WASHINGTON, July 14 Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins today applauded the strong stand of a group of pro-life lawmakers who at a news conference today on Capital Hill demonstrated that federal funding of abortion is contained in the current House health reform legislation. The members also showed how the bill mandates that private insurers cover abortion as a medical procedure.
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"This courageous group deserves the thanks of all Americans for exposing the real agenda of the liberal House leadership: federal funding for abortion and a government mandate that private-sector insurance firms pay for abortion," said Perkins.
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"These proposals are a violation of fundamental tenets of our Constitution: that deeply-held religious convictions be respected, that the federal government not compel privately offered services to do Uncle Sam's bidding, and that the conscience rights of scores of millions of Americans be respected," Perkins noted.
The FRC president called attention to a national Zogby poll conducted in late November 2008 in which those surveyed were asked if "a bill that would force many employers to provide health insurance to their employees" should "require insurance plans to pay for abortions." Seventy-one percent of respondents said no.
Another recent survey taken by the polling company(TM), inc. found that 87 percent of American adults support measures to assure "that healthcare professionals in America are not forced to participate in procedures and practices to which they have moral objections."
Perkins continued: "Clearly, most Americans do not support the radical direction that is being pursued by the Obama Administration and its allies on Capital Hill. Several key provisions of existing law that protect against federal funding of abortion will be eliminated. As the brave band of lawmakers at today's news conference showed, the fact that the term 'abortion' is not mentioned in the current proposal is immaterial. The legislation very artfully mandates such funding without ever using what its proponents know is a politically loaded term.
"Recently, 19 House Democrats wrote President Obama saying they, too, would oppose federal funding of abortion in any health reform measure. With their Republican counterparts, they are to be commended for their willingness to publicly challenge this renewed attack on the sanctity of unborn life.
"Even beyond the opposition of the great majority of Americans, a core principle is at stake: No one in any field of endeavor should be compelled to violate his or her conscience at the whim of Washington. One of the reasons we fought a Revolution was to establish that principle, and it's still worth defending today," Perkins concluded.
SOURCE Family Research Council
