Close Topic Options

Obama & Abortion - Page 2

White House, Senate Leaders to Craft Next Version of Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- White House and Senate leaders are meeting today to craft the final Senate version of the pro-abortion health care reform bill. All of the leaders participating in the process are abortion advocates and they are combining two bills, both of which contain taxpayer funding of abortions. With the Senate Finance Committee having signed off on the Baucus measure, the next step is to combine it and the Kennedy bill that already passed the Senate HELP committee. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is headed to Capitol Hill today to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Finance chairman Max Baucus and HELP chairman Chris Dodd. The final product would liekyl be the first bill that pro-abrotion President Barack Obama may officially endorse. He has yet to put his name behind any of the five Congressional bills. All of them promise abortion funding, but Obama has pledged to exclude such funding in "his" plan. Yet, Emanuel told PBS NewsHour correspondent Judy Woodruff Tuesday that Baucus's health care reform bill meets the administration's key goals for a health care overhaul. "This is not the more important bill as compared to any other bill," Emanuel cautioned. "It is a bipartisan bill, achieves the objectives. That's also true of what Sen. Dodd did in his committee. The House is now going to merge those three bills." Should Obama sign onto any of those bills or a merged version in either chamber that includes abortion funding, he will have officially gone back on his promise to support health care reform without abortion funding. Ref. Source 7

Abortion and Obama

Senate Approves Motion to Debate Health Care Bill With Massive Abortion Funding
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor November 21, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With the bare minimum needed, Senate Democrats voted on Saturday night to begin the official debate and amendment process for a health care reform bill that allows for massive abortion funding. The measure sponsored by Senate leader Harry Reid could fund hundreds of thousands of abortions.

The vote split entirely on party lines with 60 Democrats voting to break the Republican filibuster supported by 39 party members in the Senate.

Several Democrats who may ultimately vote against the bill supported cloture to end debate on the Motion to Proceed.

They included Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, the only Democrats in the Senate who call themselves pro-life and pro-abortion Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, who joins then in wanting a Stupak-like amendment to ban the abortion funding.

Democrats in swing states, like Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman -- each of whom could ultimately vote against the bill -- also supported cloture and the Motion to Proceed on debate. They said they hope to see the bill amended to correct some of their concerns.

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the best opportunity to change the bill is to defeat it.

"The best opportunity to change the bill would be at the beginning," he said. "Denying the majority leader the vote he needs to start the bill would have empowered any Democratic senator who is truly interested in making a change, whether the change was on abortion [or other issues] ... The time of maximum leverage would have been prior to tonight's vote."

The abortion funding comes in both the public option as well as through the affordability credits.

Americans United for Life Action president Charmaine Yoest talked with LifeNews.com about the vote.

"Senator Reid's bill provides for an unprecedented expansion of federally-funded abortion," she said. "The majority of Americans who oppose federal funding of abortion will not stand for policies that force them into paying for abortions under the guise of health care reform."

She said the bill contains five major threats to pro-life principles.

The bill allows the HHS Secretary to require coverage of any and all abortions through the public option, creates new federally-funded subsidies for private health plans that cover abortion, and requires every insurance market to include a private plan that covers abortion, Yoest explained.

The Senate health care bill also fails to sufficiently protect health care entities from discrimination on the basis that the health care entity does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions and fails to prohibit federal funding of assisted suicide.

Yoest confirmed that the Senate bill does not contain the Stupak amendment that the House added on a lopsided bipartisan vote.

"The Reid language in the new Senate health care bill is not the Stupak-Pitts language barring federal funds from going to abortion in health care. It is the opposite of the pro-life Stupak-Pitts language," she told LifeNews.com.

The representative of the Catholic bishops has also blasted the pro-abortion provisions in the bill, saying the Senate bill "is actually the worst bill we've seen so far on the life issues."

Other leading pro-life groups like Americans United for Life, National Right to Life, the Family Research Council and Susan B. Anthony List have come to the same conclusion about the abortion funding in the Senate bill.

Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the bishops' conference Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, called it "completely unacceptable," adding that "to say this reflects current law is ridiculous."

Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, has said he would propose an amendment similar to the Stupak amendment, to remove the abortion funding from the legislation.

The bill has also comes under fire for raising taxes on special needs children and their families at a time when 90 percent of babies with disabilities are killed in abortion.

Sen. George Voinovich, an Ohio Republican, was absent from the vote but would have voted against the Moton to Proceed and the vote was not affected by his absense.

Obama & Abortion Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture

Barack Obama the Most Pro-Abortion President Ever Congressman Pence Says

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana is a rising star in the political world and he has a message for the pro-life advocates at the March for Life. Pence is reminding pro-life advocates that President Barack Obama is the most aggressively pro-abortion president to ever occupy the White House.

Obama's record promoting abortion is lengthy and includes taxpayer funding of abortions in various circumstances, key pro-abortion appointments and leaving a pro-abortion legacy on the Supreme Court. In comments LifeNews.com obtained, Pence described that record.

He noted how 52 million Americans have lost their lives to abortion since Roe, "And the events of the past year prove that this is the most pro-abortion president to ever occupy the White House."

