US

Pro Life Groups Urge Congress Not To Fund Abortions In Newest Obamacare Fix

REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Amber Randall Civil Rights Reporter
Font Size:

Pro-life organizations are taking a stand against Congress’ latest attempt at revising Obamacare, expressing concern that the newest bill funds abortions.

A bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington offers a bipartisan attempt to fix Obamacare by allowing states to offer cheaper, but limited healthcare plans while also reinstating federal payments to insurers. Pro-life groups have come out against the bill, saying it lacks Hyde Amendment protections and provides abortion funding at taxpayers’ expense.

“We do not believe abortion is healthcare and therefore support the Hyde Amendment and other pro-life provisions barring federal subsidies for abortion and abortion coverage,” David Christensen, vice president of government affairs at the Family Research Council, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “We have serious concerns that the Senate Alexander/Murray bill would violate these principles, and will oppose such a bill unless it ensures that cost-sharing payments do not subsidize Obamacare plans with elective abortion.”

The issue with the Alexander-Murray bill, according to pro-life organizations, is that it allows federal funding to pay for abortions. The 1976 Hyde Amendment prevents Medicaid funding from paying for abortions unless the pregnancy puts the mother’s life at risk or the child was conceived out of incest or rape. If the Alexander-Murray bill doesn’t explicitly add those protections, then federal funds could pay for abortions, Christopher Jacobs, founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group, wrote Wednesday in an op-ed  in The Federalist.

About $25-30 billion will go to subsidize abortions, according to Jacobs’ analysis of the bill.

“Without any Hyde protections, this is just bolstering the abortion aspects of Obamacare, but it puts the Republican imprint on it. Once this is done, I find it hard to believe that next year or even in future years that you’re going to have a Republican Party motivated to fix these problems,” Tom McClusky, the March for Life Vice President of Government Affairs, told TheDCNF. “Just because they can’t do their job doesn’t mean the rest of the nation should suffer.”

The National Right to Life Committee, the oldest pro-life group in the United States, said they would not be supporting the Alexander-Murray bill unless the bill comes with explicit protections against abortion funding.

“National Right to Life continues to urge for health care policy that follows the principles of the Hyde Amendment and prohibits federal tax dollars from subsidizing insurance plans that cover elective abortion,” Jennifer Popik, J.D., legislative director of National Right to Life Committee, said to TheDCNF.

As of now, twenty-four Senate Republicans and Democrats have sponsored the bill. The Alexander-Murray bill represents a betrayal from elected leaders who were put in place to enact the wishes of their constituents, McClusky believes and warns that a vote for the bill could affect future races.

“The House has passed some good stuff. They’re doing their jobs and they tend to work four to five days a week whereas the Senate’s not,” McClusky told TheDCNF. “So if the Senate sticks them with this bill and they pass it, I think even those who don’t vote for it will be affected in their races. This is not why people sent them to Washington, D.C., especially for the pro-life members. The House should do whatever it can to make sure this bill does not pass unless it has pro-life protections in it.”

Some of the major sponsors of the bill recognize the Alexander- Murray bill funds abortion, but argue  there are ways to stop that.

Alexander doesn’t think it is true that billions would go to fund abortions, but noted previously that was something President Donald Trump could address if correct.

“Current law says CSRs can’t be used for elective abortions, period, and not a single dollar from this bill will go toward elective abortions,” Alexander told TheDCNF in a statement.

Another co-sponsor, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, said she would work to make sure Hyde Amendment protections are added to the bill moving forward.

McClusky’s group is working to call offices in the Senate and House to get representatives to stop the bill.

“We’re trying to talk to offices both on the House and the Senate side to oppose the bill. We’re glad to see that President Trump came out against the bill,” McClusky told TheDCNF. “I don’t see how they can get this passed without the pro-life community and right now, they don’t have the pro-life community.”

Follow Amber on Twitter

Send tips to amber@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel