From LifeSiteNews.com
The Senate Finance Committee torpedoed two key pro-life amendments on Wednesday designed to prevent government-subsidies of abortion and guarantee conscience protections for health-care providers in the health-care reform bill.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) proposed to amend the “America’s Health Future Act of 2009″ under consideration by the Finance Committee led by Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). His amendments would have codified current conscience protections for health-care providers with moral objections to abortion and also made permanent the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from paying for abortions.
Hatch instead proposed that women could purchase additional coverage for abortions through “riders” that would not be subsidized by the government.
However, the amendments were rejected by the Committee by votes of 13 – 10. In both amendments, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) joined committee Republicans in support of the measures, while pro-abortion Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) joined Baucus’ committee Democrats to vote against the bill.
As it stands, the Baucus legislation permits the federal government to mandate the inclusion of abortions in the “minimum benefits package” for health-insurers participating in the “Health Insurance Exchange.”
As long as the Hyde Amendment is renewed the federal government cannot directly subsidize health-care plans from taxpayer funding of the federal Health and Human Services Department.
But if Congress failed to renew the Hyde amendment, then health-care co-ops and private plans could be required to cover elective abortions.
“While Senator Hatch’s abortion funding amendment would keep government federal funds from paying for abortion or plans that cover abortion, it clearly stated that it would not prevent women from obtaining their own separate abortion policies if they choose to do so,” stated Tony Perkins of Family Research Council.
“And instead of codifying existing law protecting conscience rights for plans and providers, these same Senators voted to undermine current law by rejecting Senator Hatch’s conscience protection amendment on abortion,” continued Perkins.
“This isn’t the status quo, it’s a pro-abortion expansion.”
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Now if we could only get “ALL” of our Catholic Bishops to publicly and vocally to opposed this bill instead of giving passive resistance the Congress members would think twice before they commit to paying for abortions. We have to many Catholic Bishops who are afraid to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church because they may offend some Catholics (in name only) by telling them that abortion is sinful.
Thanks this was a good read