No Pro-Life Democrats Who Backed Pro-Abortion Health Care Back New Hyde Bill
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 29, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — None of the pro-life Democrats who backed the pro-abortion health care bill in the House have signed on a co-sponsors of new legislation to apply the Hyde amendment to it. The new bill, the Protect Life Act, would fix the several different ways in which the measure funds abortions.
When Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the new government-run health care bill, some pro-life Democrats supported it saying pro-life groups and lawmakers were wrong and that the measure did not contain taxpayer funding of abortion.
Obama signed an executive order that supposedly curbed the abortion funding, but pro-life groups say it merely restated the provisions of the bill and could easily be overturned in court and has no legal power to trump the abortion funding provisions.
As LifeNews.com reported, pro-life members of Congress filed a new bill last week that would apply the historic Hyde amendment language to the new health care bill.
Several Democrats have signed on to the measure, led by pro-life Rep. Joe Pitts, a Pennsylvania Republican.
The Democrats co-sponsoring Pitts’ bill are Reps. Travis Childers of Mississippi, Lincoln Davis of Tennessee, Tim Holden of Pennsylvania, Dan Lipinski of Illinois, Jim Marshall of Georgia, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina and Gene Taylor of Mississippi.
Each of these pro-life members of Congress voted against the final pro-abortion health care bill Obama signed.
None of the pro-life Democrats who backed the measure — such as Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, Steve Driehaus of Ohio, or Reps. Allan Mollohan and Nick Rahall of West Virginia — have signed onto the legislation as co-sponsors.
That includes Rep. Bart Stupak, the leader of the coalition of pro-life Democrats who enabled passage of the pro-abortion bill.
Despite the fact he sponsored the Stupak amendment that contained very similar provisions to the new Hyde amendment-restoring Protect Life Act, Stupak is not a co-sponsor of the bill.
LifeNews.com contacted Stupak’s office to determine why and has not received a response.
Even if these pro-life Democrats don’t believe the new bill is necessary, the language of it confirms to the pro-life principles these lawmakers supposedly hold dear.
The bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to incorporate permanent, bill-wide statutory language to prevent federal funding for abortion or abortion coverage through the government-related exchanges, community health centers, the OPM administered plans, or any other program authorized or appropriated by the bill.
The new measure also protects the conscience rights of medical workers.
It protects the right of conscience for health care professionals by codifying the Hyde-Weldon provision (currently an annually-approved rider in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill) and ensures that private insurance companies are not mandated to cover abortion.
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