To go to the Abortion in Health Care
index, click here.
To go to the NRLC Home page, click
here.
To go to the NRLC Legislative Action Center, click
here.
For immediate release:
Monday, November 9, 2009
For more information:
Derrick Jones, (202) 626-8825
NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE RESPONDS TO OBAMA STATEMENT ON
STUPAK-PITTS AMENDMENT
WASHINGTON (7 PM EST) --
ABC News
reports the
following comments by President Obama today regarding
the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that was added to the health
care bill by the House of Representatives on November 7:
"I laid
out a very simple principle, which is this is a health
care bill, not an abortion bill," President Obama said.
"And we're not looking to change what is the principle
that has been in place for a very long time, which is
federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions."
Saying the bill cannot change the status quo regarding
the ban on federally funding abortions, the President
said "there are strong feelings on both sides" about an
amendment passed on Saturday and added to the
legislation, "and what that tells me is that there needs
to be some more work before we get to the point where
we're not changing the status quo."
Regarding the president's remarks, the following comment
may be attributed to Douglas Johnson, legislative
director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC): "The
only thing that will prevent the health care bill from
being 'an abortion bill' is precisely the Stupak-Pitts
Amendment, as the House of Representatives recognized
by a 46-vote margin. The phoniness of Obama's claim
that he has been trying to preserve the 'status quo' on
abortion policy should be evident to any observer by
now. In reality, the White House and top Democratic
congressional leaders have been working hard to create a
national federal government health plan that would fund
abortion on demand, just as Obama promised Planned
Parenthood."
In an
e-mail alert distributed on Sunday, November 8, the
Planned Parenthood Action Fund said, "President Obama
campaigned on a promise to put reproductive health care
at the center of his reform plan." The alert urged
Planned Parenthood supporters to send Obama emails
saying, "Now it's time for you to make good on that
commitment."
To see a short video clip of Obama making that promise,
before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund on July 17,
2007, click
here.
On that occasion, Obama said:
"Well, look, in my mind reproductive care is essential
care. It is basic care. And so it is at the center and
at the heart of the plan that I propose. . . .
Essentially, what we're doing is to say that we're going
to set up a public plan that all persons and all women
can access if they don't have health insurance. It'll
be a plan that will provide all essential services,
including reproductive services."
To view a September 11, 2009 examination by
PolitiFact.com on the meaning of Obama's 2007 statement,
click
here. Today, PolitiFact.com
reviewed a November 7 claim by U.S. House pro-abortion
leader Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) that the Stupak-Pitts
Amendment "puts new restrictions on women's access to
abortion coverage in the private health insurance market
even when they would pay premiums with their own
money," and concluded that Lowey's claim is "FALSE."
Read it
here.
An archive of NRLC letters to Congress and other
documents regarding the abortion-related components of
the health care legislation are posted
here.
The National Right to Life Committee, the nation's
largest pro-life group, is a federation of affiliates in
all 50 states and 3,000 local chapters nationwide.
To go to the Abortion in Health Care
index, click here.
To go to the NRLC Home page, click
here.
To go to the NRLC Legislative Action Center, click
here.
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