Washington, DC – Today, in response to President Obama’s release of a new health care proposal, Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser offered the following response:
In a last gasp to save his top domestic priority, President Obama is taking a new approach to health care: ‘bipartisanship.’ Yet his proposal released today missed the mark on the most significant area of bipartisan agreement: limiting public funds for abortion.
Over seventy percent of Americans oppose funding abortion through health care reform legislation. And last fall, one quarter of the President’s own party joined Republicans to support the consensus Stupak-Pitts Amendment to exclude abortion coverage in the House.
In the face of obvious bipartisan consensus against abortion funding, the President remains deaf to the voices of American taxpayers. President Obama’s most precious domestic priority is on life support, but he still refuses to jettison abortion coverage. It appears that abortion ideology is more precious to this president than his top domestic priority.
On behalf of the majority of Americans who opposed funding abortion with our tax dollars, I urge participants at Thursday’s health care summit – GOP members especially – to defend the American conscience. National consensus will only be reflected in clear language to ensure taxpayer dollars will not fund abortion or any health care plans that cover abortion. This is the federal status-quo, and it’s what an increasingly pro-life America demands.
On Friday February 19, 2010, the Susan B. Anthony List, in coalition with thirty-one national and state pro-life organizations, wrote a letter to President Obama urging him to heed the voice of the American majority by excluding funding for abortion and plans that cover abortion from health care legislation. The coalition also sent a letter to Republican leaders reminding them that the protection of Life must be their first priority going into the healthcare summit later this week.
A recent Quinnipiac poll found 72% of Americans oppose the inclusion of taxpayer-funded abortion in health care reform legislation. Last fall in the House, one quarter of the President’s own party joined Republicans to vote for the bipartisan Stupak-Pitts amendment, which barred federal dollars from going to pay for abortion on-demand.
For the last several months, the Susan B. Anthony List has mobilized tens of thousands of pro-life Americans nationwide to urge Congress to exclude abortion from health care reform. Susan B. Anthony List activists have sent over one million letters to Congress requesting an explicit exclusion of abortion from health care reform.
The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of Americans, over 280,000 residing in all 50 states, dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process.
CONTACT: Joy Yearout (703) 380-6674 or jyearout [at] www.sbaprolife.org
The SBA Pro-Life America National Pro-life Scorecard is a tool that helps hold members of Congress accountable for their legislative records on life and that highlights leadership in the fight to serve women and save babies.
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