To the editor:
Democratic congressional leaders are working with the Obama White House behind closed doors to craft federal health care legislation which Obama has pledged will contain expansive pro-abortion provisions. Pro-abortion organizations consider abortion mandates as a part of health care reform to be one of their top priorities.
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and others believe the impending legislation will contain provisions that will amount to a federal mandate for employers to offer insurance that would pay for abortion-on-demand, funded by government-mandated premiums and taxes.
Douglas Johnson, NRLC’s Legislative Director, reported the plan is also likely to include coverage of abortion-on-demand for low-income citizens.
Johnson and others warn that the legislation might achieve sweeping pro-abortion effects without even mentioning the word “abortion.” It might delegate authority to a board or group of officials to determine the scope of any government-defined or government-mandated package of health care benefits.
Every tax-paying citizen should demand that abortion be explicitly excluded from the scope of any government-defined or government-mandated package of health care benefits.
Congress is expected to vote on this legislation this summer. Wisconsin’s U.S. Senators, Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, and your own representative in the U.S. House of Representatives should be contacted and urged to oppose any federal health care reform legislation that does not explicitly exclude abortion. Senators and House Representatives offices can be reached by calling toll free at 1-800-828-0498.
Susan Armacost, Legislative Director,
Wisconsin Right to Life, Milwaukee