New Poll: Opposition to Pro-Abortion Health Care Highest Yet, Democrat Misleads
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 16, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new Wall St. Journal poll finds opposition to the pro-abortion Senate health care bill at its highest levels yet, but a top Democrat misrepresented the poll. The new WSJ survey follows a recent Rasmussen poll showing a majority of Americans oppose the bill that will fund and promote abortions.
The Wall St. Journal poll found that opinions have solidified against the government-run health care legislation, with 48% calling it a "bad idea" and 36% viewing it as a "good idea."
The 48 percent saying the bill is a bad idea is an all-time high for the WSJ poll dating back to its first survey on the issue in April 2009.
Those saying it is a good idea are down from its high in September and October, when 38-39 percent of Americans said so.
Despite the clear split among Americans in opposition to the pro-abortion health care bill, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the number two Democrat behind Nancy Pelosi, misrepresented the results.
"Since the President addressed the nation on health care, the support has gone up 18 points," Hoyer said on ABC’s Good Morning America. "And a Wall Street Journal poll that just came out shows a majority of those responding indicate they’re for the bill."
Philip Klein of the conservative American Spectator noticed the misleading comment and didn’t let Hoyer, an abortion advocate, get away with it.
"This morning House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tried a new tactic: lying about what’s in specific polls," he wrote today. "The problem about telling a specific lie rather than making generally misleading or silly statements, is that when you’re specific, it’s easier to point out when you’re lying."
Yet instead of calling Hoyer out on his demonstrably false statement, George Stephanopoulos just said that the poll presented a "mixed message."
"While it’s true that other questions in the poll presented a more complex portrait of public opinion, the fact is that there’s no way to interpret this poll as showing majority support for the legislation," Klein said.
A new Rasmussen poll released earlier this week showed just 43% favor the pro-abortion health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats while 53% oppose it.
Americans who hold the most passionate views one way or the other are also strongly opposed to the plan — as Rasmussen found 23% who strongly favor the plan and 46% who strongly oppose it.
"The numbers are virtually unchanged from last week and are consistent with findings in regularly tracking going back to just after Thanksgiving," the reputable polling firm said.
Democrats continue to overwhelmingly support the plan, while Republicans and voters not affiliated with either party strongly oppose it. Most voters (55%) would rather see Congress scrap the original plan and start all over again.
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.
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