Posted on 03/01/2010 4:21:08 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insisted on Friday that the Senate health care bill does not allow tax-funding of abortion, and added that she had spoken with “Catholic bishops” about the issue. However, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told CNSNews.com that anyone who had spoken to the bishops about the legislation should know that it does fund abortion and that the bishops oppose the bill.
At a press conference on Friday, Pelosi was asked whether Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who opposes President Obama’s health proposal which uses the Senate bill as its foundation, was wrong in stating that the legislation would allow tax dollars to fund abortion and whether this would be a problem for those trying to advance the bill.
Pelosi, a Catholic, said, “Let me say it this way, there’s three, three--I don’t want to say principles--but three standards that we are using as we go forward, and I talked to the Catholic bishops about this and people on all sides of the choice issue.
“Law prevents federal funding, and federal law prevents federal funding of abortion,” said Pelosi. “There is no federal funding of abortion in this bill. There’ll be no expansion or diminution of a woman’s right to choose and that does not happen in this bill, and we’re determined that we are going to pass health care reform.
“This bill that passed the Senate does not have federal funding of abortion,” said Pelosi.
After Pelosi's press conference, Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), told CNSNews.com that “anyone” who has talked with them knows that the Senate bill, which forms the basis for the president’s proposal, allows taxpayer money to be used to pay for health plans that cover abortion.
“We do not know how anyone who has spoken to the bishops could conclude that the Senate health care bill does not fund abortions,” Doerflinger told CNSNews.com in an e-mail statement.
“As the bishops have said in their letters to Congress, abortion problems in the Senate bill are so serious that, despite our strong support for expanding access to health care, we will have to oppose the bill unless they are resolved,” said Doerflinger.
Inquiries to Speaker Pelosi’s office by CNSNews.com about the USCCB’s statement were not returned before this story was posted.
The USCCB has explained in detail, and in several letters, how the Senate health care bill allows for taxpayer money to go to health care plans that cover abortion.
Doerflinger told CNSNews.com: “While the Senate bill includes some language limiting the direct use of tax credits to subsidize abortion coverage, it still violates longstanding federal precedent on abortion funding in two ways.”
”First, the Senate’s abortion language limits only the use of tax credits for abortion in qualified health plans, not other funding in the bill,” he said.
“For example, the bill authorizes and appropriates $7 billion for services at community health centers (increased to $11 billion in the President’s new proposal),” said Doerflinger. “The Hyde amendment does not prevent direct use of these billions of dollars for elective abortions (because the funds are not provided through the appropriations bill governed by Hyde), nor does any provision in the Senate bill.”
“Second, the Senate’s language on tax credits still allows subsidies for overall health plans that cover elective abortions, against the policy of the Hyde amendment and other longstanding federal laws,” said Doerflinger.
“The bill requires each American purchasing such a plan to make a separate payment to the insurer every month, solely to pay for other people’s abortions,” he said. “This is an enormous imposition on the consciences of the millions of Americans who oppose abortion.”
Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, also reacted to Pelosi's claim that the Senate health bill does not fund abortion. “She has just repeated the same deceptive claptrap,” Johnson told CNSNews.com.
“She is back to the old denial and deception approach, but she has no credibility on this issue and her claims were repudiated by one-quarter of her own caucus last Nov. 7th ,” Johnson said.
Nov. 7th refers to the day that the House passed its version of health care reform with only one Republican in support and one-quarter of Democrats in opposition, which culminated in a 220 to 215 vote. Before narrowly approving the bill, the House voted by a larger margin to approve an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D.-Mich.) that prohibited any federal funding of any health care plan under the bill that covered abortion.
Michelle Begnoche, a spokeswoman for Rep. Stupak (D-Mich.), told CNSNews.com in an e-mail that Stupak was not available for comment but that “he has made clear that the Senate language is a departure from current law and is unacceptable.”
The Senate rejected language by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) that mirrored the pro-life Stupak amendment in the House legislation.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a 13-page document explaining why the Senate bill allows tax dollars to funded abortion.
“Of the two bills, only the House bill conforms to current law on abortion funding,” reads the document. They credit that to Stupak’s amendment.
“Thus under the Senate bill, notwithstanding ‘the segregation of funds’ provision, federal subsidies will be used to help expand access nationwide to abortion coverage,” reads the document.
So ... I just sent an anti-0bama message from their site. Got an autobot reply from JPHDmail AT usccb DOT org, so I guess it got through.
Kewl ....
Excellent! Well-worded, well-done. Ping your friends and let’s see if we can multiply it!
Oh, haven’t you heard?
She has “self-excommunicated” by her abortion stand.
