All Stupak has got left is to commit seppuku.

Bart hides, babies die.

Maybe Bart is at the airport. You know, the one he traded those babies for.

July 14, 2010

Obamacare to fund abortions in Pennsylvania; heat on Dahlkemper

UPDATE, 7/15, 11:25a: The House Republican's #2, Eric Cantor, also issued a statement yesterday condemning Obamacare's inclusion of abortion funding in the PA "high risk" plan:

In the months leading up to Democrat passage of ObamaCare, we fought hard to ensure that no federal funding would be used to subsidize elective abortion. Unfortunately, in the last days of this fight, a group of so-called "pro-life" Democrats who had previously withheld their support from the bill in the name of life accepted an offer from the White House, which pretended to bar funding of abortion under the new structure....

While that group, including PA's own Reps. Kathy Dahlkemper and Chris Carney, stood smiling behind the most pro-abortion President in American history as he signed the phony agreement, we warned this day would come. Sooner than even we thought, we now have proof that the Administration planned to fund abortion on the taxpayer dime all along. This demonstrates that we must pass a permanent codification of the Hyde Amendment immediately to prevent the federal government from funding abortion on demand.

UPDATE, 7/14, 7:37p: The House Republican's #3, Mike Pence, has now issued a statement condemning Obamacare's PA abortion funding.

UPDATE, 7/14, 4:03p: I'm told on high authority from someone who saw it that the Obama administration issued a statement last night stating the $160 mil wouldn't cover abortions and then pulled it back. I'm told a new or revised statement is in the works.

UPDATE, 7/14, 3p: This dispersement of Obamacare funding to PA is likely the last thing pro-life Democrat Congressperson Kathy Dahlkemper needed to hear. Dahlkemper voted for Obamacare after Obama signed the EO and has become a target of a couple pro-life groups. One in particular, the Susan B. Anthony List, is slamming her this afternoon in a press release:

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the SBA [said].. "So-called 'pro-life' Democrats pushed politics over principle when they supported a sham executive order that wasn't worth the paper it was printed on."

"Prior to the healthcare vote, Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3) said she would represent the pro-life majority in her district. But it was clear she was playing politics. Pennsylvanians now know they are being forced to pay for abortions with their own money. Rep. Dahlkemper and the Obama administration said the executive order would prevent taxpayers from having to pay for abortion, but this PA insurance pool program proves that that was a false promise."...

In the days leading up to the healthcare reform vote, pro-life Democrats like Kathy Dahlkemper and MI Rep. Bart Stupak said they would not support any bill which included federal funding of abortion. They reneged on that pledge when they voted for the final bill which provides for taxpayer-funded abortions.

UDPATE, 7/14, 2:45p:The most influential House Republican pro-lifer is decrying this development. According to The Hill, this afternoon:

"This is the boldest admission yet from the Obama administration that the President's Executive Order on taxpayer-funded abortion was a sham," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said in a statement. "The fact that the high-risk pool insurance program in PA will use federal taxpayer dollars to fund abortions is unconscionable."

7/14, 2:35p: News-Medical.net reported on June 29:

The federal government has approved PA's application to offer a high-risk insurance program for uninsured individuals who have pre-existing medical conditions....
"The Obama Administration has approved our plan to provide health insurance to thousands of Pennsylvanians who have been unable to obtain affordable coverage because of pre-existing conditions," [state Insurance Commissioner Joel] Ario said....

,p>The state will receive $160 million to set up the program, which will provide coverage to as many as 5,600 people between now and 2014. The approved proposal can be accessed by visiting www.insurance.pa.gov and choosing the "Health Care Reform & You" link.

Yesterday we learned the the federal healthcare funding in PA will cover abortions. According to National Right to Life:

The Obama Administration will give PA $160 million to set up a new "high-risk" insurance program under a provision of the federal health care legislation enacted in March - and has quietly approved a plan submitted by an appointee of Governor Edward Rendell (D) under which the new program will cover any abortion that is legal in PA.

The plan states it will not cover "elective abortions"...

... and what abortions fit the requirements? According to 18 Pa. C.S. § 3204:

In determining in accordance with subsection (a) or (b) whether an abortion is necessary, a physician's best clinical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors (physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the woman's age) relevant to the well-being of the woman. No abortion which is sought solely because of the sex of the unborn child shall be deemed a necessary abortion.

In other words, abortion on demand. So less than 4 months after Obamacare's passage, and with Obama his executive order supposedly banning public funding of abortions, we get confirmation it was a fraud. NRLC added:

As USA Today reported on March 25, "Both sides in the abortion debate came to a rare agreement on Wednesday: The executive order on abortion signed by President Obama, they said, was basically meaningless. 'A transparent political fig leaf,' according to the NRLC's Douglas Johnson. 'A symbolic gesture,' said Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards."

Posted 07/14/10 at 2:35 PM

“All Stupak has got left is to commit seppuku.”

Not really. He could speak out now (before he leaves office) about what BHO has done here. If he doesn’t speak out loudly, the damage he has done to the little ones and maybe to his own soul will not be repairable.

No, I’m not naive enough to think that he might do this.

This is why there is a real impression among Americans and the general electorate that democrats are liars, untrustworthy, unreliable and that you cannot believe a word they say or promise they make.

