As expected Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came up with some phony abortion “compromise” language in the healthcare bill he unveiled Wednesday and stripped out the Stupak-Pitts languge which would have prevented the government from funding abortion.
Here’s what you need to know: It’s NOT Stupak-Pitts language. In fact, it’s the opposite.
While Stupak/Pitts would have ensured that elective abortion was kept out of the public plan, the Reid language explicitly authorizes the Secretary of Health & Human Services (pro-abortion ex-Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius) to include abortion in the public option. And while Stupak/Pitts would prohibit government subsidies from contributing to insurance policies that include elective abortion, the Senate language permits government subsidies for plans that pay for abortion.
Reid tried to satisfy the abortion industry by mirroring the Capps amendment which allows federal funding of abortion. In fact, Rep. Lois Capps (D-Ca.), who has a 100% pro-abortion voting record, said in a press release following release of the Reid language: “It appears that their approach closely mirrors my language which was originally included in the House bill.” Senator Boxer, also an ardent pro-choicer, has given her endorsement to the language saying, “Senator Reid did an excellent job of crafting language…”
The fact that the Senate bill funds abortion isn’t even lost on the liberal media.
An MSNBC.com story about the Senate health care reform bill states:
On a controversial issue that threatened to derail the House legislation, Reid’s Senate measure would allow the new government insurance plan to cover abortions and would let companies that receive federal funds offer insurance plans that include abortion coverage.
A provision in the House bill — passed at the insistence of anti-abortion Democrats over strenuous objections from liberals — banned both those things. Reid failed in his attempt to include stricter abortion language.
Didn’t Reid WRITE the language? How did he “fail in his attempt to include stricter abortion language?”
And like the House bill, the Senate version would levy a new “abortion premium” fee on Americans in the government-run plan.
Senator Jim DeMint dredges up a John Kerry flip-flopper line that works great for the very important “cloture” vote this weekend in the Senate:
Don’t let [the Senators] vote for a government takeover of health care before they vote against it. 
Why? A vote for cloture is a vote for the government-run plan because that would bring the bill to the floor for the debate. For the bill to pass, Reid only needs a majority, which he has. For cloture, he needs 60, which he may not have. So the Senators could very well vote for cloture and then vote against the bill and tell constituents they tried to prevent healthcare from being passed.
The vote on cloture tomorrow night is a vote for government-funded abortion.
Main points:
- The 2,074-page Senate healthcare reform bill has rejected the bipartisan Stupak-Pitts Amendment and substituted phony language that would result in government-funded abortion.
- A vote to allow the Senate healthcare bill to be debated on the floor through “cloture” is a vote for government-funded abortion.
- The bi-partisan Stupak-Pitts amendment does not change the status quo on abortion funding through the government; it IS the status quo. It mirrors the Hyde amendment which prevents the government from funding elective abortion.
Contact your Senators NOW – the vote on cloture is very important. Don’t let Reid get the healthcare bill to the floor.
| Join Our Mailing List |
