Pelosi: Amendment Clarifying Abortion Funding May Not Make It Into Health Care Bill

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that the decision has not been made over whether lawmakers will be allowed to offer amendments to the Affordable Health Care for All Americans Act once it reaches chamber floor, including any amendment pertaining to abortion.

“We may not have any amendments,” Pelosi said during her weekly press conference.

Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) along with many other pro-life democrats have threatened to oppose the bill until language barring federal funding for abortions is introduced.

Current versions of the House health care legislation do not directly address the issue of abortion, however House leaders have maintained throughout the health care debate that the bill would not allow abortions to be federally funded.

The Speaker needs 218 votes to pass the bill, including as many pro-life Democrats as possible. Pelosi said that although she knows some Democrats have strong convictions regarding abortion, she still believes in their support for health care reform.

"Congressman Ellsworth's record in Congress and his statements outside of Congress have been strongly pro-life," Pelosi said. "He and others who have strong pro-life convictions want very much to see a health care bill passed."

The House Rules Committee Friday will finalize all the rules for this weekend's House health care debate.

Gov't Health Care Plan Is Abortion Industry Bailout Say House GOP'ers

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.

Pro-Lifers March in Denver

by Emma Hills and Jessica Sall

At an anti-abortion rally today in Skyline Park downtown Denver, CO. a speaker said, “The holocaust is here.” Kaitlyn Mahoney, a coordinator of the event, described the protest as a peaceful “prayful” presence. The rally was comprised of multiple pro-life organizations from around the country, most prominently the Christian Defense Coalition and Stand True. Brian Kemper, the president of Stand True, explained their presence at the Democratic National Convention by saying, “The Democratic party says they stand for social justice. We just want them to stand for social justice where it begins: in the womb.”

The rally featured the story of Brandi Lozier, a woman whose mother tried unsuccessfully to abort her. “Just because a baby is in the womb doesn’t mean it’s not a baby,” she told the crowd. When asked if she would be voting for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) she said, “He didn’t vote for me, why should I vote for him.”

Besides the music, prayer, and the speakers in Skyline Park, members of the rally have walked to the Pepsi Center where the DNC is being held where they placed roses in the fence surrounding the center to symbolize fetuses that have been aborted. “We hope to have 3,000 roses placed for the 3,000 babies that are killed each day,” Mahoney said.

"The Pill Kills," says American Life League

The American Life League held a press conference to announce “Protest the Pill Day”, its effort to raise awareness of the birth control pill’s lethal effects. Dr. Marie Anderson, an OBGYN, said that the birth control pill induces a chemical abortion by thinning the uterine lining. She said that as a result, the five-to-seven-day-old baby dies because the lack nutrients prohibit it from attaching to the uterine wall. When asked about barrier methods of contraception, she said that they do not have harmful effects. But, she encourages natural family planning, including periodic abstinence.

Peggy Hamill, the state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, explained the significance of June 7th for “Protest the Pill Day.” On June 7, 1965, in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a law that criminalized the use of contraceptives. Hamill said that the ruling was the foundation for Roe v. Wade. She said that pro-life organizations around the country are planning protests against the birth control pill on June 7th.

Jim Sedlak, the vice president of the American Life League, said that the League has a broad base of support and will focus its efforts on raising awareness that the birth control pill kills babies in the first few days of life by preventing implantation.