Abortion and Health Care - An Update

Last week I blogged about why the National Right to Life Committee is opposing the current Senate Health Care bill on the grounds that it could allow federal dollars to fund abortions.

I read a few articles last night that gave me pause. First, several Catholics and Evangelicals advocating for health care have written a letter to Congress defending the current bill and its treatment of abortion.

I don't know how "pro-life" these Christians really are. I have no doubt that they are "personally against" abortion, but from the names I saw on that letter, I'm not inspired to think that these guys are in the pro-life movement for the long-haul. They seem to be too enamored with progressive politics to put up a genuine fight for pro-life legislation.

Nevertheless, their letter makes clear that in a way, the current Senate bill really will keep federal dollars from funding abortions. That said, there is something Americans need to understand in general about abortion in this country.

The fact is, we already endorse abortion with our federal tax dollars. I say "endorse" rather than "pay for" because, according to the Hyde Amendment, no federal money is allowed to be used to pay for abortions. However, organizations such as Planned Parenthood, which is the number 1 abortion provider in the nation, do get federal money for the other things they do.

While my taxes aren't specifically paying for abortions, they are helping an organization that actively promotes abortion. In other words, I am being forced to endorse abortion, even if I'm not paying for it.

The same thing will occur with this new Senate bill. Insurance plans that provide abortions will technically have to take a separate fee for the "abortion part" of their plans, thus being forced to use only private money to pay for abortions.

However, the fact is, these plans will still be subsidized by the government. It's just like the current state of affairs with Planned Parenthood. I am not being forced to pay for abortions, but I am being forced to endorse abortions.

Morally speaking, this is rather grating to me. I wish I could live in a country where no company that performed or paid for abortions could get federal funding. But I suppose fighting for that would be very much an uphill battle, since precedents have already been set against this.

So I guess in the end I wonder how wise it is for the NRLC to fight so hard against this bill on the grounds that it could fund abortions. It doesn't seem like it really will, directly, at least. And if we're going to ask that insurance companies that provide abortion coverage not be subsidized at all, well, we might as well push to de-fund Planned Parenthood, while we're at it.

Not that this is a bad idea. I just think it's an uphill battle, and there might be something morally twisted about using the health care issue as a platform for getting our opinion heard on this issue.

The second article I read last night indicates that Tom Perriello, my representative, just made a statement in which he expressed his belief that the current health care bill will not fund abortions. I have to say that I respect Perriello on this issue. Even if he isn't pro-life, he seems to have a genuine commitment to respecting pro-life convictions, and wants to make sure tax dollars don't fund abortions. He voted for the Stupak amendment, and I'm not sure I'm totally willing to doubt him on this Senate bill.

Finally, I happened to glance at a thought-provoking blog post which asks the question, "Does universal coverage reduce abortions?" A little bit of evidence is given that it does, although the post doesn't go into great detail. That also got me thinking: are we pro-lifers right to oppose this bill if it could actually have the net effect of reducing the number of abortions in this country?

Fundamentally, of course, that's an empirical question about the future, and such questions don't have sure answers. And it's hard, if not impossible, to know who to trust more to answer accurately.

Of course, fewer abortions would not end the abortion issue for me or for anyone who is pro-life. But it would be a step in the right direction.

I pray for this country, I really do. There are plenty of other issues to be dealt with on the health care issue, and the only issue I've really invested myself in is the abortion issue. I pray that we have the wisdom to balance them all.