U.S. Military Must Pay for Abortion

ABC NEWS ^ | June 1 | Associated Press

[mdittmar]

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. military to pay for the abortion of a fetus that was developing without a brain.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner ruled Thursday that the government could not refuse to pay for the abortion on moral grounds. But the decision applies only to fetuses with anencephaly, a condition in which the baby has no brain and survives for only a few days.

The case involved Maureen M. Britell, whose husband was in the military when she had an abortion at New England Medical Center in 1994.

"I'm happy. I'm just hoping that it will stick," said Britell, a former Massachusetts resident who now heads Voters for Choice in Washington, D.C.

Britell was covered by the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Service, known as CHAMPUS. A 1970s law bans federal funding of most abortions, and CHAMPUS does not pay for abortions unless the mother's life is in danger.

[Salvation]

This is so sad. Maybe they need to hear from us.

[APBaer]

"Even I support the abortion in this case. But, I don't support the govt. fotting the bill."

You'd rather have the "government footing the bill" for a few hundred thousand on a lost cause?

[bybybill]

bumb!

[TBP]

A fetus without a brain. Such a waste, it would have gone far in American politics.

True enough. It could have been Daschle.

[TBP]

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money to support opinions which he disbelives and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." -- Thomas Jefferson.

Whether you might be able to justify having an abortion in this limited circumstance or not is irrelevant to whether those of us who are pro-life should be forced to pay for it. To force pro-lifers to pay for this woman's abortion is sinful and tyrannical.

[APBaer]

"To force pro-lifers to pay ($500?)for this woman's abortion is sinful and tyrannical"

But To force everyone else to pay ($300,000?) down the
toilet to make you feel good is not tyrannical"??

[A Navy Vet]

So do I. There was no "person" there, just a mass of tissue being supported by the mother host. What a horrible thing for the parents.

[Always Right]

Whether you might be able to justify having an abortion in this limited circumstance or not is irrelevant to whether those of us who are pro-life

This has nothing to do with pro-life. The baby has absolutely zero hope of surviving and is likily a real danger to the mother. In this case the most pro-life thing to do is to take the baby out. The baby has no brain. You are taking pro-life to a ridicously extreme and have thrown out common sense.

[jwalsh07]

You're a fool if you think this is about one poor baby with anecephaly.

[Teacher317]

So, you would rather the military laid out a couple of hundred thousand dollars to let a baby without a brain linger for a few weeks?

Now I know why Veteran's Hospitals are such pits of death, despair, and decay.

[jimkress]

There was no "person" there, just a mass of tissue being supported by the mother host. What a horrible thing for the parents.

That's a lie. Look at post 36. These babies can (and do) survive.

[abolitionist]

You'd rather have the "government footing the bill" for a few hundred thousand on a lost cause?

"Lost cause"? Aside from the factual inaccuracy, that same logic can and has been used against the poor, the uneducated, and the non-white. There is no reason a baby like this can't be delivered naturally and be given the same chance everyone deserves.

[APBaer]

"There is no reason a baby like this can't be delivered
naturally and be given the same chance everyone deserves".

Duh...how about it doesn't have a brain?

[A Navy Vet]

I lie? So if there is NO brain, there is still a person? I wasn't talking about partial or outside of skull like Faith. I said NO brain.

[d-fens]

Duh...how about it doesn't have a brain?

Someone could just as easily say the same thing about you. May I declare you to be a "lost cause" and kill you to save some future tax payer money? I wouldn't even ask for government funding to do it. ;-)

If you think the only determinant for whether or not the government should pay to kill someone is their projected public net cost or benefit, then I hope you never retire. Someone may feel the same way about you someday. Myself, I will resist having my tax dollars pay for the killing of any innocent human being, even you.

[Havisham]

I do not believe you are correct that carrying an anecephalic baby -- fetus, if you will -- carries a greater risk to the mother than submitting to any one of the abortion procedures now in use. Miscarriage or birth is safer than chemical induction or c-section by everything I've read in preparation for my home birth some years ago.

[abolitionist]

As I said, there is no reason why this baby can't be delivered naturally. The only meaningful statement you have made to justify this state-sponsored abortion is the economic argument that the abortion is cheaper than the life support that might be used. Moral decisions like this shouldn't be decided solely by economic criteria.

[Havisham]

Abortion would not be cheaper. The family could take the baby home to die, which only strikes me as what I would want if it were my family.

What few here seem to understand is that our military surgeons have heroically held the line against performing elective abortions despite unrelenting pressure from Congress and the judiciary.

[jude24]

this sounds like a "health of the mother" thing.

the fetus is dead (no brain), and it cant be healthy to have that growing inside a woman.

I'm as pro-life as any, but save your battles for the real problems. This isnt it.

[Lord Z]

I figure, deliver the baby as needed, and give it a solid shot at keeping the baby alive. Not the expedient, make-it-all-go-away thing to do, but I believe that our humanity has to err on the side of life: make an honest best effort to save the baby...if that means that the baby needs to be delivered prematurely and operated on, I don't know, I'm not a medical doctor. I do recognize moral obligations though, so they really need to at leat TRY to save the baby.