently do not pay for elective
abortion, thanks to a patchwork of pro-life policies put in place over a
period of decades. Many of these policies are imposed by provisions of annual
appropriations bills that require annual renewal, the best known of these
being the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits funding of abortion with money from
the annual Health and Human Services appropriations bill. If the
Smith-Lipinski bill were enacted, it would no longer be necessary to win
annual renewal of the Hyde Amendment or other such temporary bans. In addition, the
bill would prevent federal funds from subsidizing abortion, or insurance
plans that cover abortion, in any of the new programs created by the new
health care law. The bill would
also make permanent an important pro-life law that has been enacted on a
year-to-year basis since 2004, known as the Hyde-Weldon Amendment. This
provision prohibits state, local, or federal government agencies that receive
federal DHHS funds from discriminating against health care providers for
refusing to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.
"Recent
events have demonstrated, more graphically than ever before, the importance
of achieving a permanent, government-wide prohibition on subsidies for
abortion, and NRLC will work hard for enactment of this legislation,"
said NRLC's Johnson. House Republican
Leader John Boehner (Oh.), who is an original cosponsor of the bill, said,
"There is simply no good reason for Congress not to codify the Hyde
Amendment, which reflects the clearly-expressed will of the American people.
The need for Rep. Smith's bill has become more clear
than ever as a result of the disingenuous way in which the White House and
the Democratic congressional leadership thwarted enactment of the pro-life
Stupak-Pitts amendment during the debate over health care earlier this year.
Rather than allowing the pro-life Stupak-Pitts amendment to become law,
President Obama issued an Executive Order purporting to eliminate the need
for such an amendment. Americans now know, based on recent developments and
the administration's subsequent scrambling to patch holes exposed in its
claim by pro-life Americans, that the president's executive order is
inadequate." As of August 23,
H.R. 5939 had 167 cosponsors. To view an always-current list of cosponsors,
visit the NRLC also
supports legislation known informally as the "Protect Life Act,"
introduced in the House by Congressman Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) as H.R. 5111 (123
cosponsors) and in the Senate by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) as S. 3723 (26
cosponsors). This legislation would revise the recently enacted health care
law to prevent any pro-abortion subsidies or administrative regulations. Its
language is similar to the pro-life amendments that NRLC and other pro-life
groups tried to attach to the health care legislation when it was under
consideration in Congress. The Pitts-Coburn
bill is intended to correct only the abortion-related problems created by the
Obama-backed health care law – a narrower focus than the Smith bill, which
would apply a uniform pro-life policy to all federal health programs, both
newly created and longstanding. |
Post
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Toll Free: 1-877-CHOOSE LIFE
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