This week the pro-life community received some good news about the problematic healthcare reform legislation. There will not be a full House or Senate vote on the legislation until after the August recess. This is great news for the pro-life community because it gives them time to inform the public about healthcare reform and lobby members of Congresss.
The healthcare reform bills that the Senate and House are considering right now are troublesome to pro-life organizations for several reasons. First, the healthcare reform legislation would allow a huge expansion of publicly-funded abortion. Unless explicit bans on taxpayer-funded abortion and abortion mandates are included in the bill, taxpayers could be forced to pay for abortions and private insurers could be forced to cover abortions as part of their minimum benefits package. In addition, the healthcare legislation would lead to the the rationing of healthcare, so the government would be making decisions who receives care and who does not.
Although the whole House will not be voting on the healthcare reform bill this week, the legislation is being marked-up in committees. The House Energy and Commerce Committee will be considering the legislation today and tomorrow. Now is the time for us to act! Please contact your Representative today and tell him or her that abortion should not be considered an essential part of health care and that you do not want to be forced to pay for abortions. For more information about what you can do to help stop the abortion mandate, please see this informative action guide.
