If Democrats Win Control of the House in Fall Elections House Democrats Pledge Action That Would Ration Lifesaving Drugs.

A May 7, 2006, Washington Post story reports that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) has pledged that should Democrats take control of the House as a result of the November elections, they will pass a bill their first week in power which would effectively authorize the federal government to fix prices for drugs offered under Medicare.

NRLC has long warned that government-imposed drug price controls in Medicare would compel rationing and gravely endanger development of lifesaving drugs.

"We have to be ready to win," Pelosi said, "and we have to tell [voters] what we will do when we win." Relying on recent polls showing that more voters want Democrats than Republicans to control Congress, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) agreed. "We are more and more confident that we are going to have the responsibility of leading the House, so we have to prepare."

Two years ago, the National Right to Life Committee announced its opposition to bills introduced in Congress to repeal the Medicare provision that prevents the federal government from interfering in drug price negotiationsnow announced as a top priority by the House Democratic leadership.

Since its inception, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has been committed to protecting the right to life from conception until natural death, which means the organization has fought just as strongly against infanticide and euthanasia as it has against abortion. In particular, NRLC has strongly opposed involuntary denial of lifesaving medical treatment through rationing.

In 1994 NRLC opposed the Clinton Health Care Plan's proposed insurance premium price controls because they would have forced rationing. In 19952003, during the congressional debate over Medicare restructuring, NRLC successfully fought for the ability of older Americans to add their own money, if they choose, to government payments in order to obtain insurance plans that are less likely to ration care.

In 1997, at the urging of NRLC and other groups, Congress created an escape valve. It is an alternative to Medicare rationing that neither breaks the budget nor requires new taxes.