Taxpayer-Subsidized Abortions

Personally, I believe that abortion is the biggest infringement of human rights this world has ever seen. This barbaric practice eliminates the potential of life. Is a fetus only human once outside the womb? Unless biological science is a fraud, the answer is a resounding NO. An abortion KILLS a human being. The stage of its development offers no argument. If any stage of human development is eliminated, life ceases to exist.

Our Founding Fathers gave each individual the guarantee of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." A human being in his/her mother's womb is no different. An abortion denies this human being our most pivotal guarantee; the right to life. One selfish decision ends unlimited potential.

As the United States government debates the health care issue, some very disurbing detials are emerging from Capitol Hill. Yesterday, Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) proposed an amendment that will allow for federal funding of elective abortions for those enrolled in the public option.

What does this mean for us? We'll no matter your opinion, Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, your tax dollars are going to be paying for abortions and abortion services.

Here are the main culprits for this amendment to the health care bill. Please call their offices and voice your concern about government-funded abortions. The American public should not be financially responsible for the killing of human life and potential.

Rep. Lois Capp (D-CA) - (202) 225-3601, (805) 730-1710
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) - 202.225.3976, (310) 652-3095
Congressman Bart Gordon (D-TN) - (202) 225-4231, (615) 896-1986
Congressman Zack Space (D-OH) - (202) 225-6265, (330) 364-4300


Here is the full story by Jeff Emanuel:

Yesterday afternoon, House Energy and Commerce Committee member Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) proposed an amendment to the House health care overhaul bill to allow for federal funding of elective abortion coverage for those enrolled in the “public option,” to mandate that every regional Health Insurance Exchange contain at least one private insurance plan that offers abortion coverage, and to permit taxpayer subsidies of those private insurance plans and others that cover elective abortion.

The Capps amendment passed 30-28, with E&C Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), Capps, and 28 other Democrats voting in favor of mandating (and allowing taxpayer funding to be used to subsidize) abortion coverage.

Taxpayer dollars do not currently pay for, or subsidize, insurance plans that cover elective abortion services. This amendment, if the health overhaul bill to which it is attached is passed and signed into law, would alter that policy, using the tax dollars of every American - pro-life or pro-choice - to subsidize abortion coverage (and, by
extension, abortion services).

Late last night, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) responded to the Capps amendment’s passage by proposing an amendment of his own. Pitts’s proposal would have prohibited the federal government from requiring any insurance plan — including the “public option” — to provide coverage for abortion (with the three chief exception of rape, incest, and life of the mother).

E&C passed the Pitts amendment by a 31-27 vote, with Waxman among the “Yea” votes. However, after the votes were in and the amendment passed, Waxman decided he wanted to change his vote, and so brought the amendment back up for “reconsideration” and a re-vote.

The second time around, Waxman voted against the amendment to prevent abortion coverage from being mandated in health insurance plans. He also convinced Blue Dog
Democrat Bart Gordon (D-TN) to switch his vote from Yea to Nay, and pulled conflicted Blue Dog Zack Space (D-OH), who had managed to sit out the first round of voting, back into the debate. Space, who voted in favor of the Capps amendment earlier yesterday afternoon, succumbed to pressure from Waxman and cast his vote against the Pitts measure.

The result was a 30-29 defeat of the measure — a reversal of the initial outcome, and the Democratic preservation a health care overhaul bill that not only allows, but mandates, taxpayer-funded abortion coverage and services.