Harry Reid unveils health care bill, which includes pro-abortion language

"This bill provides for unprecedented expansion of federally-funded abortion."- Charmaine Yoest

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night unveiled a health care bill which includes pro-abortion language. The bill's language mirrors the Capps Amendment from the House debate -- it allows the public option to include abortion coverage and provides federal subsidies for private plans which cover abortion.

Americans United for Life Action President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest said, "Senator Reid's bill provides for an unprecedented expansion of federally-funded abortion. The majority of Americans who oppose federal funding of abortion will not stand for policies that force them into paying for abortions under the guise of health care reform."

The principle behind both the Hyde Amendment and the Stupak-Pitts Amendment is that taxpayer dollars do not pay for abortions or subsidize insurance plans that cover abortions. In the new Senate bill, the abortion language revealed on pages 116 through 124 in Senator Reid's new health care bill will:

• Require a plan that covers abortion in every insurance market.
• Allow the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to require coverage of any and all abortions throughout the public option program.
• Create new tax-funded subsidies to purchase private health plans that will cover abortion.

Dr. Yoest continued, "The Reid language in the new Senate health care bill is not the Stupak-Pitts language barring federal funds from going to abortion in health care. It is the opposite of the pro-life Stupak-Pitts language. The U.S. Senate must stop this bill from moving forward by voting no on cloture on this pro-abortion health care bill."

SOURCE Americans United for Life Action