Target Dems, Not Pro-Life Anymore
| FYI, a version of the release below went out to the following districts: Sanford Bishop (GA-02); John Boccieri (OH-16); Dennis Cardoza (CA-18) Chris Carney (PA-10); Jim Costa (CA-20); Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03); Steve Driehaus (OH-1); Baron Hill (IN-09); Paul Kanjorski (PA-11); Alan Mollohan (WV-01); David Obey (WI-07); Tom Perriello (VA-05); Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL); Nick Rahall (WV-03); Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23); John Salazar (CO-03) and John Spratt (SC-05).
Pennsylvania Democrat Green-Lights Federal Funding for Abortions in Healthcare Bill
Washington- Despite spending his political career touting pro-life values, it turns out Chris Carney isn’t a pro-life Democrat after all. Tonight, faced with the opportunity to uphold his promises to protect the sanctity of life, Carney caved to the demands of his party leaders and paved the way for federal funding of abortion. The Democrats’ healthcare bill will not only allow federally subsidized healthcare plans to pay for abortions, it could potentially require private insurers to do so as well. After giving the green light for federal funding of abortions, Carney can never call himself pro-life again.
“The president’s latest proposal mirrors legislation that has passed the Senate, which doesn’t include a Hyde Amendment, and would inevitably establish abortion as a fundamental health-care service for the following reasons:
“It would change existing law by allowing federally subsidized health-care plans to pay for abortions and could require private health-insurance plans to cover abortion.
“It would impose a first-ever abortion tax—a separate premium payment that will be used to pay for elective abortions—on enrollees in insurance plans that covers abortions through newly created government health-care exchanges. (Charmaine Yoest, “Abortion and the Health Bill,” Wall Street Journal, 3/04/2010)
Carney also had the opportunity to strip taxpayer funding of abortions from the Democrats’ healthcare bill tonight, but he chose to reject it. (See vote here)
“Now that Chris Carney doesn’t have his so-called ‘conservative’ values to hide behind anymore, his constituents can see his political double-speak for what it is,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Despite the objections of pro-life advocacy organizations, Carney willingly backed a healthcare takeover that allows for federal funding of abortion. By turning his back on pro-life taxpayers and caving to his radical party leaders’ demands, Carney has lost the right to call himself a pro-life Democrat.”
Pro-life groups – including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, an organization that otherwise supports universal healthcare – have stated that the Democrats’ healthcare bill includes federal funding for abortions: “In a letter released Sunday by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the bishops fault the Senate legislation for shaping a law that would allow federal funds to pay for terminating pregnancies, in effect, as they see it, requiring many Americans to pay for the abortions of others” (Suzanne Sataline, “Bishops Remain Opposed to Health Bill,” Wall Street Journal, 3/21/2010)
His colleague, retiring pro-life Democrat Marion Berry, said Sunday that the deal former pro-life Democrats cut with their party leaders “does not adequately address the issue of federal funds being used to pay for abortions.”
“’Rep. Marion Berry just announced today that he will vote against the health care bill citing concerns about federal funds being used for abortion and well as concerns that the bill goes too far. ‘Throughout this debate, I have stood by my conviction that the Senate health care reform bill does not adequately address the issue of federal funds being used to pay for abortions,’ said Berry.’” (“Rep. Berry will vote against the Health Care Bill,” The Tolbert Report, 3/21/2010)
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