Earlier this week, the head of the Democratic party attempted to force Americans,including churches, to pay for abortions.
On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee considered the bill making appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. The legislation contains a number of important pro-life policies and Democrat Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz filed an amendment to strike the conscience protections contained in Sec. 530 of the appropriations bill.
The language in that section comes from a pro-life bill, H.R. 940, the Healthcare Conscience Rights Act, and provides relief from the conscience violations imposed by the HHS Preventive Services Mandate. It also provides protections for pro-life churches in California who are fighting them own battle against being forced to pay for abortions.
The conscience protection language offers full exemption from Obamacare’s Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate and ensures protections for individuals and healthcare entities that refuse to provide, pay for, or refer patients to abortion providers because of their deeply held beliefs.
The legislation would also specifically address the unlawful violation of religious freedom in California, where the state Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) issued a directive requiring that all insurance plans offered on the state exchange include coverage for abortions, including plans provided by churches, religious entities, and others with conscionable objections to such procedures.
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Fortunately, the amendment failed by a vote of 31-20, largely along party lines with Republicans and Rep. Cuellar (D-TX) voting to protect pro-life conscience rights and Democrats voting for the amendment to violate them.
Here’s video of the chairman of the committee speaking against the amendment:
