Obama to Push Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill: If You Don’t Like it Vote Us Out
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 26, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — After a health care summit that saw him hear how Americans don’t want to pay for abortions annd had Nancy Pelosi misleading attendees about abortion funding, President Barack Obama plans to push the pro-abortion health care bill. And he has a message for Americans who don’t like it: vote us out.
With Republicans and majorities of Americans in most polls saying they don’t like the bill, Obama and top Democrats in Congress appear bent on using the controversial reconciliation process.
That would have Democrats attempting to railroad the bill through the House and Senate by misusing a rarely-used procedural tactic preventing a filibuster by opponents of the bill.
They intend to push for a vote by the end of March, when Congress takes its Easter recess.
"If we’re unable to resolve differences over health care, we will need to move ahead on decisions," he said, alluding to using reconciliation.
For those who don’t like that, Obama added: "that’s what elections are for."
“We cannot have another yearlong debate about this,” Obama said, according to The Hill. “When it comes to the most contentious issue, I’m not sure we can bridge the gap.”
Obama also acknowledged that there is little reason for Republicans to support a pro-abortion bill opposed by nearly 60 percent of the American public and supported by less than 40 percent.
“Politically speaking, there may not be any reasons for Republicans wanting to do anything," he said.
Republican leaders responded by saying they have no plans to support the bill and that Obama and Democrats should start over with a better piece of legislation.
"I don’t think there will be Republican support," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said. "What we think they ought to do is start over and go step by step and target possible areas of agreement talked about in the meeting [at the White House Thursday]."
Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the number two Republican in the Senate, added: "It’s not going to be possible with that kind of an approach to come together within the timeframe that he indicated if he insists…on starting with this 2,700-page bill, then tweaking it to adopt some of our ideas."
The Senate bill that is the basis of the reconciliation push in Congress contains massive abortion funding and has other pro-abortion problems.
Under the Senate health care bill that will be the main bill Obama and Democrats push through Congress, there is no ban on abortion funding. While some states can opt out of funding abortions under the plan, taxpayers in other states will be forced to pay for them.
But the bill contains other pro-abortion problems that are concerns for pro-life advocates.
The bill requires that at least one health care plan be promoted across the country that pays for abortions, more abortion funding would come via the affordability credits, and many of the so-called limits on abortion funding in the Senate bill are temporary and could expire or be overturned at a later date.
The Senate health care bill also pays for abortions under the Indian Health Service program.
And it contains the Mikulski amendment that would allow the Obama administration to define abortion as preventative care and force insurance plans to pay for abortions.
Finally, the Senate bill does not contain language needed to offer full conscience protection for pro-life medical workers and facilities.
The new Obama health care plan proposing final changes to the Senate bill so it can move through Congress corrects none of these problems outlined by leading pro-life groups as reasons for pro-life advocates to oppose the government-run health care bill.
And the changes Obama submitted for the Senate bill under reconciliation increase the potential abortion funding for Community Health Centers.
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