FRC Praises Senator Coburn's Senate Companion Bill to Remove Abortion from Obama Health Care Law

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family Research Council praised legislation introduced today by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that would apply the Hyde amendment abortion funding restriction to the new health care law which currently can fund and subsidize abortion.

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The new health care law sends tax credits to pay for plans with abortion, thereby bypassing the annual Hyde amendment, and directly spends federal dollars on programs without any abortion funding restrictions. The "Excluding Abortion Coverage from Health Reform Act of 2010" would, like U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts's measure in the House of Representatives, restore the historic ban on federal funding of abortion in health care.

Family Research Council Action President Tony Perkins made the following comments:

"President Obama's new health care law destroys the traditional provision against federal funding for abortion.  I applaud Sen. Coburn for introducing legislation that would put in place an abortion funding ban within the President's new health care plan.  The American people, regardless of their view of the underlying issue, should not be forced to pay for someone's abortion. Sen. Coburn's bill would protect the American taxpayer and restore the longtime prohibition against government funding of elective abortion.

"On Tuesday, Missouri voters stated emphatically their opposition to the individual mandate within the health care law.  The outrage of voters spread even further after the Health and Human Services Department recently agreed to fund abortion in several state high risk insurance pool programs. HHS reversed course only after its approval of abortion funding was exposed, demonstrating that current law does not prevent abortion funding.

"Passing Sen. Coburn's bill is the only way to restore the status quo on abortion funding in health care.  If the Obama Administration is honest when it says it will not fund abortion, then the Coburn/Pitts measures should be passed with resounding support," concluded Perkins.

SOURCE Family Research Council