Democrats Disagree on Abortion Coverage
Two years ago, President Obama promised Planned Parenthood a 'public plan that will provide all essential services, including reproductive services.'
On Monday, pro-abortion U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., acknowledged that the federal health-care overhaul would include abortion.
"Abortion will be covered as a benefit by one or more of the health-care plans available to Americans, and I think it should be," she said at a town hall meeting.
But on Tuesday, Lofgren's fellow Democrats touted the opposite position.
"There's nothing in the bill that talks about Planned Parenthood," claimed Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "There is not one dime for any abortions. There is nothing in the bill that mandates any kind of abortion coverage."
At his own town hall meeting Tuesday, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., agreed with McCaskill.
"If you want to have a health-care plan, which does not have payment for abortions, you can have that one where you'll not be charged for somebody who has an abortion," he said. "Now, if you want a different health-care plan, an option where you can have payment for abortion and you pay for it, because there'd be a little bigger premium, you have the choice of being in one plan or the other."
In truth, the debate was settled more than two years ago, when then-Sen. Barack Obama shared his agenda with Planned Parenthood supporters.
"In my mind, reproductive care is essential care," he said. "It is basic care. And so it is at the center and at the heart of the plan that I propose. Essentially … we're gonna set up a public plan … that will provide all essential services, including reproductive services.
"We also will subsidize those who prefer to stay in the private insurance market — except the insurers are going to have to abide by the same rules in terms of providing comprehensive care, including reproductive care. I still believe that it is important for Planned Parenthood to be part of that system."
"Reproductive care" is a political euphemism for abortion.
Ashley Horne, federal issues analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said it's pretty clear what President Obama and the Democratic Congress are working toward.
"They have shot down every single attempt in both the House and the Senate to keep abortion funding out of the health-care proposal," she explained. "The reality is, if this proposal passes, there will be unlimited funding of abortions."
Contact: Jennifer Mesko
Source: CitizenLink
Publish Date: August 13, 2009
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