Final Health Care Bill: Abortion Coverage Included

As we anticipated, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has released his final changes to the government-run healthcare legislation, and to say the least, it is very problematic.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) has unfortunately agreed to a so-called 'compromise' on abortion that is really no compromise at all.  The language in Sen. Reids final bill would specifically authorize federal funds to flow to abortionists for elective abortions.  The fig leaf 'protections' in the bill simply require that the federal subsidies and premium dollars that are collected for these services be kept separate from other federal dollars. 

The end result provides no restrictions on abortions, but simply sets up what can only be described as a scheme that allows for federal funding of abortions, which is a direct violation of long-standing federal law under the Hyde Amendment. 

This is not in the best interest of the American people who understand that abortion should never become a mandatory health care benefit.  We've heard from nearly 200,000 Americans who oppose using federal health care funds for abortion.

While we were grateful for Sen. Nelsons efforts to negotiate on the abortion issue and have repeatedly said as much, his acceptance of this compromise is very disappointing.  We are committed to telling you the truth about what is happening.  The unfortunate truth is that every Democrat Senator is now supporting the inclusion of abortion in the Senate health care bill. 

This bill does nothing to protect the sanctity of human life.

The Senate will take the most critical vote on this final version of the bill in the middle of the night late Sunday or very early Monday morning.  It is a travesty that the Senate is forcing the critical vote just hours after the language was released.  This timeline does not allow the American people the opportunity they deserve to find out exactly what is in this bill.

We are calling on Senators to vote NO on this measure.  The fact is that a single Democrat Senator can still block this bill by voting NO in this upcoming vote. 

We will continue to post updates as this unfolds.