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The following letter was sent by National Right to Life to members of the U.S. House of Representatives on April 12, 2011, at about 10:30 AM EDT. 

 

 

April 12, 2011

 

RE:  H. Con. Res. 35 and H. Con. Res. 36 (to de-fund Obama health care law and Planned Parenthood), and abortion-related provision of H.R. 1473
 
Dear Member of Congress:
 
On April 14, the House of Representatives will consider two important “enrollment resolutions” that, if enacted, would do much to diminish threats to innocent human life.  The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nationwide federation of right-to-life organizations, urges you to support both H. Con. Res. 35 and H. Con. Res. 36, and intends to include both roll calls in NRLC's scorecard of key pro-life roll calls of the 112th Congress.
 
H. Con. Res. 36 is based on the Pence Amendment No. 11 to H.R. 1, which the House adopted on February 19 on a vote of 240-185 (roll call no. 93).  The resolution would deny federal funds to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its affiliates.  PPFA is the nation’s largest abortion provider, reporting 332,278 abortions in 2009.  It appears that abortion accounts for roughly one-third of the aggregate income generated by PPFA-affiliated clinics.  According to press reports, PPFA has recently mandated that all of its regional affiliates must provide abortions by the end of 2013.  Recent media reports regarding abuses associated with PPFA-affiliated clinics in multiple states provide additional justifications for the resolution.  The roll call on H. Con. Res. 36 will be included in the NRLC scorecard.
 
NRLC will also include in its scorecard the roll call on passage of H. Con. Res. 35, to block spending to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)(Public Law 111-148), because the PPACA contains many provisions that violate right-to-life principles.
 
Since its inception, the pro-life movement has been as concerned with protecting the lives of older people and people with disabilities from euthanasia, including the involuntary denial of treatment, food, and fluids necessary to prevent death, as it has been dedicated to protecting unborn children from abortion.  For this reason, we are strongly opposed to government-imposed rationing of lifesaving medical treatment.  The PPACA contains multiple provisions that will, if fully implemented, result in government-imposed rationing of lifesaving medical care.  Among the most dangerous:  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be empowered to impose so-called “quality” and “efficiency” measures on health care providers, based on recommendations by the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is directed to force private health care spending below the rate of medical inflation.  In many cases treatment that a doctor and patient deem needed or advisable to save that patient’s life or preserve or improve the patient’s health but which runs afoul of the imposed standards will be denied, even if the patient wants to pay for it.  Information regarding NRLC’s position on rationing in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may be obtained by visiting www.nrlc.org/HealthCareRationing/Index.html.
 
The PPACA also includes multiple provisions authorizing funding of abortion and funding of health plans that cover abortion.  For documentation, please see NRLC's February 9, 2011 testimony in support of H.R. 358, the Protect Life Act, before the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, at http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/ProtectLifeActDouglasJohnsonTestimony.pdf, and  http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/DvSBA/GenericAffidavitOfDouglasJohnsonNRLC.pdf
 
NRLC takes no formal position on the government-wide FY 2011 appropriations bill (H.R. 1473) as a whole.  We take note, however, that the bill contains a very important pro-life provision, the “D.C. Hyde Amendment” (sometimes called the “Dornan Amendment”), found in Division B, Section 1572 (page 254).  This provision would restore a prohibition on the use of government funds to pay for abortion in the Federal District (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest).  Currently, congressionally appropriated funds are used by the local administrative government to fund abortion on demand, due to an objectionable change in the law made in 2009, at the instigation of the White House, as part of an omnibus appropriations bill.  NRLC strongly supports the restoration of this pro-life policy.
 
Thank you for your consideration of NRLC’s positions on these critical issues.
 

Sincerely,
 
David N. O'Steen, Ph.D.

Executive Director      

 

Douglas Johnson

Legislative Director    

 

Burke Balch, J.D.

Director, Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics

 

To view or download this letter in the PDF format, click here.