Polling Data Sparks National Protest Against Tax-Funded Abortions in Health Care
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 6, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Several pro-life groups are sponsoring a new grassroots campaign called "I Am 71" to draw attention to the taxpayer-funding of abortions found in the various health care bills in Congress. The campaign is meant to highlight a Zogby poll showing 71 percent of Americans don’t want tax-funded abortions.
The 71 percent number comes from a poll conducted by Zogby International and The O’Leary Report in December 2008.
The poll surveyed 2,481 American voters and had a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus two percentage points.
It asked: "President-elect Obama has proposed a bill that would force many employers to provide health insurance to their employees. Do you believe that this bill should also require insurance plans to pay for abortions when the abortions are performed as a method of birth control?"
A strong majority of Americans — 71 percent — said abortion coverage should not be included in such a bill, while only 20 percent said yes to abortion coverage.
Seventy percent of Independent voters said no, as did a majority of Democratic voters, 53 percent. Even 53 percent of those who voted for President Obama just one month prior to the poll being conducted said no to abortion coverage.
The same Zogby/O’Leary poll asked: "The Hyde Amendment says that federal tax funds may be used to pay for abortions only to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest. Some lawmakers are proposing to repeal this law, which would result in taxpayer funding of abortions performed as a method of birth control. Do you favor or oppose the repeal of the Hyde Amendment?"
Sixty-nine percent of American voters opposed repealing the Hyde Amendment, while only 21 percent supported a repeal.
A majority of Democrats (53 percent) and Independents (68 percent) also opposed repealing the Hyde Amendment as did 50 percent of those who voted for President Obama.
“President Obama and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee are so bent on opening the door to taxpayer-funded abortions that they’re willing to buck their own party’s base,” said Brad O’Leary, publisher of The O’Leary Report.
“It’s almost as if they are trying to make their health care bill even more unpopular than it already is," he told LifeNews.com.
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