Fake Pro-Life Group Third Way Claims Health Care Bills Will Reduce Abortions

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 7, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Fake Pro-Life Group Third Way Claims Health Care Bills Will Reduce Abortions

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 7
, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The fake pro-life group Third Way is pushing a disingenuous argument that the government-run health care plans Congress is considering would somehow reduce abortions even though it could open the door to funding hundreds of thousands of abortions annually.

Third Way is the coalition of liberal religious activists whose work is used as a cover to promote pro-abortion legislation and candidates like President Barack Obama.

Organizations such as Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United, which have both praised Obama and his pro-abortion record, have both formal and informal ties with Third Way.

Last week, the group sent copies of its analysis to members of Congress and their aides claiming the legislation will "have the ultimate effect of reducing the number of abortions in America."

"Reform would likely reduce the number of abortions through prevention and support," the group contends. "On prevention, the current health care reform package would extend coverage to over 2 million women who are in need of access to contraception, but are not insured or covered by Medicaid."

However, statistics from the United States and around the world show promoting contraception does not reduce abortions.

Reports from the British government indicate the number of teenage pregnancies and teen abortions are on the rise, as is the abortion rate — the percentage of teen pregnancies that end in abortion.
According to the London Daily Mail teen pregnancy rates in England are now higher than they were in 1995 and pregnancies among girls under 16, below the age of sexual consent, are also at the highest level since 1998.

That is despite the British government spending £300 million (that’s over $454 million for those of us in the United States) in an attempt to cut the number of teen pregnancies in half by promoting comprehensive sexual education.

The British teen abortion rate, according to the newspaper, has also climbed steadily since 1999 when the government released its Teenage Pregnancy Strategy.

Third Way also contends "there is no reason to think that having insurance that covers abortion is a significant factor in a woman’s decision to have an abortion."

Yet, analysis from University of Alabama political science professor Michael New show abortion funding limits result in the biggest abortion decline compared with other limits on abortions.

Dr. New’s regression analysis shows that state restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortions lead to 2.08 fewer abortions per 1000 women of childbearing age.

The federal government used taxpayer funds to pay for 300,000 abortions annually before the Hyde amendment was put in place to restrict abortion funding. As soon as funding from taxpayers from abortions was not available, the number of abortions decreased significantly.

The government-run health care plans Congress is considering will open the door to more insurance coverage for abortions and will undoubtedly drive up the abortion figures.

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