As Congress Begins Health Care Debate, NRLC Proposes Affordable Alternative

For immediate release:

Friday, June 19, 2009

For more information:

Derrick Jones, NRLC 2009 Press Office (704) 348-4667 or (202) 423-3329

AS CONGRESS BEGINS HEALTH CARE DEBATE IN WASHINGTON

NRLC PROPOSES AFFORDABLE ALTERNATIVE

CHARLOTTE, NC – The 37^th Annual National Right to Life Convention will tackle the issue of health care reform in a general session Saturday morning. As Congress moves into high gear in its consideration of health care reform legislation, National Right to Life will share its proposal of how affordably to finance subsidized expansion of insurance to the uninsured without the need for rationing lifesaving medical treatment.

“We cannot afford to accept rationing in the name of reform,” said Burke J. Balch, J.D., director of the National Right to Life Powell Center for Medical Ethics. “It is a false assumption that we must sacrifice life-saving medical treatment to provide health care coverage to the uninsured and under-insured.”

In Washington, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee continues another day of debating amendments to one massive health reform bill, while the Senate Finance Committee is expected to release an alternative proposal it plans to consider. A third bill to be heard by the three U.S. House committees with jurisdiction will be made public shortly.

“Denial of lifesaving medical treatment to patients against their will, including through government rationing, is a form of involuntary euthanasia,” Balch added.

On Saturday, June 20, 2009, the National Right to Life Convention will highlight an affordable alternative which provides health insurance to the uninsured without the need to ration care. The session will feature discussion of the dangers of rationing, as seen in Canada and Europe, and of how some forms of “comparative effectiveness” research can result in rationing that discriminates on the basis of disability. The session will also explain how, on the other hand, sustainable long-term financing could be obtained to allow health care reform without rationing. The general session will be held at 9:00am at The Blake Hotel. All press must receive credentials from the NRLC 2009 Press Office. For more information, call (704) 348-4667.

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the nation’s largest pro-life group with affiliates in all 50 states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since its inception, NRLC has worked to protect unborn children from abortion and protect the lives of vulnerable older people and people with disabilities from euthanasia. In 1993 and 1994, NRLC played an important role in helping to defeat the Clinton Health Care Plan on the grounds that it would have rationed health care.