President Donald Trump has prepared an executive order that would repeal the Obamacare individual mandate forcing Americans to purchase health insurance. In many states, those Obamacare health insurance plans use taxpayer dollars to fund abortions — and in some states there are no pro-life alternatives to those pro-abortion health care plans.
In other cases, pro-life organizations have been concerned about health care rationing. That is especially the case in states where assisted suicide is legalized and patients have already reported health insurance offering to pay for assisted suicides but not for appropriate medical care or treatment.
President Trump reportedly has the executive order ready to go but has been sitting on it waiting to see if Congress will approve legislation that will include a repeal of the individual mandate. if that doesn’t materialize Trump will issue the order.
Here’s more from the Washington Examiner:
According to the senator, an executive order is sitting with the Office of Management and Budget waiting for approval. President Trump decided to delay the executive order after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., pushed for the inclusion of the individual mandate repeal in the tax bill, and has been supportive of its inclusion in statements he has made on Twitter.
When asked about the order’s status, a White House official declined to comment, and said the administration does not get ahead of potential executive orders until they’re ready to be announced.
According to the senator, an executive order is sitting with the Office of Management and Budget waiting for approval. President Trump decided to delay the executive order after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., pushed for the inclusion of the individual mandate repeal in the tax bill, and has been supportive of its inclusion in statements he has made on Twitter.
When asked about the order’s status, a White House official declined to comment, and said the administration does not get ahead of potential executive orders until they’re ready to be announced.
Including repeal of the individual mandate in the tax bill instead of through executive order would create billions in budget savings that Republicans need to pay for tax cuts. According to a Congressional Budget Office report published in December 2016, repeal of the individual mandate would save $416 billion over a decade, since it would mean fewer people would be enrolled in Medicaid and fewer subsidy payments would go to people who sign up for private coverage. A new CBO report is expected Monday.
The repeal is not currently in the tax bill, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but House Speaker Paul Ryan said this weekend that it was on the negotiation table among House Republicans.
“We have an active conversation with our members on a whole host of ideas on things to add to this bill and that’s one of the things being discussed,” he said.
The individual mandate is a portion of the law independent and conservative voters most strongly oppose because it requires Americans to purchase health insurance, that could fund abortions with taxpayer funds or premiums, whether they want to or not.
GAO found that, in 2014, taxpayers were funding over a thousand Obamacare health plans that subsidize abortion on demand—even late-term abortion. And as of last year, a total of 25 states have opted out of covering elective abortion on the Obamacare exchange but the 25 remaining states (and the District of Columbia) permit elective abortion coverage in Obamacare plans.
As LifeNews reported last year:
In 2017, an estimated 57 percent of the Obamacare exchange plans in states that have not opted out of elective abortion coverage will cover elective abortion. This amounts to around 891 plans.
In addition, four new states in 2017 will only offer plans that cover abortion, bringing the total to six locales that lack even a single pro-life plan: Alaska, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington.
By contrast, in 2016, Hawaii and Vermont were the only two states offering no pro-life plans.
This is a concerning development. In five additional states, 85 percent or more of exchange plans will cover abortion on demand in 2017. Those states include California, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.
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In three other states, the majority of exchange plans will cover abortion on demand in 2017. Those states are Oregon, Rhode Island, and Montana.
People in the above states (which are 14 in total) who do not want an abortion-covering health care plan are left with either no pro-life options, or very limited ones. So much for choice.
