Alaska Moves to Stop Taxpayer-Funded Abortions

State   |   Patricia Coll Freeman   |   Jul 9, 2012   |   10:14AM   |   Juneau, AK

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell’s Administration has proposed amending state regulations to help limit federal and state monies from being used to pay for on abortion on demand in Alaska.

Currently the state of Alaska pays for abortions – for any or no stated reason – with federal and state dollars through the Medicaid and Denali KidCare programs.

The proposed Alaska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regulation announced June 27 would require greater accountability from abortionists.

To be eligible for federal Medicaid reimbursement, an abortionist would have to complete and submit a form certifying that the pregnancy was the result of an act of rape or incest, or that the mother was at risk from a “life-endangering physical condition.” The requirement would help bring the state’s use of federal money in line with the 36-year-old Hyde Amendment which forbids federal funding of abortions except in these cases.

If the federal funding criteria are not met, state funds could be available if the abortionist certifies he or she considered the health of the woman to be “endangered” by the pregnancy.

In 2001, the Alaska State Supreme Court said the state had to, under certain circumstances, pay for abortions for women who receive Alaska health care assistance but which are not covered by federal Medicaid. The proposed regulation, however, aims to ensure greater accountability in the use of federal and state dollars and may reduce the number of government-funded abortions.

Planned Parenthood of the Greater Northwest – an Alaska affiliate of the nation’s largest abortion business – opposes the proposed rule. In a July 1 email urging abortion advocates to register their complaints to the DHHS, Clover Simon, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood’s political action committee, said the rule would infringe on abortionists’ “decision-making” about a woman’s pregnancy.

The DHHS is accepting comments from the public until the end of July. After the public comment period ends, the DHHS will adopt the provisions or others on the issue without further notice or take no action on them.

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Written comments may be sent until July 30 at 4 p.m. Online comments can be sent by clicking here. Comments sent by U.S. mail should be sent to Susan Dunkin of the Division of Health Care Services, at 4501 Business Park Blvd., Suite 24, Anchorage, AK 99503; or by email to [email protected].

LifeNews.com Note: Patricia Coll Freeman writes for the Catholic Anchor, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska. This article originally appeared there and is reprinted with permission.