States Move to Opt Out of Abortion Funding Under Pro-Abortion Health Care Law

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 26, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

States Move to Opt Out of Abortion Funding Under Pro-Abortion Health Care Law

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 26
, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The new pro-abortion health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law contains massive abortion funding and promotion. But, states legislatures can decide to opt out of making their residents pay for abortions and some states are already moving ahead with legislation to do so.

Charmaine Yoest, the president of Americans United for Life, told LifeNews.com about the opportunity states have despite the pro-abortion law.

"The new law explicitly allows states to pass laws prohibiting qualified health plans offered through the Exchanges in their states from offering abortion coverage," she said today.

She indicated responses from federal and state legislators have been pouring into her organization’s offices.

"We’ve already heard from legislators in Delaware, Georgia, and Kansas who want to get this legislation passed in their states."

Yoest said the pro-life attorneys at Americans United for Life stand ready to assist state legislators and pro-life groups to move legislation forward.

AUL is "offering the full assistance of our legal team to any state that wishes to respond legislatively to the anti-life provisions in the new health care reform law. We have ready-to-deploy model legislative language and will work with any state to tailor it to meet specific needs."

Louisiana is another state with pro-life legislators moving forward to get state residents out of paying for abortions.

Benjamin Clapper, the executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, told LifeNews.com today that his organization didn’t wait for the ink to dry on Obama’s signature on the pro-abortion government-run health care scheme.

"On Monday morning, before the President even signed the bill, we were on the phone with State Rep. Frank Hoffman discussing legislation that would opt Louisiana out of having to offer health care plans eligible for federal abortion subsidies," Clapper said.

Clapper also said he is working with the governor in what may be a two-pronged approach to mitigate as many of the abortion problems as possible.

"We are currently working with Rep. Hoffman and the Jindal Administration to draft this legislation and pass it in the coming months," he said. "While this certainly does not solve all the problems of the health care bill, it at least takes a little of the sting off here at home."

Related web sites:
Americans United for Life – https://www.aul.org
Louisiana Right to Life – https://www.ProLifeLouisiana.org

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