Thursday, September 03, 2009

What 'Abortion Reduction' Really Means

By Stan Guthrie

Barack Obama’s health care initiative is under fire. And the President is firing back, preparing a prime-time speech before Congress, and attacking opponents—apparently believing that the best defense is a good offense.

Take, for example, the issue of abortion.

posted by Stan Guthrie at 2:41 PM

4 Comments:

Blogger Steven Gertz said...

Stan, this is a well thought-out articulate article. Thanks for writing it! Let us pray either Obama shelves his idea that taxpayers pay for abortion, or that Obamacare goes down in flames!

4:35 PM  
Blogger Stan Guthrie said...

Thanks, Steve! Actually, I hope it goes down in flames anyway, but you probably don't agree. I give Obama credit for raising the issue. We need reform, but this is the wrong kind.

5:05 PM  
Blogger Brian Howell said...

Actually, Stan, I think the article is misleading. To say that the House bill "allows" for the funding of abortion doesn't say under what circumstances that might happen. Under any circumstances? In emergencies only? Only on the recommendation of the OB/GYN or just for elective abortion? If a woman comes into the emergency room and in a life-threatening crisis for a pregnancy gone wrong, I think reasonable pro-life Christians could have different views about whether federal money could be used to save her life, even if it means performing an emergency abortion.

Right now, there is no real plan on health care. There are many proposals on the table. Why can't we as Christians agree that everyone in the United States (if you want to limit that to citizens, fine, although I think that's wrong) should have access to health care? If health care reform goes "down in flames" millions of people will continue to lack access to basic health care. That's just a fact. And it's wrong.

9:45 AM  
Blogger Stan Guthrie said...

Brian,

As they say, hard cases mmake bad law, but what is being proposed is much broader than you suggest. Here's what Joe Loconte says in his latest Weekly Standard column:

"The legislation now moving through the House of Representatives (H.R. 3200), and backed by the White House, explicitly authorizes the government to offer coverage for all elective abortions. Yes, federally funded insurance plans would cover the cost of abortions--exactly as President Obama has promised--and thereby overturn existing prohibitions. It requires no prophetic gift to realize that a national approach to health care would enshrine federal support for abortion as a political and moral principle. The logic is unambiguous: When government subsidizes an insurance policy that includes abortion, it subsidizes abortion."

You're in favor of this? Really?

Stan

10:17 AM  

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