FRC Calls on Senate to Pass No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act, Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report confirming what the Family Research Council (FRC) has been saying all along:  The Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, subsidizes elective abortion with taxpayer funds and lacks transparency in its abortion coverage.

Over the past several months, FRC has been examining abortion coverage on the state exchanges in an effort to continue the push for transparency in abortion coverage in Obamacare health plans.

The non-partisan GAO issued a report today outlining state-by-state abortion coverage in healthcare plans sold on Obamacare state exchanges. The GAO found that 1,036 healthcare plans include elective abortion coverage. The report reveals that in eight states 95 - 100 percent of plans sold on the exchange include elective abortion coverage. GAO also found that in five states all plans sold on the exchange contain elective abortion coverage.

FRC President Tony Perkins made the following remarks following the release of the GAO report:

"Today the GAO has confirmed what many of us knew from the beginning: Despite the President's repeated claims, Obamacare subsidizes elective abortion with taxpayer funds.

"The American people should not be forced to purchase an Obamacare healthcare plan before they are able to find out what is in it.  They should not be kept in the dark regarding elective abortion coverage in Obamacare exchange plans.  Further, the American people should not be forced to pay for other people's abortions and check their consciences at the door in order to purchase insurance.

"Not only does Obamacare fund elective abortion, but the ACA only requires that the information about elective abortion coverage be provided after an individual purchases a plan.  Americans should not be forced to play a game of moral Russian roulette when they select a health care plan.

"Our research on abortion coverage in state exchanges has revealed the extreme difficulty consumers face in finding out about possible abortion coverage.  Information obtained while calling the insurers at times contradicted plan documents available on exchange websites, and information regarding how the Obamacare abortion surcharge is billed was non-existent.

"FRC's research and the report by the GAO together affirm the need for the Senate to pass and the President to sign H.R. 7/S. 946, the 'No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2014' sponsored respectively by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).

"The House has already acted but the Senate has not. I urge the Senate to act now so during the next open enrollment season that begins on November 15^th, Americans can make truly informed decisions regarding what kind of healthcare plans they want," Perkins concluded.

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SOURCE Family Research Council