(from The Heritage Foundation)
The House of Representatives voted 245-189 Wednesday afternoon to repeal the abortion-funding Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
Obamacare represents a historic departure from the federal government’s traditional stance on abortion funding and provides new avenues to promote elective abortion. Since 1976 the Hyde Amendment, which forbids taxpayer funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or threat to the mother’s life. When negotiations to include the full Hyde Amendment language in the PPACA failed, President Obama signed an Executive Order prohibiting federal funding of abortion. Unless Congress acts to make the application permanent, however, this order is subject to reversal by either executive decision or judicial intervention.
Obamacare represents a historic departure from the federal government’s traditional stance on abortion funding and provides new avenues to promote elective abortion. Since 1976 the Hyde Amendment, which forbids taxpayer funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or threat to the mother’s life. When negotiations to include the full Hyde Amendment language in the PPACA failed, President Obama signed an Executive Order prohibiting federal funding of abortion. Unless Congress acts to make the application permanent, however, this order is subject to reversal by either executive decision or judicial intervention.
PPACA includes at least three problematic provisions with respect to the federal role in subsidizing elective abortion. The law:
- Facilitates massive federal subsidies for private health care plans that are offered through health insurance exchanges and will cover elective abortions.
- Leaves the decision whether certain appropriated funds not covered by the Hyde Amendment will be used to subsidize elective abortions to the discretion of the Secretary of HHS.
- Appropriates money not covered by the Hyde Amendment for community health centers, the grants from which could also be used to fund abortions.
As a result of the defects in PPACA, a federal tax credit will be made available to assist in the purchase of private health plans that cover abortion. Additionally, the limited and loose conscience protections outlined in the law, combined with inadequate guidance on conscience rights, may leave pro-life medical professionals with no protection to live by their personal beliefs.
The battle to ensure permanent restrictions on federal abortion funding witnessed a major step forward yesterday as House Speaker John Boehner and a bipartisan coalition of pro-life legislators introduced the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." The act would streamline restrictions on abortion-funding by compiling the numerous annual pro-life riders into one permanent piece of legislation, eliminating the annual risk to these provisions on federal funding of abortion. The bill would also better define conscience protections for pro-life medical professionals. Rep. Joe Pitts, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, also introduced the "Protect Life Act," that would apply Hyde amendment language to the PPACA, prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions.
