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News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League
NOTE: This article is one of a series on the “top ten” accomplishments of the pro-life movement over the past 40 years since unborn children were stripped of their legal right to life by the 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court rulings.
Since abortion was legalized throughout the United States in 1973, abortionists have killed more than 55 million unborn children—a staggering number that defies comprehension.
But the number of lives lost to abortion would have been much, much higher if abortion advocates had achieved one of their central goals: making taxpayers foot the bill for abortion.
As research by Dr. Michael New has shown, restricting government funding for abortion significantly lowers abortion rates—lives are saved.
At the federal level, government funding of abortion has been held in check since 1976 by the Hyde Amendment, named after pro-life Congressman Henry Hyde, who secured its enactment.
The Hyde Amendment bans the use of federal funds for abortion, except in the case of rape and incest, and is estimated to have saved one million babies from abortion.
The Hyde Amendment, which must be renewed every year when Congress passes its annual appropriations bill, enjoys wide bipartisan support—in no small part due to the fact that the people widely oppose taxpayer funding of abortion.
However, the threat remains that government will begin to pay for more abortions. Many of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) seem designed to make that happen—most especially the HHS Mandate, which forces employers to provide free contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.
There is also the fact that Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion chain, receives over $500 million from taxpayers.
While technically the Hyde Amendment and state restrictions keep that money from paying for abortions directly, it’s a tremendous boon to the organization, comprising nearly half their total income. Cutting off that funding would be a tremendous victory.
So there is still work to be done keeping public funds from paying for abortions and aiding the abortion industry. But let us appreciate what an important accomplishment it has been to prevent the abortion industry from achieving its dream of taxpayer funded abortions for all.
Earlier this hour, President Obama announced in a White House Press Conference an “adjustment” to the HHS Mandate. The Mandate is set to go into effect in August, and will require all employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortifacients.
The HHS originally provided a “religious exemption” so narrow that it would exclude Catholic hospitals, universities and charities, forcing these institutions to act in direct opposition to Catholic teaching through the health care plans they provide. Institutions run by other religious organizations would be likewise affected.
In response to outcry from religious leaders—including 171 Catholic bishops—and Americans from across the political spectrum, Obama today outlined an “adjustment” to the HHS Mandate whereby the objectionable services will be paid for by insurers rather than directly by employers.
Setting aside the fact that contraceptives are not preventative health care—since pregnancy is not a disease—Obama’s adjustment is nothing but a shell game.
At the end of the day, religious employers are still required to provide health plans that offer free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortifacients. [Continue reading ...]
The big question now is: What does the Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives do for the pro-life movement?
First of all, it is an major embarrassment to President Obama, as he essentially admitted in his post-election press conference.
The takeover of the House sends a clear message to Obama that his first two years in office have been essentially a disaster. Even he has had to acknowledge that fact.
And the turnover to a more pro-life and conservative House sends a clear message that Obamacare is so bad that it will lose whatever support it needs, and should be dismembered, piece by piece. This is probably
the greatest good to come from the November 2 elections. [Continue reading ...]