Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

The Democrats' health care plan is a taxpayer funded abortion mandate said a group of pro-life GOP congressmen Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference calling for the exemption of taxpayer funded abortion in health care reform, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said that the current health care bill contained a hidden abortion mandate.

"History has demonstrated that unless abortion is explicitly excluded in the bill, administrative agencies and the courts will mandate it," Pitts said. "Abortion will be determined to be an essential benefit. Pro-life Americans will be forced to pay for plans that pay for abortion."

Pitts was joined by other House Republicans, as well as pro-life leaders from across the country.

"Obamacare is the abortion industry bailout act of 2009," said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Chairman of the Pro-Life Caucus. "In 2007 Mr. Obama told Planned Parenthood that reproductive care is essential care...make no mistake, when they use the words reproductive care, what they are talking about is abortion."

Smith warned his colleagues to be wary of any proposals that appeared to be compromises between pro-life and pro-choice congressmen on the health care bill, calling them "bogus proposals that we have seen so many times in the past," and arguing that they would turn out to be "pro-abortion."

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), Chairman of the House Republican Conference, said it was essential that legislation reflects and respects the values of the majority of the American people.

" The legislation before the Congress today, at least in its current form, overrides the values of an overwhelming majority of Americans, who do now and have throughout the history following Roe v. Wade, always opposed taxpayer funding of abortions" he said.

Pitts said he will be offering an amendment during the Energy and Commerce Committee markup that will specifically exclude abortion funding from the bill.