Senate Obamacare Bill Could Open Door to Direct Payments for Abortions

In addition to the six problems in the Senate version of Obamacare outlined yesterday, the National Right to Life Committee found a new stealth abortion proposal in the bill.    Within the Manger’s Amendment crafted by Senator Harry Reid and adopted by the Senate, there is language which makes a direct appropriation of $7 billion over five years for Community Health Centers or CHCs.   Because this is a direct appropriation of moneys in the health care bill, this provision will not go through the annual appropriations process and be subject to the Hyde amendment which prohibits federal funding of abortions.

As NRLC explains, this is not a hypothetical concern.  There is nothing in current law which prohibits CHCs from actually performing abortions.  There is already an organized effort underway by the Reproductive Health Access Project to encourage CHCs to perform abortions “as an integrated part of primary health care.”  Project managers have produced an “administrative billing guide” to help CHCs integrate abortion into their practices within the confines of existing federal and state restrictions.

Is it a coincidence that Reid has put $7 billion into Obamacare for CHCs, unconstrained by the Hyde Amendment or any other language restricting direct federal funding of abortion?  I think not.

Read the full memo here.

Barbara Lyons