OPINION:
Most Americans think tax dollars should not be used to fund abortion. Yet Obamacare intends to do exactly that, even though abortion is not a medically necessary procedure or health service. In fact, abortion cannot be classified as a medical procedure at all because medicine is intended to sustain and nurture life, not destroy it. Fortunately, tax-funded abortion can be stopped if people in every state urge lawmakers to pass legislation that would enable their state to opt out of any abortion funding that could result from the new health care law.
Americans United for Life (AUL) already has drafted model language for the opt-out legislation, called the Federal Abortion-Mandate Opt-Out Act. It is described in a letter I recently received from House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, which was sent to all AUL members.
Mr. Boehner, who recently was given the Henry J. Hyde Award by AUL for his work in the pro-life movement, said, “The AUL legal team has zeroed in on specific language in the new health care reform law that allows states to ’opt out.’ That is, a state can refuse to allow insurance plans that cover abortion to participate in that state’s exchanges.” (Health care exchanges are retail marketplaces that will enable people to shop for health insurance coverage.)
Some states already have excluded coverage for abortion, and still others are considering it. “As of right now, several states have already enacted or recently passed legislation to opt out of including abortion-covering plans in their health exchanges,” Mr. Boehner said. “AUL was instrumental in a number of these cases, such as in Florida, Missouri and Mississippi. More than two dozen other states have introduced an opt-out bill, are planning to introduce one shortly, or are laying the groundwork to introduce a bill as soon as their legislative calendars permit.”
It is important for Americans who do not support using tax dollars to fund abortion to pressure lawmakers in their state to pass the opt-out legislation. For almost 35 years, the Hyde Amendment has prevented tax dollars from being used to fund abortion. According to Mr. Boehner, Obamacare “undermines … and threatens the continuation of the Hyde Amendment as national policy.”
If you think the executive order signed by President Obama on March 24 will do the trick, think again. The new health care law trumps the executive order, and, judging from his record, Mr. Obama does not even believe in the executive order he signed. In his first week as president, Mr. Obama signed an executive order that permits the use of American tax dollars to pay for abortions in other countries. If one of Mr. Obama’s top agenda items was to use tax dollars to fund abortions abroad, why would he prevent the same funds from being used to subsidize abortions in the United States?
The executive order was a gimmick to push the bill over the Hill. Anyone who knows Mr. Obama’s views on abortion - including Rep. Bart Stupak and his supposedly “pro-life” Democrats - could not possibly have believed the president would stand behind the executive order once the bill became law. First, Mr. Obama owes Planned Parenthood for its campaign contributions and support during his presidential campaign. Second, Mr. Obama’s support of abortion rights has been nothing short of radical. In the Illinois state Senate, he voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act - a bill that required physicians and nurses to provide medical care to babies who survived an attempted abortion. In other words, he voted for infanticide.
Thus, it should not be surprising that Mr. Obama’s health care law will use tax dollars to pay for abortions - that is, unless you and your state stop it. Everyone should urge his or her lawmakers to pass opt-out legislation to remove abortion coverage in the state’s exchanges. If you do, Obamacare will not be able to use your hard-earned tax dollars to fund a procedure that does not enhance life, but destroys it.
Zachary S. Krajacic is a writer in Buffalo, N.Y.
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