<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>This is a congressional update f</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16890" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> nrlc@nrlc.org [mailto:nrlc@nrlc.org]
<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, September 30, 2009 6:03 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Art
Kelly<BR><B>Subject:</B> NRLC: Democrat leaders keep abortion in health care
bills<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<TABLE id=table1
style="BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(198,203,195) 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: rgb(198,203,195) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(198,203,195) 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(198,203,195) 1px solid"
cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=556 align=center border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD height=114>
<P align=center><IMG style="-webkit-user-select: none" alt=""
src="http://stoptheabortionagenda.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/093009-fedleg-update.jpg"
NOSEND="1"></P></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<DIV align=center>
<P align=center> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><STRONG><SPAN
style="TEXT-TRANSFORM: uppercase; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT
size=3>NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE SAYS NEW EVENTS IN
CONGRESS</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT
size=3><STRONG><SPAN
style="TEXT-TRANSFORM: uppercase; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">FURTHER UNCOVER
PRO-ABORTION AGENDA IN HEALTH CARE
BILLS<BR> </SPAN></STRONG></FONT></P>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=546><!-- MSTableType="layout" -->
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top height=28>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><FONT face=Arial><B>WASHINGTON
(September 30, 2009) </B>-- Events this week in Congress provide
fresh proof that top Democratic leaders in Congress are pushing
forward with plans to establish massive new programs that would pay
for elective abortions and subsidize insurance coverage of abortions
-- which, if achieved, would break from decades of federal policy.
<BR><BR>"Bills currently advancing in Congress would establish
direct federal funding of elective abortion, and tax subsidies for
private insurance that covers elective abortions -- both drastic
breaks from longstanding federal policy," commented Douglas Johnson,
legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee
(NRLC), the federation of right-to-life organizations in all 50
states. "Ongoing events on Capitol Hill demonstrate the hollowness
of President Obama's public assurances that he does not seek
government funding of abortion."<BR><BR>The Senate Finance Committee
today continued a series of meetings to amend the "America's Healthy
Future Act," a health care restructuring bill proposed by Chairman
Max Baucus (D-Mt.). The bill has a number of major abortion-related
problems. Most of today's abortion-related debate in the committee
focused on a proposed new program that would use tax money to help
purchase private health insurance for about 19 million Americans.
The bill specifically authorizes the use of these federal funds to
pay premiums on private plans that cover elective abortions -- <A
href="http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/PolitiFactRebuttal.html">a departure
from longstanding federal policy</A>.<BR><BR>Pro-life Senator Orrin
Hatch (R-Utah) pointed out that federal subsidies for coverage of
elective abortions are not currently allowed under Medicaid, the
Federal Employees Health Benefits program, or other federal health
programs. Hatch offered an amendment, backed by NRLC, that would
have prohibited federal funds from subsidizing plans that cover
elective abortions, but would have allowed insurers to sell abortion
coverage through separate supplemental policies not subsidized by
federal funds. The Hatch Amendment failed, 10-13. Baucus and all
other Democrats on the committee opposed the Hatch Amendment, except
for Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND), who supported it. All of the
Republicans on the committee supported the Hatch Amendment, except
for Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who opposed it.<BR><BR>By an
identical roll call, the committee also rejected another Hatch
Amendment that would have codified the Hyde-Weldon Amendment, which
is a temporary law prohibiting any level of government from
discriminating against health-care providers that do not wish to
participate in providing abortions.<BR><BR>On July 15, the Senate
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved a
different health care bill (S. 1679), which also contains provisions
that would result in sweeping pro-abortion mandates and government
subsidies for elective abortion. NRLC's Johnson commented, "Today's
Finance Committee votes mean that the combined bill that will reach
the Senate floor in a few weeks surely will contain provisions that
would result in both pro-abortion federal mandates and huge federal
abortion subsidies. However, the full Senate must vote on the
pro-abortion subsidies, and other pro-abortion components as
well."<BR><BR>Meanwhile, in the House, Reps. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.),
Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.), and 181 other members of the U.S. House on
September 28 sent <A
href="http://www.nrlc.org/ahc/StupakPittsLetterSept282009.pdf">a
letter</A> to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.), pointing out that the
health care bill approved in the House Energy and Commerce Committee
(H.R. 3200), including <A
href="http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/59985-the-truth-about-the-truth-about-the-capps-amendment">an
amendment offered by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Ca.)</A>, "radically departs
from the current federal government policy of not paying for
elective abortion or subsidizing plans that cover abortion." The
letter notes, among other things, that the Capps language
"explicitly authorizes the federal government (the Department of
Health and Human Services) to directly fund elective abortions, with
federal (public) funds drawn on a federal Treasury account," through
the proposed "public plan." <BR><BR>The signers -- 25 Democrats and
158 Republicans -- urged Pelosi to allow a vote on the Stupak-Pitts
Amendment to prohibit coverage of elective abortions by the public
plan and subsidies for private plans that cover elective abortions.
