The House of Representatives is expected to decide Thursday whether to repeal the new federal health care law. This vote represents the 37th attempt to repeal all or part of the law.
Signed into law in March 2010, Obamacare requires businesses to offer government-approved health insurance to employees who work at least 30 hours per week. Not only does it increase health care costs for businesses, a provision of the law — the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate — requires most companies to offer coverage for possible abortion-inducing drugs.
"Obamacare represents a huge power grab by the government, regulating an industry that represents one-fifth of the nation's economy," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of Issues Analysis for CitizenLink. "And it's loaded with taxes — the Heritage Foundation tallies it at more than $800 billion dollars extra coming out of Americans' paychecks and pockets in the coming couple of years."
The law includes taxpayer funding for abortion in the form of federally subsidized health care plans mandated to charge all customers at least $1 a month for abortion. The healthcare rule, PL 111-148, does not mention a maximum amount, meaning taxpayers could end up paying more. It also prohibits insurance companies from including information about the rule in any marketing or promotional materials.
"The health care law is the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade, and includes the unprecedented move to force cooperation with a life-ending agenda or face punitive action," said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life (AUL) and its legislative arm AUL Action (AULA).
Both have been tracking the Obama administration's pro-abortion agenda, and have found that the government has:
- Failed to prohibit use of federal tax dollars for abortion, abortion coverage and abortion-inducing drugs and devices;
- Allowed federally subsidized Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) to provide abortion coverage through state insurance exchanges required in all 50 states;
- Failed to provide comprehensive First Amendment conscience protections for individuals, employers and insurance companies that object to abortion for religious or moral reasons
The law is also expensive and will continue to harm employees and businesses. According to an ever increasing number of news reports, many more than a dozen companies are facing layoffs or the possibility of reducing workers' hours due to Obamacare.
"ObamaCare has proven to be a typical big-government attempt to 'do something' about a perceived problem by interfering with our free market system, which, predictably, ends up making the problem worse," said Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for CitizenLink. "And if the government won't allow businesses to take the necessary steps to reduce their costs, then prices go up, inflation results, and the American economy suffers."
TAKE ACTION:
Urge your member of the U.S. House of Representative to repeal Obamacare. The new health care law not only increases health care costs for businesses, but contains a provision requiring most employers offer potential abortion-inducing drugs in their employee health care plan.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about H.R. 45, the bill to repeal Obamacare.
Learn more about PL 111-148, the abortion surge charge in Obamacare.
Read Alliance Defending Freedom's Obamacare fact sheet.
