Editor's Note. The following statement was distributed March 22 by West Virginians for Life PAC.

The U.S. House of Representatives late Sunday gave final approval to a massive health care restructuring bill strongly opposed by West Virginians for Life. The House vote was 219 to 212 in favor of the bill. All 219 votes in favor were cast by Democrats. Of the opposing (pro-life) votes, 178 were cast by Republicans and 34 by Democrats.

Because the Senate already approved the bill on December 24, 2009, it will now go straight to President Obama for his signature. [Obama has, of course, since signed the bill.]

The National Right to Life Committee said, "The bill is riddled with provisions that predictably will result in federal subsidies for private insurance plans that cover abortion (some of which will be administered directly by the federal government), direct federal funding of abortion through Community Health Centers, and pro-abortion federal administrative mandates."

A small group of House Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) and joined by Alan Mollohan (D-WV) and Nick Rahall (D-WV), who had withheld support from the bill because it lacked pro-life protections, agreed to vote for it after the White House released the text of an executive order that President Obama will issue after the bill is enacted. NRLC responded to this development with a statement that read in part, "The executive order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It changes nothing. It does not correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill. The president cannot amend a bill by issuing an order, and the federal courts will enforce what the law says."

West Virginians for Life continues to oppose the Senate passed Health Care bill. Any lawmaker voting for the bill was voting to require federal agencies to subsidize and administer health plans that will pay for elective abortion.

"Yesterday Congressmen Mollohan and Rahall voted for the greatest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade," stated President of WVL-PAC Karen Cross. "We are deeply disappointed in their vote. Instead of protecting babies and their mothers, they trusted their vote to a meaningless piece of paper and a promise from this President whose extreme pro-abortion position has been known from the beginning. Therefore, West Virginians for Life PAC will not endorse Congressmen Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall in their re-election campaigns. In fact, because of their betrayal of their past pro-life positions, we will oppose them in their upcoming elections."

Wanda Franz, President of National Right to Life Committee, stated, "At the time of the vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked the words of the Declaration of Independence: '…the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' Nowhere in our founding documents is a right to health care mentioned. However, because of this vote, we now live in a country where the 'inalienable right to life' has been obliterated in favor of the right to government-managed health care."

Part One
Part Two