Abortion Funding in the Health Care Bill? Don't Do It.

Regardless of what my stance is on abortion, embedding abortion funding into the Health Care Reform legislation in itself would be the demise of the bill. American taxpayers have doubts as it is to foot such an overhaul that is our Health Care system, and adding an "abortion provision" might put the nail in the coffin (again). Months of efforts, preparation, and persuasion to introduce Reform will be depleted.

Here's a breakdown of government intervention (financially speaking) with abortion:

1. During the first years after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the federal government did pay for abortions for low-income women using Medicaid funds, treating it as a medically necessary service that was suitable for government reimbursement.
   
2. The practice was halted only by passage in 1976 of the Hyde Amendment, named for the late Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.). The Hyde Amendment is an annual amendment (a “rider”) to an appropriations bill, and it has been included in federal law every year since.
3. In the 1993-94 health care debate, President Bill Clinton made clear that although abortion was not mentioned in the Clinton-Mitchell bill, abortion would have been covered, as would other surgeries or medical procedures not explicitly mentioned.

With the current marked up bill in Congress, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200) provides examples of how abortion would be funded or mandated. Although the bill is in its early stages, the mere notion of abortion funding have caused many Americans to preemptively reject ANY bill that will be pushed through Congress, no matter how beneficial it may be to his/her family or even if other favorable provisions are established through the course of legislation-making.

In quoting Jerry Remmers from the Moderate Voice (a centrist blog),

"The decision should rest with the doctor and the woman, the father, perhaps the pastor and definitely not the government...
...I realize this position is contradictory because it penalizes women who cannot afford abortion. Basically, I’m saying let’s keep the status quo under the guidelines of Roe vs. Wade and the Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, that explicitly prevents the federal government from using tax dollars to fund abortion through Medicaid...
...Abortion is the most emotional among the numerous obstacles facing Congress in its struggle to pass healthcare reform"

Because abortion is such a controversial and divisive subject, I really think it should be kept out of the Health Care bill for the sake of passing a reform bill that needs to appease a solid majority of Americans, as I've said before.

You know it's a serious issue that should be modified when there is dissension within the majority party of Congress: 19 Democrats wrote to Pelosi last month to say that they "cannot support any healthcare proposal unless it excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan."