Speaker Nancy Pelosi Releases Misleading Factsheet on Abortion, Health Care

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 28, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Releases Misleading Factsheet on Abortion, Health Care

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 28
, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has released a misleading factsheet perpetuating the myth that the House version of the government-run health care plan does not included taxpayer-financed abortions. Pelosi’s "Daily Mythbuster" contains an analysis that has been rebutted by various media outlets and an independent political watchdog.

Pelosi issued a factsheet that, ironically, contains few facts about HR 3200 and the various ways in which the bill will allow government-funded abortions.

According to Pelosi, “the bill clearly spells out that no federal funds can be used to pay for abortions.”

However, the Capps amendment the House Energy and Commerce Committee adopted specifically authorizes the government-run public plan to pay for elective abortions. The public plan collects premiums from taxpayers that are, in turn, used to pay for abortions.

Pelosi also says, referring to the Hyde amendment that prohibits abortion funding in Medicare, that “the bill preserves the status quo in abortion policy.”

"The latest version of the House bill continues longstanding federal policy, which currently bars federal funding for paying for abortions ," she says.

While the Hyde amendment is not overturned by the health care restructuring bill, it only applies to Medicare and would not limit abortion funding in any aspect of the government-run health care system.

The current status quo is that the federal government is not authorized to pay for abortions in numerous instances yet, under the Capps amendment, the public plan is authorized to issue checks to abortionists to pay for abortion on demand.

The Capps amendment breaks with the status quo and establishes an accounting mechanism by which government subsidies (affordability credits) will be allowed to fund insurance policies that cover abortion.

The abortion funding in the health care "reform" bill is so clear that the Wall St. Journal yesterday became the latest mainstream media outlet to confirm what pro-life advocates have been saying for months.

The WSJ confirms the Capps amendment, paves the way for making taxpayers fund abortions with the money they contribute to the government-run system.

"An amendment approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee would allow coverage of abortion," the respected financial newspaper reported. WSJ added that the taxpayer money paying for abortions would "come from the portion of the premiums that are paid by the individuals."

"A sliver of those monthly premiums would be segregated and abortion services would be reimbursed from that separate account," the Journal indicated.

"The amendment also says there would have to be at least one plan that covers abortion and one that doesn’t in every part of the country," the Journal adds.

The confirmation from the Journal follows an Associated Press report with the headline, "Gov’t insurance would allow coverage for abortion."

"Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue," AP indicated earlier this month.

AP admitted that the Capps amendment "would allow the public plan to cover abortion" with "dollars from beneficiary premiums." It added, "Likewise, private plans in the new insurance exchange could opt to cover abortion."

Later, the nonpartisan FactCheck web site confirmed that the health care bills in Congress allow taxpayer-funded abortions.

Then, Time magazine also confirmed what pro-life advocates have been saying.

"The health-care reform proposed by House Democrats, if enacted, would in fact mark a significant change in the Federal Government’s role in the financing of abortions," Time explained.

The main House bill, HR 3200, "does find a way for the Federal Government to expand the coverage of abortion services through a government-run program — the so-called public option."

Finally, the Washington Times jumped in the discussion this week and acknowledged that taxpayer-funding of abortion and insurance coverage mandates appear in the government-run health care bills.

"President Obama isn’t being straight when he says current health care proposals don’t provide government funding for abortion. They do," the Times newspaper said Monday. "If Democratic plans are passed, your taxes will pay for abortions."

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