Tax Payer Funded Abortions in Pelosi Bill

Democrats have been denying for months now that tax payer funded abortions will be in the health reform bill.

But is that true? Or is this all just another lie. More false hope and another broken promise.

The following are the abortion funding concerns with the Pelosi Health Bill.

~Access to Insurance Policies Covering Abortion: H.R. 3962 would require at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange to cover abortions. This mandate would be a significant expansion from current federal regulations on insurance coverage, which state that, "Health insurance benefits for abortion, except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or where medical complications have arisen from an abortion, are not required to be paid by an employer." While the bill would also require one plan that does not cover abortions to be offered in the Exchange, this mandate to cover abortion could in turn lead to federal actions to "protect" access to abortions-such as mandates for abortion clinics, drugs, etc.

~Federal Subsidies and Abortion Coverage: H.R. 3962 specifically permits taxpayer subsidies to flow to private health plans that include abortion, but creates an accounting scheme designed to designate private dollars as abortion dollars and public dollars as non-abortion dollars. Specifically, the provisions claim to segregate public funds from abortion coverage, allegedly preventing public funds from being used to cover abortions.

Given that money is fungible, the accounting scheme has been rejected by pro-life organizations, which recognize it as a clear departure from long-standing federal policy against funding plans covering abortion (e.g., Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, Medicaid, SCHIP, etc.).

~Network Adequacy Provisions: H.R. 3962 gives the Health Choices Commissioner the power to regulate provider networks of qualified health benefits plans. When coupled with language requiring a plan that includes abortion be made available in every region, this could lead to mandates to "protect" access to abortion services (such as the establishment of abortion clinics)-or that all private employers include abortion clinics in their networks for them to be considered "adequate."