Using Health Care "Reform" to "Mainstream Abortion"By Dave Andrusko
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comments to
daveandrusko@gmail.com.
They are appreciated.
Pro-abortion
allies outside the Obama
Administration are increasingly
vocal that
sweeping pro-abortion mandates be
imposed on the American health-care
delivery system. Obama and the
pro-abortion congressional
leadership are in full accord with
the goal but know it must use
stealth since the policies they hope
to impose do not have broad public
support.
"The pro-abortion movement sees
federal 'health care reform'
legislation as a golden opportunity
to force-feed abortion into every
nook and cranny of the health-care
delivery system," explained NRLC
Federal Legislative Director Douglas
Johnson. "Their goal, as they
sometimes put it, is to 'mainstream'
abortion. They hope to use the
structure of a federal health-care
law to make abortion on demand
accessible in every region of every
state, paid for by taxes and by
government-mandated private
insurance premiums."
On April 30, NPR's Julie
Rovner did an analysis of Obama's
first 100 days vis a vis the
abortion issue under the headline,
"Obama Struggles For Middle Ground
On Abortion." (You don't have to
listen very long before you realize
that Obama's actions to date on
abortion hardly qualify as "middle
ground.")
Here are a few excerpts from the
report, which you can read online at
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103667590.
"The place [the
abortion issue is] likely to come up
is in discussions of overhauling the
nation's health care system -- one of
the president's top health care
priorities.
"Abortion rights
supporters have made it clear that
they see ensuring access as a key
priority.
"'I think the big
picture here is how do we make sure
that all women and families,
regardless of their income, can get
access to the full range of health
care options, and I think health
care reform is going to provide a
platform for doing that,' said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood."
Rovner immediately adds,
"abortion
opponents will fight that just as
hard," and then includes this from
NRLC.
"'We think that
any [health overhaul] legislation
that goes through Congress has to
explicitly exclude abortion,' said
National Right to Life's Douglas
Johnson. 'We don't want the
government running any abortion
plan. If people want to buy abortion
insurance, that should be purely a
private transaction and not
something the government is
administering.'"
It is crucially
important to recognize that Obama
fully supports the inclusion of
abortion coverage, the result of
which will be a large increase in
the number of abortions. Indeed it
is at the heart of his proposals.
Let me quote from a story that
appeared in the April issue of
National Right to Life News:
"In Obama's vision, federal law
should
require
employers to provide health
insurance coverage for their
employees, and the same law should
require
coverage of abortion on demand,
which Obama regards as basic
'preventive' medicine, in all such
plans," Johnson said.
In addition to imposing mandates on
private employers and insurers,
Obama and many congressional
Democratic leaders also want all
Americans to have the choice of
enlisting in a health plan run
entirely by the government. Obama
consistently has opposed (as an
Illinois state senator, U.S.
senator, and presidential candidate)
all limits on the funding of
abortions in Medicaid and other
government-run health programs.
You can read
"Obama
and Democratic Leaders in Congress
Hoping To
Impose Sweeping
Abortion Mandates In 'Health Care
Reform'" in its entirety at
www.nrlc.org/news/2009/NRL04/ObamaHealthCare.html.
ACTION REQUEST:
What You Can Do Now
Please take a few minutes to
communicate with your two U.S.
senators and with your
representative in the U.S. House of
Representatives, to urge them to
oppose any federal "health care
reform" legislation that does not
explicitly exclude abortion.
Here are two of the ways that you
can communicate with your federal
representatives on this important
issue:
(1) Click on
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/home/
to
go to the Action Alert on the
Legislative Action Center on the
NRLC website, or copy and paste this
address into your Internet browser
address window:
There you will find a tool that
makes it easy to send an appropriate
message to both of your U.S.
senators and to your U.S. House
representative, urging them to vote
against any "health care reform"
legislation that does not explicitly
exclude abortion. When you fill in
your mailing address, your messages
will automatically be sent by e-mail
to your representatives in Congress.
(2) Telephone the U.S. Senate
switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask
to be connected to the office of one
of your two U.S. senators. Once
connected with the senator's office,
say that you want to be recorded as
urging the senator to oppose any
"health care reform" bill unless
abortion is explicitly excluded.
Tell the staff person that you wish
to receive a letter explaining how
the senator will vote on this issue,
and make sure that the staff person
takes down your mailing address for
this purpose.
Then, hang up and repeat the process
for your second U.S. senator.
Finally, repeat the process for your
representative in the U.S. House by
calling 202-225-3121. If you don't
know who represents you in the U.S.
House, just give the operator your
zip code and you will be connected
to the office of the correct House
member.
