House Votes This Week on Bill to Stop Hidden Abortion Fees in Obamacare

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 27, 2014   |   4:23PM   |   Washington, DC

The House will vote this week on legislation that will put in place a complete ban on taxpayer funding of abortions and ensures abortions are not directly funded in any federal governmental program or department.

But the bill also would stop hidden abortion fees most Americans probably don’t know are a part of Obamacare.

Insurance companies working under the Obamacare umbrella have secretly added a surcharge to cover the cost of abortions, an apparent violation of federal law that forbids the practice, congressional leaders charge.

pichealth22bConsumers signing up for insurance in an Obamacare exchange won’t find a single sentence telling them that they will pay at least $1 a month to fund abortions.

“The president promised when the health care bill passed that it would not cover abortion. We knew that was an empty promise as the bill stipulated a $1 a month surcharge for plans that covered abortions,” said Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., who chairs the House’s Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Health. “On top of that … it’s near impossible to decipher which plans include abortion and at what cost!”

To fix this, a House bill will be introduced this week to demand full disclosure and a separate itemized premium. It also will prohibit federal subsidies for Obamacare insurance plans that cover abortion. That bill, HR-7, or the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” will be introduced by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

The legislation combines several policies that must be enacted every year in Congressional battles and puts them into law where they will not be in jeopardy of being overturned every time Congress changes hands from pro-life lawmakers to those who support abortions. The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice approved the bill earlier this month.

Congressman Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who is the bill sponsor, talked about the legislation during his March for Life speech:

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

“To rid Obamacare of its massive expansion of public funding for abortion insurance plans—and to make existing policies like the Hyde Amendment permanent–ask your senators and member of the House to support the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act co-sponsored by 165 House Members and a quarter of the Senate,” he said.

The bill has been around a few years but has only been approved in the House thanks to a pro-abortion Senate. On May 4, 2011, the House passed HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, on a 251-175 vote with Republicans voting 235-0 for the bill and Democrats voting 175-16 against it.