Will Abortion Be Covered In ObamaCare?
Is There An Abortion Mandate?
September 12, 2009 | By Jack Yoest
Charmaine sends this out to the good-guys on AUL Action
Dear Friend,
Wednesday night, before a joint session of Congress and tens of millions of TV viewers and radio listeners, President Obama repeated his claim that, under his health care reform agenda, "no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion." But, in fact, he is throwing his support behind legislation that will equate abortion with basic health care.
We reported on the President's speech as it happened on the AUL Blog. Afterwards, we posted an official statement detailing the gap between Obama's claims and the agenda his administration is pursuing in Congress, including this observation from AUL Action Staff Counsel Mary Harned:
"No matter how President Obama and Congress change the structure of the health care reform proposals -- whether there is a public option, co-op, exchange, or the like -- any legislation that provides government funding for health care must contain explicit language that excludes abortion."
Mary Harned
You can read the entire statement on our blog, and I encourage you to send it to your friends and family so that they'll understand why it is so vital that the President take positive action to protect life.
Speaking of AUL Action Staff Counsel Mary Harned, she met with Capitol Hill legislative staff on Thursday to brief them on the abortion issues in the health care bills, as part of our "Back to the Hill" campaign. Mary is right at home on the Hill, having formerly served as Chief Counsel to U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla).
I will have the opportunity to relay your concerns about health care reform directly to the White House in less than a week, when AUL Action meets with White House officials Melody Barnes and Tina Tchen. One of our most powerful means to show the President the strength and dedication of pro-life Americans is our Keep Abortion Out of Health Care petition, which I will personally deliver at that September 17 meeting. That's why, if you haven't already done so, I urgently ask you to join your name to the thousands who have already signed the petition at RealHealthCareRespectsLife.com.
Another important means of influencing Congress to include protections for life in health care legislation is the "Voided Check" campaign of the Stop the Abortion Mandate Coalition of which AUL is a proud member. Click on the "Voided Check" at StopTheAbortionMandate.com to contact your elected representatives and tell them you don't want the government funding abortion.
Thank you for joining me in protecting and defending life!
For Life,
Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.
President & CEO
P.S. Let me know what you think! You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook, and follow AUL on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. We're also reachable by e-mail at info@aul.org.
