Lights on at the US Capitol as the House of Representatives vote on the Stupak amendment.
(AP Photo: Alex Brandon)
A ProLife amendment to remove abortion funding from the universal healthcare plan passed Saturday night at the House of Representatives. The amendment was proposed by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat. It passed with 240 votes over 194 opposed.
The bill is to operate in similar fashion to the Hyde amendment, which forbids federal funding for abortions, though supporters of abortion rights claim that the Stupak amendment places further restrictions than the current Hyde amendment.
The Pro Choice movement considered the passing of the Stupak amendment as 'the biggest setback to women's reproductive rights in decades,' while Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List, considered it 'a great victory for the pro-life movement.'
The Catholic News Agency reports that Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, stated that the passing of this amendment was 'a huge pro-life victory for women, their unborn children, and families.' Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life said that: 'The bipartisan effort that led to its passage, under the leadership of Congressmen Bart Stupak and Joe Pitts, is a step toward a future where both political parties defend Life.'
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB] endorsed the amendment a few hours prior to the voting. This endorsement clearly gave it a bit of momentum as Catholics flooded their representatives with calls and emails to vote for the amendment.
The amendment will forbid the use of government funding through the 'public option' to cover abortions. It will also prohibit those who receive federal premium subsidies from using these to purchase insurance plans with abortion coverage. An exception clause was included for cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother's life.
Let us stand together on principle - no public funding for abortions, no public funding for insurance policies that pay for abortions. [Rep. Bart Stupak, Democrat from Michigan]
The amendment does not forbid anyone from buying private insurance plans that include abortion coverage, as long as federal funds are not used for this purpose. Also, those with federal subsidies may purchase, with their own funds, separate coverage in the form of private insurance policies with abortion coverage to supplement their insurance needs. This obliges insurance companies to offer both versions of insurance -with and without abortion coverage.
Abortion coverage is widely available in the private insurance market currently. In fact, Erica Werner from Associated Press claims that about 87% of employer-provided insurance plans cover abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. She also said that Planned Parenthood revealed that the cost of a first-trimester abortion is typically between $350 -$900.
Stupak's Anti-Abortion Amendment passes the House
A similar amendment is pending in the Senate, though the wording is said to be much less restrictive than the Stupak amendment. The bills from the House and the Senate must be reconciled before the final bill is ratified into law.
For other similar stories:
Catholics and healthcare reform
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For more information:
On the actual wording of the Stupak Amendment:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/15284081/Stupak-Amendment-to-HR-3962-Rev-108
On the USCCB letter of endorsement:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-229.shtml
Comments
That's great. Now poorer Americans will be denied their legal right to abortion. Good old american justice, huh? Home of the free as long as you are rich.
LY:
Keeping your pants zipped and legs together is the cheapest (free) way of preventing unwanted preganancies and sexually transmitted diseases, and it is 100% effective. Poor people can afford free can't they?
More like anti-choice victory.
People need to start realizing that other people don't have the same conservative "values" as they do, and when they force them down others' throats, bad things happen. Bad things such as unwanted children in a family that can't afford them. THAT spawns child cruelty, child neglect. All because some people don't believe that every woman should have a choice. The poor are the ones who need this opportunity most, and now it may be taken away from them forever by people who still believe some invisible being in the clouds loves them.
The Conservatarian:
Keeping your pants zipped and legs together is the cheapest (free) way of preventing unwanted preganancies and sexually transmitted diseases, and it is 100% effective. Poor people can afford free can't they?
Are you forgetting that poor women can also be raped, and so can young girls? Must those women and girls bare the burden that was forced upon them. You are HEARTLESS if you think they should.
Maria,
A great article and a great victory for Life!
Just a comment:
The Stupak amendment DOES allow funds for abortion for cases of rape, incest or danger of health to the mother.
This was negotiated though Catholics, nor conservatives of other religious affiliations, would rather not.
The poor who want abortion coverage may purchase separate private insurance coverage for that purpose with their own money. If they want to 'play', they must 'pay'. Not the rest of us. I predict some insurance company is going to make a killing selling those!
Wow, imagine how may women will now go to extremes to take care of unwanted pregnancies now. Ya, great victory...no choices, all about pleasing God..even for those who don't believe in God.
gotta love the catholics for butting into everyone's business
money money money...it sure does get things passed in your way when you have it
home of the free as long as you believe in god
No one is forcing others to believe in God. Those things cannot be forced. This amendment is not about theism, but about being reasonably ethical while making healthcare accessible to all Americans.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops have advocated for decades for insurance that is accessible to all Americans to promote health. Abortion is not healthcare.
Catholics will always strive to be humane by protecting ALL human life. The real cruelty is what is being done to unborn children. Even if their own parents do not care, the rest of us should.
It is not really a matter of money either, but of LIFE. Every human being has a right to life -even if his/her life causes inconveniences and discomforts to others.
BTW, if YOUR life were at stake, we would fight for it! :)
Well aren;t you all perfect in your judgmental ways? I don't see anyone complaining when thousands of animals get put to sleep everyday becausr they have no home. And I don't see thousands of Catholics offering to adopt himeless children because they were born unwanted either...
Abortion will never be abolished, so get over it……..
TaxExemptGod:
Only if there isn't a God...and there is! :)
The USSR -a superpower- would never be undone; man would never walk on the Moon, the Berlin wall would never come down, and on...and on...
RE:Maria Mederos
Maria, I don’t think you want to debate A Radical Atheist like myself but I can tell you do, so hear it goes…You say God had every thing to do with those world events, But tell me Maria why isn’t there World Peace is he still on vacation with that one? If there was a God, the Holocaust would have never happened, or 9/11 lets not forget those people shot in Fort Hood, my point is God doesn’t exist, if he did the World wouldn’t be suffering…
TaxExemptGod:
Have you seen an image of my God? He is a suffering God. He went around helping those who suffered. He carried a cross, was nailed to it, and died. He rose from death and will come again.
In the meantime, it is not His fault if the world is a mess, but the fault of our inability to master Free Will for the good of all. We try to use it only for our own immediate good & this causes problems.
Evil also exists; knowing it lost the battle, because we are SO loved we don't have to perish, he desperately makes his rounds hurting as many as possible. We allow ourselves to be used to further evil because of our weakness and fear -and some measure of selfishness.
Our Free Will is fully respected by a Being Who loves us enough to trust us until the end of time...even though we constantly fail Him. He commanded us to love everyone so that all would be taken care of. WE are at fault. He is giving us a chance to turn things around.
I explain my belief. I respect your unbel
RE:Maria Mederos
First off Maria, you don’t know your own Mythology, If an Atheist has to tell you then you don’t belief in him. Jesus was nail to the cross not God, Jesus was raised from the dead not God. Gods image has never been seen.. Now show me actual proof of God, Jesus or whatever boogey man you worship…P.S.. Make sure your ready to debate an Atheists, my thought that your not ready…
If anyone out there want to abort their child, that's your business; just don't expect my tax dollars to help you pay for it......
Hopefully, via this amendment, some mothers will be "encouraged" to stop committing murder of an innocent flesh and blood of their own that can't defend itself from the very mother that was supposed to give it life, instead of death only because of her own mistakes, none related to that innocent life.
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