Health Care Reform May Lead to Many More Abortion Deaths.

BY Liz Townsend

Since 1973, pro-lifers have vigorously fought attempts to use federal and state taxpayer funds for abortion. However, upcoming congressional health care reform proposals may wipe out any successes and impose mandatory abortion funding on every state and the federal government, leading to the deaths of thousands more unborn babies.

Douglas Johnson, NRLC federal legislative director, clearly articulated the consequences of certain health care reform proposals during a session at the 2008 NRL Convention. Focusing on prospective Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's public statements on abortion and health care, Johnson outlined how Obama's support for the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" combined with his view of abortion as a central part of health care coverage would greatly expand the incidence of abortion in America.

"[Obama] is advocating a policy, the predictable and inevitable result of which would be many more abortions. I'm talking about at least many tens of thousands more a year, probably ultimately even hundreds of thousands of additional abortions per year," Johnson said at the July 5 General Session, "Impending Health Care Reform and the Renewed Threat of Health Care Rationing and Abortion Funding."

Abortion funding has always been a central goal of pro-abortionists since Roe v. Wade, Johnson explained. Pro-lifers have thwarted their efforts since 1976, when the Hyde Amendment banned federal funding of abortions. However, the 2008 presidential election may mark a crucial turning point.

The differences between the prospective candidates could not be clearer. Sen. John McCain has always voted in support of the Hyde Amendment and other laws that prohibit taxpayer funding for abortion. On the other side, "Barack Obama as a state senator voted in favor of tax-funded abortion and he's called publicly for the repeal of the federal Hyde Amendment," Johnson said. "He has co-sponsored the so-called 'Freedom of Choice Act' [FOCA], which is a proposed federal law that would invalidate virtually all federal and state limitations on abortion and which would explicitly prohibit any level of government from discriminating against abortion in the provision of any type of services."

Furthermore, Obama's health care platform hinges on universal health care, which would require all Americans to be covered by private insurance or government-provided coverage. However, under Obama's plan, even private insurance plans would have to follow federal government ...