• Article Tools
• Print
• RSS

The Continuing Fight Against Federal Funding of Abortion

By Joshua Mercer 

Kudos to Doug Johnson and the research team at National Right to Life Committee. They discovered that the federal government would be paying for abortions through new state health insurance programs in Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Maryland.

During the health care debate, pro-lifers were extremely worried that taxpayer dollars would be used to pay for abortions. The Obama administration insisted that federal funding of abortions would never happen and touted the president’s executive order on the matter as proof.

When the details of the Pennsylvania and New Mexico plans showed that abortions would indeed be financed with tax dollars, the White House ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a new set of guidelines reinforcing the executive order’s ban.

Even the independent watchdog FactCheck.org agreed that abortions would have been covered had pro-lifers not raised the issue.

“We can see what caused abortion opponents to be concerned,” the website stated. “An official solicitation by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department specified that abortions ‘will’ be covered if they are legal under Pennsylvania law. And according to news reports, a similar document in New Mexico listed ‘elective’ abortions under ‘covered services.’”

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, speaking on behalf of the Catholic bishops, responded to the correction made by HHS, saying: “We welcome this new policy [preventing abortion coverage]… while continuing to be gravely concerned that it was not issued until after some states had announced that pro-abortion health plans were approved and had begun to enroll patients.”

He continued, “The issue of government involvement in the taking of innocent human life should not remain subject to the changeable discretion of executive officials or depend on the continued vigilance of pro-life advocates.”

Cardinal DiNardo is right to be worried. The nearly 2,000 page health care law is so complicated that it’s virtually impossible to keep track of all the new regulatory agencies. It will be very difficult for pro-lifers to keep tabs on everything to ensure that our tax dollars are not funneled into programs that pay for abortions.

Rather than rely on vigilant watchdogs or a mere executive order, Cardinal DiNardo believes Congress should codify in federal law a ban on any federal funding of abortions in the new health care law.

“This situation illustrates once again the need for Congress to enact legislation clearly stating once and for all that funds appropriated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will not pay for abortions or for insurance coverage that includes abortion,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “Such legislation would mirror the Hyde amendment and similar provisions which prevent such abortion funding in all other federal health programs.”

Every year pro-lifers fight against federal funding of abortion during the budget battles. It started back in 1976 with then-freshman Rep. Henry Hyde won a major victory by preventing any Medicaid funding for abortions with the exception of life of the mother.

Some pro-lifers might not realize this, but the Hyde Amendment is not federal law, no matter how many times President Obama claims it is. The Hyde Amendment is language attached to an annual appropriations bill. If in any year you do not have 218 members in the House willing to support it, then you will have federal funding of abortions. By 1993, it had to be broadened to include abortions in the case of rape and incest in order to sustain a majority vote.

Whether to pay for abortions has crept up in other budget battles, not just Medicaid. The Helms Amendment prohibits funding for abortions as a method of family planning overseas. The Smith FEHBP Amendment bars funding for elective abortion coverage for federal employees. The Dornan Amendment prohibits federal funds paying for abortions in the District of Columbia.

Not every battle is won every year. Starting with last year’s budget, the federal taxpayer now pays for abortions in the nation’s capital. It is estimated that this year 1,000 more children will die from abortion in Washington, D.C., because of this funding change – a change that comes at taxpayer expense.

Pro-life stalwart Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) agrees with Cardinal DiNardo and says the time has come to stop fighting these budget battles “as we go” – an “as needed approach,” he wrote in a letter to congressional colleagues, that “usually results in a debate over abortion funding anytime Congress considers health-related legislation.”

That’s why on July 29, Rep. Smith will introduce the “No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act.” It would permanently establish these pro-life policies so they wouldn’t require an annual vote.

My organization, CatholicVote.org, joins a chorus of other pro-life organizations in calling on Congress to pass this bill.

In this Congress, passage of such a bill appears to be slim. But even if it were to fail this year, it’s important to get all of our elected officials on the record. We deserve to know if our representatives think it’s acceptable to use our money to take innocent human life.

With Election Day looming around the corner, we’ll all be watching closely.

---

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Headline Bistro or the Knights of Columbus.