Republicans Pass Amendment to Close Abortion Loopholes in Obamacare
Determined to keep federal money from being used to support abortion, House Republicans passed a new amendment ensuring that tax dollars cannot be used to train medical professionals to perform abortions.
On Wednesday, lawmakers in the U.S. House voted 234-182 in favor of a pro-life amendment to block money provided though a government grant program from going to abortion doctors.
The grant program, established by Barack Obama's health care reform bill, provides funding to teaching health centers to establish or expand residency programs. However, the wording enacting the program presented ambiguities that could be used to fund the abortion industry, asserts the amendment's sponsor, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).
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Foxx's spokesman, Aaron Groen, said there are many ambiguities in the Obamacare law that can possibly be manipulated to give funds to abortion and abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.
"It's a 2,000-page document," said Groen, referring to the bill legislating health care reform. "It's rife with ambiguities and gray areas."
The bill's supporters maintain that the president's health care reform bill does not fund abortion.
Federal funding for abortion procedures is illegal except in the event of rape, incest or danger to the life of the woman, according to the 1977 Hyde Amendment. President Obama signed an executive order to reaffirm the Hyde Amendment last year to reassure pro-life voters.
The pro-life lobby argues that money given to abortion providers for any reason is ultimately enabling companies such as Planned Parenthood to conduct abortion.
The majority of Americans, they point out, oppose the killing of the pre-born. A recent Gallup poll found that 51 percent of respondents believe abortion is morally wrong. Additionally, 61 percent of U.S. adults said that all or most abortions should be illegal.
"The Gallup poll is only the latest in a clear pro-life public opinion trend," said Penny Nance, Concerned Women for America's CEO. "As technology advances with sonograms and ultrasounds, increasingly every parent and grandparent can't help but adopt a sympathetic embrace of the pro-life position."
As a result, Nance sayid pro-life Americans should not be forced to give money to abortion providers.
Pro-life advocates and Republicans are demanding Congress to make it absolutely clear that taxpayers are not paying abortion providers.
"If organizations want to provide elective abortions or train abortion doctors, they need to find someone other than taxpayers to write the checks. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for subsidizing the abortion industry," said Rep. Foxx