Really brave of the bishops, I tell you.
How does one “self-excommunicate?”
The Church really ought to be more involved in running this scag out of office!
All the mainline denominations are pro-choice and have lost hundreds of thousands of members. Democrats have taken over these denominations at the highest levels.
Thanks for the ping!
Pelousey loves funding death!
I just think it’s a cowardly copout on their part.
They don’t want to do anything hard and just let God punish them.
However, this is being less than diligent about “saving souls” because if they’d take concrete action against just a few, others wouldn’t be as likely to take the same route.
I would guess that the church wouldn’t hesitate to do so if Pelosi couldn’t use her office to retaliate in some way. The church’s membership may even include in its ranks many of the moonbats that keep electing Pelosi, outrageous as that may seem.
This was my message....
As health care reform enters the final stage of debate, I urge you to consider the lives of the millions of unborn Americans who die in elective abortions every year.
Too many lives are at stake for this effort to succeed. Please, reject this latest health care reform which forces American Catholics to pay for abortions. Stand up for life.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100301/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul
Some House foes eye switch to 'yes' on health care
In interviews with the AP, at least 10 of the 39 Democrats — or their spokesmen — either declined to state their positions or said they were undecided about the revised legislation, making them likely targets for intense wooing by Pelosi and Obama. Three of them — Brian Baird of Washington, Bart Gordon of Tennessee and John Tanner of Tennessee — are not seeking re-election this fall.
The others are Rick Boucher of Virginia, Suzanne Kosmas of Florida, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Michael McMahon of New York, Walt Minnick of Idaho, Scott Murphy of New York and Glenn Nye of Virginia.
...The new plan calls for the House to pass that same [Senate] bill and send it to Obama for his signature... But that is contingent on a Senate promise to make several subsequent changes. Those would have to be approved under the special budget reconciliation rules, because Democrats now control only 59 of the Senate's 100 votes — one shy of the number needed to stop a bill-killing filibuster.
Democratic leaders have asked colleagues not to use the term "reconciliation" but instead to refer to the process as "majority vote," said Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa. They also are frequently using the term "up or down vote."
The political math in the House is daunting.
The House version of health care passed 220-215 in November, with 39 Democrats voting against it. Since then, defections, resignations and a death have taken away yes votes.
With four House seats now vacant, Pelosi would need 216 votes to approve the Senate-passed version, which replaces the jettisoned House bill. That's exactly the number she has now if no other members switch their votes.
But many lawmakers expect further defections, especially members who oppose abortion [funding]...
For every yes vote that switches to no, Pelosi and the White House must persuade one of the 39 Democrats who voted "nay" in November to switch to yes. Obama's announcement on Wednesday ...will replace the one Obama posted one week ago, but will not be written in legislative language.
[snip]
Democrats have targeted Medicare Advantage plans for a big chunk of the cuts that would free funds to cover the uninsured.
Thanks for the ping.
The bishops are perfectly right to oppose this bill because it is pro-abortion. They should continue to educate their flocks on that.
But they should also stop using “social justice” as an excuse to support totalitarian governmental interference. The government is the worst possible way to undertake charitable endeavors, beyond the minimum. They suck up 95% of the money for themselves, and they use the other 5% to corrupt the system.
There comes a point when huge expenditures of taxpayer money actually start throwing people out of jobs and bringing them down into poverty. Meanwhile, the government uses the money to promote the culture of death.
The bishops should oppose this health bill even if the pro-abortion element is removed. Because, in the first place, it would quickly be added back. And, in the second place, the death panels would start telling doctors what to do. And in the third place, it would be a huge weight on our economy that would make everyone poorer and less able to donate to charitable causes, or even pay their own bills.
Time for the bishops to recognize that the Democrat agenda is evil, and that that evil goes beyong their fondness for killing babies.
It would be useful, I think, for you to share this message with the Bishops. Do you have Fax? Woiuld you like me to send you the Fax list for all the bishops in the USA? (And if you don't have fax, there's a free fax site online which will give you 3 free faxes a day via their website.) It's urgent. Let me know.
My fax machine is broken, but I can reach my bishop via his web site, as I found when you last mentioned this.
Interested in this, but you're not Catholic? I don't think it would do any harm for you to go to the Action Link and write a message --- it would just take a minute, honest! But in any case ---OK, please pray for us!
I’d rather be a poor blind man living on the street than being Pelosi and what awaits her after this short life.
I sent them a good one 80)
Yay!
Didn’t the Church get after John Effing (Who served in Viet Nam) Kerry and the Kennedy Kid Congressman? Over the same issue?
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