Seven other House Democrats have sent Pelosi similar letters in
recent days, for a total of 32 Democrats.<BR><BR>In response, on
September 29 Rep. Capps sent Pelosi a letter in which she argued
that the proposed public plan really would not be paying for
abortions because "money is transmitted to a private contractor who
then reimburses physicians." Johnson called Capps' argument "truly
laughable -- it is like arguing that it is not the government paying
for the abortions if the government sends the payment via the
Internet."<BR><BR>In reality, Johnson said, "The proposed public
plan will be entirely a branch of the federal government, <A
href="http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/NRLCmemoFederalFundsnotPrivateFunds.html">all
of its funds will be federal funds</A>, and when it pays for
abortions, that will be direct government funding of
abortion."<BR><BR>Johnson also noted that the nearly united
opposition to the Hatch Amendment by Senate Finance Committee
Democrats, and the continued resistance by the House Democratic
leadership to allowing a vote on the Stupak-Pitts Amendment,
"support our theory that President Obama is misleading the public
when he says he does not want federal dollars used for abortion. In
an attempt to keep <A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqww8jmizug&feature=player_embedded#t=21">his
2007 promises to Planned Parenthood</A>, the President is trying to
smuggle sweeping pro-abortion policies into law behind <A
href="http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/Advisory090809.html">smokescreens</A>
of contrived language, verbal misdirection, and outright
misrepresentation."</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
<DIV align=center> </DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE id=table16 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=534 align=center border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<TABLE id=table17 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=507 align=center
border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top width=258 height=122><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt"
face=Arial><B>For further information:</B><BR>Douglas
Johnson<BR>Legislative Director<BR>National Right to Life Committee
(NRLC)<BR>Washington, D.C.<BR>202-626-8820<BR><A
href="mailto:Legfederal@aol.com">Legfederal@aol.com</A></FONT></TD>
<TD width=47 height=122> </TD>
<TD vAlign=top width=202 height=122>
<DIV align=left><STRONG><FONT
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>To contact us by
mail:</FONT></STRONG><BR><FONT
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1><STRONG>National
Right to Life, Inc.</STRONG><BR>512 10th St., NW<BR>Washington, DC
20004-1401</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size=1><A
href="http://www.nrlc.org/ahc">http://www.nrlc.org/ahc</A><BR><A
href="http://stoptheabortionagenda.com/">http://stoptheabortionagenda.com</A><BR> </FONT></DIV></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size=1><FONT color=#999999>NOTICE: </FONT>You received this email
because you supported National Right to Life through an online
donation and/or expressed interest in our organization. <FONT
color=#999999>We appreciate your interest.<BR></FONT><BR>Please
click the "Unsubscribe" link below to remove yourself.
<B>Please do not report this email as
Spam.</B></FONT><BR> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR>[<A
href="http://sub.ezinedirector.net/?fa=m&s=91645120&c=964891219">Change
Subscription</A>] [<A
href="http://sub.ezinedirector.net/?fa=r&id=91645120&c=964891219">Cancel
Subscription</A>]<BR><IMG height=0
alt="Web Bug from http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=3215762&s=91645120"
src="http://www.sng.ecs.soton.ac.uk/mailscanner/images/1x1spacer.gif" width=0
NOSEND="1"> </BODY>
</HTML>