"After just three days in office, President Obama allowed federal tax dollars to flow to organizations that promote and provide abortions abroad," he said. "The longstanding Mexico City Policy ensured that America provided international aid in a way that is both fiscally responsible and consistent with the values of pro-life taxpayers. President Obama repealed this common sense policy and disregarded the moral values of millions of Americans," Pence explained.

"Less than two months later the president continued his executive disregard for the right to life. In March, the president moved to strip conscience protections for health care providers who refuse to perform abortions because of their deeply held moral beliefs," Pence continued. Ref. Source 2

Page 2 Abortion and Obama

House Passes Pro-Abortion Senate Health Care Bill After Executive Order Deal

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House of representatives tonight approved the pro-abortion Senate health care bill on a 219-212 vote with a 34 Democrats joining Republicans against it. The bill contains massive abortion funding and promotion that pro-life Democrats hope an executive order will mitigate.

Before the votes, Rep. Bart Stupak negotiated a deal with pro-abortion President Barack Obama for an executive order that he says will nullify the abortion funding.

But, pro-life groups unanimously opposed the executive order saying they don't trust Obama and that technically it will fail in its attempt to stop the legislation's abortion funding. They say an executive order can't modify federal law and that abortions will be funded regardless of the content of the executive order.

"Unfortunately, this proposal does not begin to address the problem, which arises from decades of federal appellate rulings that apply the principles of Roe v. Wade to federal health legislation," Richard Doerflinger, of the you.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, explains.

"The executive order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It changes nothing," National Right to Life added. "It does not correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill."

The top Republican in the House told Democrats prior to the vote that they should be clear the bill funds and promotes abortions.

"Make no mistake, a "yes" vote on the Democrats" health care bill is a vote for taxpayer-funded abortions," he said.

Despite the abortion funding in the bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi twice referred to the right to "life" -- something Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest called a "horrible irony."

In an effort to get the abortion funding out of the bill, Republicans and a handful of Democrats pushed for a motion to send the bill back to committee to add an abortion funding ban. Stupak disagreed with the motion and surprised pro-life advocates by saying, "It is the Democrats who have stood up for the principle of no funding for abortion."

The motion ultimately failed 228-197 with 20 Democrats joining Republicans to support getting the abortion funding ban in the bill. Ref. Source 8

Abortion and Obama

President Obama Signs Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, Ignores Executive Order

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama signed the pro-abortion government-run health care bill into law today but did not sign an executive order that would supposedly nullify the abortion funding. Leading pro-life and pro-abortion groups are in rare agreement as they say the order is virtually meaningless.

Obama did not sign the companion executive order that Congressman Bart Stupak negotiated to supposedly ban abortion funding under the bill in exchange for several votes that led to passage of the legislation.

During his address to members of Congress before signing the bill, Obama made no mention of the executive order, abortion, or the arrangement he made with Stupak and other Democrats who had been waiting until the last-minute to determine their stance on the bill.

Yesterday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius told the "Early Show" on CBS that Obama would "keep his word" on signing the order. She did not provide a date by which he would sign it.

"Clearly, he intends to keep his word," she said.

Congressman Joe Pitts, a Pennsylvania Republican who is one of the most prominent pro-life advocates in the House, said what many pro-life groups have explained about the uselessness of the executive order in combating the abortion funding and promotion in the bill.

"From a pro-life perspective, I find absolutely no comfort in this executive order. This puts the fate of the unborn in the hands of the most pro-abortion President in history," Pitts said. He pointed out that an executive order issued by Obama can't trump a law passed by Congress. Ref. Source 8

Obama & Abortion

Obama Signs Executive Order Claiming No Abortion Funding in Health Care Law

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- There were no cameras or reporters present and the multitude of pro-life groups that say it won't be effective weren't present. But behind closed doors, President Barack Obama signed the executive order today claiming taxpayer dollars will not be used to fund abortions under the new health care law he signed.

Attorneys and staff with leading pro-life groups have analyzed the order and say it will not truly prohibit abortion funding and promotion.

In contrast with the campaign-style bill signing ceremony on Tuesday, the signing of the abortion executive order took place behind closed doors in the Oval Office where reporters were unable to attend.

The executive order claims "it is necessary to establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services," but adds it is to "ensure that exchange plan funds are segregated by insurance companies in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

That's merely a restatement of the Nelson language in the Senate bill that allows some taxpayers to be forced to pay for abortions as long as an accounting scheme is used to cover up the funding. Ref. Source 4

Obama & Abortion - Page 2

The executive order only supports/reaffirms the Hyde amendment. The Hyde amendment is not a standling law. It is a rider that typically finds its way onto appropriations bills anually. The amendment does say that federal funds are not to be used to sponsor abortions. Simply get rid of the Hyde amendment and the executive order disappears.

Obama & Abortion Culture Family Travel & Consumer Reviews - Page 2

Name: Josh

Comments: President Obama is looking to do this a different way through the Supreme Court. Just look at the people he want to appoint and their views an you'll see he is getting the acceptance through law instead of congress.