Under the largest piece of health care legislation in decades, virtually every American would be required to have health care coverage that meets "minimum benefits standards" established by the Obama administration. Those benefits would include abortion unless Congress acts to explicitly exclude abortion from the health plan.
Three U.S. House committees are set to consider the monster bill this week and next, and life advocates are sounding the alarm.
"This legislation will mandate and subsidize abortion and then tax the Americans who stand for one of the very principles that this nation was founded on — the right to life," Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., said at a news conference Wednesday.
"This will affect Americans across the country throughout all walks of life. It will affect the insurance companies that are forced to cover abortion. It will affect the employers, who will be forced to purchase plans that cover abortion. It will affect the individuals, who are forced to pay for coverage of abortion."
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action, said the legislation would set the pro-life movement back decades.
"Three of the major pro-life policy issues we've highlighted in recent months — the Freedom of Choice Act, which would enshrine abortion into federal law; pro-life spending restrictions like the Hyde Amendment, which bans spending tax dollars for abortion in most cases; and the freedom of conscience rights of health care providers who don't want to commit abortions — all come together under this 'reform' package," she said.
"The pro-life cause will lose tremendous ground if this measure is passed without specifically excluding abortion."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Carrie Gordon Earll addresses the health care legislation on today's Focus Action Update.
