Today Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California), Diane Degette (D-Colorado) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) introduced a bill that would allow Medicaid to cover abortion, which is currently outlawed under the Hyde amendment. The Hyde Amendment was enacted in 1976 but if passed, the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act, would permit abortion-on-demand paid for by our tax dollars.
Rep. Lee said the following about the new bill: “Each and every day, the rights of women are under attack in America – today, we push back because every person has a right to healthcare. The EACH Woman Act is a bold and groundbreaking step forward. This legislation would ensure that every woman can access ALL of her healthcare options, regardless of how much money she earns or where she lives. Regardless of how someone personally feels about abortion, none of us, especially elected officials, should be interfering with a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decision just because she is poor.”
The Executive Director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, Yamani Hernandez, added, “The passage of the EACH Woman Act would stop the terrible wrongs of the Hyde Amendment, which, for 37 years, have fallen hardest on people of color, low-income, and youth. We applaud the bold vision of Representative Lee and the bill’s co-sponsors.”
However pro-life groups disagree and believe taxpayer funding of abortion is unconstitutional. As LifeNews previously reported, 68 percent of Americans oppose using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion yet under Obamacare over 1,000 health insurance plans do so.
After the Government Accountability Office revealed that the President’s health care plan did indeed allow abortions, the Obama Administration said in a statement, “No funds are permitted to cover abortions or administer plans that cover the service, as the Affordable Care Act requires issuers to collect a separate payment for coverage of the services, according to an official at the Health and Human Services Department.
They added, “[The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] will work with stakeholders, including states and issuers, so they fully understand and comply with the federal law prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions.”
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Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that three Democrats introduced this legislation because earlier this year not one U.S. Senate Democrat supported the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (SB 582), which would require all health insurance plans offered by Obamacare exchanges to disclose coverage of elective abortion procedures and the abortion surcharge embedded into abortion-covering plans.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America supports taxpayer funding of abortion and the new bill. The abortion giant’s president, Cecile Richards, said, “For far too long, this country has penalized low-income women seeking abortion — forcing those who have the least to pay the most in order to access safe, legal care.”
