A House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday passed legislation that would ban taxpayer funding of abortions — for good.
Reps. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey and Dan Lipinski, a Democrat from Illinois, introduced the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act last year.
The committee approved the bill with a vote of 22-12. The bill is also pending in two other committees. Those two committees, however, may waive jurisdiction, which could quickly bring the bill to the full House for a vote.
In her testimony to lawmakers, Helen Alvaré, a professor at the George Mason University School of Law, spoke in favor of the bill.
"Abortion is not a part of any genuine 'women's health' agenda according to the federal government's own statements," she said.
She also noted that it's different from anything else that government might fund.
"Our Supreme Court has said abortion is not like any other medical procedure," Alvaré continued. "Perhaps this is because as Justice Stevens and Ginsberg have acknowledged some of the procedures are 'brutal' or 'gruesome.' Or as Justice Kennedy and a majority have acknowledged: Abortion kills."
Arina Grossu, Family Research Council director for the Center for Human Dignity, said in a statement that government funding increases the number of abortions.
"With the Obamacare rollout, it has become clear that many health plans being subsidized by the government cover elective abortion," Grossu explained. "Even more incredible is that Obamacare requires an abortion surcharge, which in most cases is not even revealed to consumers shopping for a health care plan."
Abortion is definitely not health care, said Mallory Quigley, communications director of the Susan B. Anthony List.
"Obamacare was forced through only after pro-life Democrats accepted a promise from President Obama that taxpayer dollars would not be used to fund elective abortion," she said. "As the law is implemented, we see that promise has been broken — in more ways than one. Abortion is not health care — and we urge Congress to support this legislation."
Source: CitizenLink by Bethany Monk