This thread is, frankly, useless.

Progressives will NEVER, EVER accept any limitations on abortion. From such founding racists as Sanger and Wilson, abortion as a way to decrease the number of blacks in society is a bedrock of black genocide -- ah, make that-- "Progressivism." Fools like Stupac will ALWAYS be lied to and will always fold.

As smart as Cantor and several others are, they give no sign of making a stand on conservatice principles this fall.

Rats lie! Stupak is a fool. Don't know much about the other nut, but doesn't seem to be very brainy.

Stupak and the rest of the phony “pro-life” dems knew very well that Hussein was lying. They just needed some cover for the vote they wanted to make all along.

Pennsylvania’s insurance commission is disputing the accuracy of this-—and say they are following the Hyde amendment which bars funding for elective abortion.

Are they any more believable than Stupak? Are they any more believable than Barry0?

angels are crying...

so happy my children wanted and value their children

Pennsylvania’s insurance commission is disputing the accuracy of this

Is it possible they might be biased?

Meet the Commissioner

"...In June 2007, Governor Edward Rendell nominated Joel Ario to serve as Pennsylvania’s Insurance Commissioner, describing Ario as “a highly qualified and seasoned administrator with a strong and proven record of fighting to protect the rights and needs of consumers.”

Senate GOP forces Rendell to withdraw Joel Ario's nomination

"...Senate Republicans are refusing to consider Gov. Ed Rendell's nominee for the job of state insurance commissioner, forcing the governor to withdraw the nomination...Senate GOP spokesman Erik Arneson says the caucus has serious concerns about Joel Ario's performance as the acting insurance commissioner since his nomination last year."

Then why not test it by a lawsuit.

Pennsylvania Insurance Dept. evades questions on federal abortion coverage

Harrisburg, Pa., Jul 15, 2010 / 11:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) claimed earlier this week that a new federally funded insurance program in Pennsylvania will cover abortions, CNA contacted the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to verify the charges, with the department ultimately evading the allegations.

NRLC is one of many critics this week who have condemned the Obama administration's approval of a federally funded $160 million high-risk insurance coverage initiative in Pennsylvania that was created as a part of the recent health care overhaul.

The federal fund is being accused of covering abortions if they are deemed necessary by a physician.

National Right to Life issued a statement on Tuesday evening explaining that the $160 million plan is part of a $5 billion federal funding program set up under the Affordable Health Care Act that was signed into law in March.

Although the language of the Pennsylvania insurance plan states that the funding does not cover “elective abortions,” NRLC argued that nowhere in the document is the term “elective” defined.

Rather, abortions will be covered if they are prescribed under the necessary “requirements” of several state statutes. Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania if a single physician believes that it is “necessary” based “all factors (physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the woman's age) relevant to the well-being of the woman,” according to section 3204 of Pennsylvania's consolidated statute 18.

NRLC asserted the language bars abortion only if it is motivated by gender discrimination, in other words “sex-selection.”

CNA contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance with NRLC's charges that the plan will ultimately fund non-elective abortions.

Rosanne Placey, press secretary for the department's Communications Office, replied, “Our high risk proposal and any subsequent contracts must comply with federal law and regulations.”

“So that means that federal law as well as the Hyde amendment would control the high risk plan here,” she said. “We could not and would not use federal money to cover elective abortions. The benefits do not include elective abortions. Our plan says that.”

“Also, we could not and would not use federal money to go beyond the scope of the Hyde amendment,” Placey added. “The Hyde amendment says that is only to save the life of the mother, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. So beyond that very limited scope – funds cannot be used to include abortions.”

In response to Placey's argument, Douglas Johnson, legislative director of NRLC, countered that “there is no language in the law, in the Affordable Health Care Act as they call it, that in any way restricts the use of these funds for abortion,” particularly within the higher risk pool program.

“Everything she is talking about is entirely beside the point,” he charged.

The pool program, Johnson explained, has “nothing to do with the Hyde amendment,” since “the Hyde amendment controls only money that flows through a single pipeline which is the annual HHS (Health and Human Services department) appropriation bill.”

“This program involves no such money – the money for this program is federal money.”

Commenting on the executive order President Obama signed in March, Johnson explained that the Hyde amendment, as stated in the executive order on abortion, only applies to insurance exchange programs and community health center programs.

According to him, the Hyde amendment does not apply to and has nothing to do with high-risk pool programs.

Johnson's points were not countered by Placey, instead the insurance department spokeswoman held to her previous statement, saying, “I do think this is pretty clear.”

High-risk pool programs for states across the U.S. have been the subject of increasing criticism among pro-life groups. NRLC also reported this week that the language within the high-risk program in New Mexico explicitly covers elective abortions.

“angels are crying... “

Stupak will retire, but he still has to face God some day, and he ought to do all that he can to reverse the harm he did.

>> All Stupak has got left is to commit seppuku.

He should be reminded these aborted kids did not wish to die.

hopefully this attention will cause PA to make the necessary changes and make sure elective abortions are not covered.

EDITORIAL: Obamacare abortions on tap

Pennsylvania program pays the piper

Obamacare to fund abortions in Pennsylvania; heat on Dahlkemper